Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Best of Both Worlds

No, I am NOT singing Hannah Montana right now.....although I WILL admit that I do have that song buried deep in my iPod! Not ashamed, it's a catchy tune! :) I used to also have my DVR filled with Hannah Montana episodes.....hey, I enjoyed the [clean] teen drama!!!

I spent most of this gorgeous Sunday baking. Yesterday was a chilly and rainy day that was spent at a first birthday party for some awesome friends of ours. Before the party, though, I met up with my dad at Costco and stocked up on some ground beef and stamps. I even ended up coming home with 20lbs of potatoes!!!! What am I going to do with that many potatoes? I guess make lots of mashed taters! ;)

So, I have this recipe that I concocted awhile back, but have been waiting for the right time of year to make it. It's got pumpkin in it, so I know that fall is the perfect season for that......but it also has gingerbread in it (and no, it's not my dad's cake) so I was thinking closer to Christmas time for it. I decided today was the perfect day to make this concoction! Why today? I don't know, it just felt right to me.

I wasn't so sure on how it would turn out, but I knew I had to try it. Last year I had made some pumpkin white chocolate chip cookies and they were gone faster than I thought was possible. A few weeks later I had made some gingerbread butterscotch cookies that were equally as amazing. A little lightbulb went off in my head and I thought to myself, "I should combine the two recipes for a superbly amazing cookie!!! So that is what I did today.....and I give you all:

Pumpkin Butterscotch White Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies
(adapted from yours truly) 

INGREDIENTS:


2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp cinnamon
7/8 tsp cloves
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks butter (1 cup); softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/6 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in small bowl

-Sift together dry ingredients into another small bowl
-Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and egg in large mixer bowl until creamy
 Butter + Sugar = Yumminess!!! Then add in molasses.....mmmmmm!
Ok, in all honesty, I had to sample this......it was so delicious! I could have eaten that whole bowl, but contained myself, don't worry! ;)

-Beat in pumpkin and vanilla until blended
 Where did the vanilla go???

 Ohhhhh!!! There it is! :)

All blended! Yum!

-Gradually beat in flour mixture until completely incorporated


-Stir in morsels

Now, you can NEVER have tooooo many morsels, so feel free to add in both bagfuls of the chips, if you dare!!!! 

-Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet (I got to use my new ice cream scooper to make perfect little cookie balls for this. It works so well that I don't know how I survived without one before.....)

-Bake for 9-11 minutes

-Let cool for 10 minutes, then move to cooling rack to finish cooling
-Store in an air-tight container

*Now, my oven is a piece of s@%t and does not like to keep a constant temperature, which resulted in very dark bottomed cookies. They were still delicious despite the darkened bottoms! ;) 

**The hubby and I (mostly I) have already picked out our new range that we are going to get once we get the money together. I cannot wait!!!!!

These cookies are so moist and soft! They just melt in your mouth and you get a flavor punch of the white chocolate and butterscotch. When I tasted them (because OF COURSE I would!!!!), they seemed to be more on the gingerbread side than the pumpkin side, but still, worth every calorie that was consumed!!!!!



After a day of baking, the hubby made us a yummy dinner.

We kept it easy and simple and made burgers. Thankfully, living in Southern California, we can still bbq in the middle of November. I do not feel bad for all you sorry saps in the snow and freezing temps. ;) I don't know how you put up with those low temps! LOL!!!! He also built us a fire in our little fire pit!

I made myself a special burger. We ate at this Irish pub one time and I saw this burger titled the Twisted Burger on the menu. It was a mixture of ground beef and chorizo. Being an enormous fan of chorizo, I had to try it. It was all that I was expecting and more! While doing my grocery shopping I picked up a chorizo link and added some in to my ground beef patty. It was so good that I made another one to have for lunch tomorrow. I must confess, though, that I bought soy chorizo for fewer calories, but you honestly cannot tell the difference. As long as I get some sort of chorizo I am one happy girl!!!! :D

We ate dinner outside on the patio and watched the doggies run around and play in the yard!


......who am I kidding!?!?! There was food around, so the dogs didn't want to play.......hahaha!


We are now just taking it easy and enjoying being able to sit outside and enjoy the warmth of our fire!

It has been a wonderful weekend, but of course it is coming to an end. Back to the grind tomorrow!!!!

Have a wonderful night and a great week everyone!
Lots of Love!!!
<3 Amy



Shibley Smiles

11 comments:

  1. These would be perfect with a cup of tea! I would love for you to link this post to my Thanksgiving link up!

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  2. Oh my goodness these cookies have so many of my favorite flavors!! Pumpkin, gingerbread, white chocolate and butterscotch?! I think I'm in love. They look amazing. :) I'm definitely trying them out for sure.

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  3. JDaniel4's Mom, I just linked up! Thanks so much!!!!

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  4. Lindsey! I hope you do try them! You are one of my favorite bloggers, so it would be a total honor! :) Let me know how they go if you do make them.....and you can always do a post!!!! :D

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  5. Holy cow that looks like a beautiful cookie! I would be honored if you would come share it at my Recipe of the Week #3, Thanksgiving Favorites post. I think the readers would LOVE this one. Feel free to also add any other favorites you have. As always...there will be a small gift card for the winner :) Fun!
    http://familyfreshmeals.blogspot.com/2011/11/recipe-of-week-3-favorite-thanksgiving.html

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  6. Corey! I would be delighted to share my cookies on your site! :) Thanks so much!

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  7. I made these as one of the desserts for Thanksgiving. Only a few were left over, but they were even more delicious the next day. Easy to make. It is a pleasure to bite into the soft cookie and then encounter one of the chips. A great fall-winter cookie. Love from your Cousin Connie

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  8. oh good heavens those look good. thanks for sharing!

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  9. Connie! I am glad that you had a chance to make them and that you enjoyed them!!! I made some eggnog fudge you should try too! The recipe is here on the blog!!!! :D


    Christina! I am so glad you stopped by and took a look at my cookies. I love your blog, so it's an honor to have you here!!! Let me know if you ever decide to try these cookies! They are amazing, so you won't be sorry if you do.....only sorry if you don't! ;)

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  10. Such wonderful flavors all combined together. Sounds like a winner. Thank you for sharing this cookie recipe at Joy of Desserts. Looking forward to more of your recipes. :-)

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  11. Thank you Joy for allowing me to share my recipe on your site!!! :) <3

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