Fruits of our Labors: October: Halloween Treats!

What a lot of delicious treats we enjoyed at the October cooking club meeting. Happy Halloween to everyone, and see you on Nov. 11th for the first Cook-off! Bring your best stuffing or pumpkin dessert recipe and battle for the trophy of culinary excellence at 7:30 at Jarrie John’s house. If you don’t feel like cooking, come as a judge and taster.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

FOR THE COOKIES

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cloves

2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

Make the filling: Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)

Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

Carrot-Coconut Muffins

1 cake mix (I used yellow)
16 ounces fresh carrot puree (or carrot baby food)
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup sweetened, shredded, toasted coconut
preheat oven 400 degrees
spray muffin trays with canola cooking spray
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stir to combine throughly, spoon batter into muffin cups 2/3 full
bake 18-20 min or until golden brown. Serve with warm plain, or with butter.... or cool and frost /decorate.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies