Holiday Baking

There's a chill in the air, football games have started and Thanksgiving is 16 days away!  OK, so my chill is from the AC because it's 89 degrees in Miami. November is the my time to lose myself in flour, butter, eggs, chocolate chips, chocolate squares, pumpkin puree, lemon zest, chopped nuts and so on.  I've always loved to bake and I have the collection of cookbooks and baking gadgets to prove it.   From making Dunkin Hines brownies in my tweens with my sister in our Connecticut kitchen, I have graduated to making exquisitely decorated maple leaf sugar cookies and perfectly kneaded and risen breads. The flour sifter, measuring cups/spoons, thousands of recipes and hundreds of unsalted sticks of butter have been the ones to usher in the end-of-the-year holidays for my family.  But with all the "experiments" I have done, the two creations most loved by the family are "Pumpkin Roll" and "Da Bomb Peanut Butter Toffee-licious Cookies".  The pumpkin roll recipe was given to me by Helen Joy, a long time friend.  The recipe was her grandmother's and its the best in my humble opinion.  It has minimal tweaking by me.  Da Bomb PB cookies are just that...da bomb! This is a compilation of different PB, toffee and chocolate chip cookies reciepes from my vast resources.  My husband and son devoured a whole batch in less than 12 hours.  So pre-set that oven to the required degrees, put on your apron, pour a glass of your favorite wine, play some Christmas music and get baking!

Da’ Bomb Peanut Butter Toffee-licious Cookies

By Maria A Rodriguez

Yield: 2 – 2.5 dozen

1 ½ cup all purpose flour (or 1 cup white & ½ cup wheat flours)

1/3 cup rolled, old-fashioned oats

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1- 1 ¼  cup smooth or creamy peanut butter, softened in microwave (watch carefully, do in 10 second intervals stirring each time, until of easy spreading consistency)

1 cup light brown sugar

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temp (if salted, omit salt above)

2 tbsp honey or pancake syrup

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup toffee pieces (or 4 chopped up Heath candy bars)

½ cup butterscotch chips

½  - 1 cup chocolate chips (depending how much chocolate you want in cookie)

Mix flour, oats baking soda and salt (if using unsalted butter)in medium bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey or syrup, egg and vanilla  in large bowl until well blended. 

Stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture in two batches until well mixed.  Add chips and toffee.

With hands form ball of soft dough, leave in bowl and cover with Saran wrap.  Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 2 large heavy baking sheets or line with parchment paper (available in stores in the wax paper, alum foil area).

With hands roll 1 heaping tablespoon of dough for each cookie (approx 2 inch diameter ball).  Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.  This cookie does not spread too much.

Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and very soft to touch; approximately 9-12 minutes. 

Cool cookies on baking sheets for 10 minutes, they will harden.  If using parchment paper, slide cookies on to rack to continue cooling, if not, using spatula carefully transfer cookies to rack.  This cookie is soft and chewy not hard and crisp.  Store in airtight containers. 

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Pumpkin Roll

By: Helen Joy’s Grandmother

Cake

3 eggs (beaten for 5 mins on high speed)

1 cup sugar

2/3  cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)

¾  cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

½ tsp nutmeg (freshly ground works best)

½  tsp salt

½  tsp lemon zest

Filling

2  3oz packs of cream cheese (softened)

1 cup powdered sugar

4 tbsp butter (softened)

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease or spray well a rimmed cookie sheet (15 ¼ x 10 ¼) or jelly roll pan and line with wax paper.  Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel generously with powdered sugar.

Mix eggs, sugar and pumpkin until well blended.  Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt to mixture and mix until well blended.  Pour batter into prepared cookie sheet and bake for approximately 11 - 15 mins.  Center of cake should spring back when touched.  Cake should be golden brown and thin.

Make filling by mixing cream cheese, sugar, butter, vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice until well blended.  Place in refrigerator.

When cake is done, immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack seam side down for approx 40 minutes.  Take filling out of refrigerator approx 5-7 minutes before using.

Carefully unroll cake. Spread cool cream cheese mixture evenly over cake up to ½ inch from edge (to prevent filling from oozing out).  You may have left over filling.  Reroll cake (without the towel).  Wrap in plastic wrap and wrap again in aluminum foil.  Refrigerate at least two hours seam side down.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or drizzle with warm caramel sauce before serving, if desired.