Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie

I love pecan pie. I remember my grandmother making it, in true southern fashion. Some people say its way too sweet for them. But I love it. Let's be serious. When I saw this recipe in the Baked Cookbook, I knew I was going to have to try it. I brought it to Thanksgiving, where other people just loved it to death as well!

Please ignore the picture. Bad lighting.

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie
Baked Cookbook

1 ball of classic pie dough, chilled
2 cups pecan halves, toasted
3 large eggs
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup (6-ounces) semisweet chocolate

Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap the ball of chilled dough and put it directly on the work surface. Roll out into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into the pie dish, folding over any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go. Wrap and freeze the crust until firm, about 2 hours, or up to 3 months.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Coarsely chop 3/4 cup of the pecans. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Add the corn syrup, sugars, butter, salt, vanilla and bourbon. Whisk again until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans and set the filling aside.

Spread the chocolate chips evenly along the bottom of the frozen pie shell. Slowly pour the filling on top of the chocolate chips. Arrange the remaining 1 1/4 cups pecan hales on top of the filling.

Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done. If the knife comes out with clumps of filling sticking to it, bake for another 5 minutes and test again.

Cool the pie on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature. The pie can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Biscotti

I love several things about this biscotti. First, it has pumpkin. "nuff said.

Second, it is not too hard. I hate a super hard, crumbly biscotti.

And third, it has chocolate.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Biscotti
The Perfect Pantry

3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate or mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a Silpat (silicone liner) or parchment paper, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices until well mixed. In a small bowl, mix together the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir well, adding in the chocolate chips. The dough will be quite firm.

Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and form them into rectangular loaves about 3/4 of an inch in thickness. Mine ended up being about 12'' x 3'' each. Bake in the preheated oven until the loaves are cracked on top and set in the middle, 25-30 minutes.

Let the loaves cool at least one hour, until almost completely cool. Slice crosswise into thin slices, 1/4'' to 1/2'' thick. Lay the slices on the baking sheets (they can be quite close together, as they won't spread) and bake for another 15 minutes.

Let the biscotti cool completely before dunking, or store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

Yup, I'm still obsessing over pumpkin. Can't get that little orange vegetable out of my mind! (Is it a vegetable?! I'm not sure...)

These were a great cookie. Very mild pumpkin flavor, but just enough. The cookie was crisp and crumbly like a snickerdoodle but pretty light also. This meant that I could shove 7 in my mouth at one time. (Yes, I did that, and no, I am not marathon training anymore)

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Annie's Eats

For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Dash of allspice

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips

As per usual around this time of year, I am totally enamored with pumpkin. I bake with it, I put it in my oatmeal and I generally give it all the love I can.

Many moons ago, Ladyjaypee made some pumpkin bread when I was home for a school break. I couldn't get enough of it. Today, I enlighten you with that pumpkin bread. I halved the recipe as shown below and added chocolate chips because I got an extra large size bag from Costco and feel the need to add them to everything.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread
All Recipes

1/2 of a 15-ounce can of pureed pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one large loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Pour into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for about 50-70 minutes in the preheated oven. Mine took about 70 minutes to completely finish cooking. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies

I have been so incredibly lazy when it comes to blogging lately! I have been baking, not at the same frequency I used to, but it has mostly been things I have already made and posted before. Or I'm just too tired from running my butt off to be bothered with photographing. But, for a split second one morning at 7am, after a 6 mile run, I found the will to photograph the last few of these cookies I had left. No natural light, so excuse the picture.

I really loved these cookies. They are almost like a Lara Bar with pumpkin. They taste chewy, probably from the dates, but are easy to put together as long as you have a food processor!

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
Fun and Food Cafe

2 cups pecans, toasted and cooled
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup puréed pumpkin
1 tablespoon orange zest
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped, pitted dates
4 tbsp honey

Take a baking sheet and roast your pecans for about 10 minutes, watching them carefully so they do not burn. you can also do this on a stove in a wok. or you can buy Toasted Pecans in the first place.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Put pecans and oats in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until a fine meal forms, about 25 times. Add flour, baking soda, salt, cardamom and nutmeg to the ground meal and pulse another 20 times to combine all the ingredients. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Add pumpkin, orange zest, orange juice, honey, vanilla extract and dates to the food processor. Blend until a smooth puree forms, scraping the sides down occasionally, about 1 minute.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Scrape the pumpkin mixture into the well and fold all the ingredients together with a large spatula.

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Flatten the batter slightly. Bake 20 minutes, until the bottoms are just browned. Remove to a cooling rack and cool slightly before serving. Store in an airtight container.