Lovin' From the Oven

Day 10: Pumpkin White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

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Day 10 of my 12 days of cookies: Pumpkin White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. As if you didn’t get enough pumpkin recipes in the month of November, I’m supplying you with some more. Pumpkin, pumpkin, everywhere!

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This cookie has everything that my DB hates– pumpkin and oatmeal. Yet to me, this was a heavenly combination. I’m all about using pumpkin in the fall/winter. Just look how festive they are!

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I can’t get over that we are officially one week from Christmas day. This year really did fly by. Heck, all the years seem to fly faster when you get older. My DB is officially half way through law school already. Eeeep! One and a half more years before we’ll be back in sweet ol’ Southern California.

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This SoCal weather right now strongly resembles NorCal weather. Gloomy, chilly, and light rain every hour or so. Regardless, it feels great to be home. My heart truly belongs in SoCal. There’s no where else I’d rather be.

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Enjoy these soft pumpkin cookies with a tall cup of chai tea to really get all your cinnamon flavors!

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Day 10: Pumpkin White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups AP flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups oats
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Cream together the butter and both sugars. Mix in the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla.
  3. Slowly add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until just mixed.
  4. Fold in the oats and chocolate chips.
  5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake for 12-13 minutes.
https://lovintheoven.com/day-10-pumpkin-white-chocolate-oatmeal-cookies/

Day 2: Cookies N’ Cream Cookies

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Day 2 of my 12 days of cookies: Cookies N’ Cream Cookies. I’m usually a big fan of Trader Joe items, no matter what it is. Their brand usually even trumps main brands since they offer a better quality item for a more competitive price. Sadly, this was not one of them.

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Let’s just say that Joe-Joe’s have nothin’ on Oreos. Oreos taste wayyyy better than these cookies. Alone, you can definitely tell the difference. By mashing the cookies up and baking them, it’s a bit harder to differentiate between the two because of all of the other goodness in the cookie.

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They look pretty much exactly the same as an Oreo, but they aren’t as sweet. They have a weird aftertaste and aren’t as crunchy. Fail.

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It’s okay, just throw it into some dough and you’ve got yourself a solution to the problem.

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These cookies remind me of little bird nests. The kiss on top melts quite a bit, making a little puddle in the middle of the cookie. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time for the kisses to harden if you’re planning on packaging them or taking them somewhere.

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I didn’t really form these cookies into balls like the instructions told me to. I got lazy and just did drop cookies for the first batch. It makes a huge difference since the dough holds its shape pretty well. Make sure you roll your dough into balls!

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See? When rolling the dough into balls, you don’t have any weird jagged edges:

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For such a loaded cookie, I thought the outcome was pretty light. I wasn’t overwhelmed with cookie pieces or chocolate, and it was just the right combination of both. The cookie is a bit more tedious than others, but just unwrap all those kisses while the cookies are baking in the oven. Recipe from Visions of Sugar Plum.

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Day 2: Cookies N’ Cream Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped Oreo cookies (I used Joe-Joe's)
  • 24 cookies 'n cream kisses

Directions

  1. Beat cream cheese until softened. Cream in the butter and sugar.
  2. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
  3. Slowly stir in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Add the Oreo pieces and mix.
  4. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  6. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until puffed and lightly brown on the edges.
  7. Remove from oven and press a kiss into each cookie. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
https://lovintheoven.com/day-2-cookies-n-cream-cookies/

Pumpkin Pie Granola & a Tate’s Bake Shop Giveaway

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We are now on day 5 of my pumpkin recipes after taking a little break in between for chocolate chip cookies. I just got my work schedule for December and I am SO excited that I got Christmas off. I didn’t originally have it off, but my job is flexible enough that I get to drop and trade trips with other employees.

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Not only do I have Christmas off, but I have the more than week off during that time so that I have plenty of time for baking. We all know that baking during the holidays is a whole fiasco for me. I take up the kitchen for at least 24 hours, baking into the wee hours of the morning.

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It’s become a tradition for me and I truly cherish it. Last year, I was on reserve for work so I was unable to do that. It was the first Christmas in my life where I didn’t get to spend it with my family. Instead of being home when everyone else was, I was in a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale by myself. Sure, the warm weather was nice to have, but it was really hard for me to be away.

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This year, I’m not taking anything for granted. Hopefully I’ll be able to see all my friends and family while I’m home for the holidays.

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I’m already brainstorming my Christmas baking list for this year. Usually, I bake about 4-5 different kinds of cookies, one kind of bar, and one kind of bread. I’m thinking I might increase the types of cookies this year because there are so many that I love.

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Onto the pumpkin pie granola… I wouldn’t exactly call this granola since it wasn’t as hard and crunchy as normal granola. It was actually rather soft and spongy. I’m guessing it was because of the pumpkin in the recipe. I wonder if baking it longer or at a higher temperature would eventually cause the mixture to harden…

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This recipe from Dashing Dish was made to be a bit healthier, but you can definitely taste the difference. I’d say, use real sugar, use sweetened apple sauce, and use honey. I subbed stevia in the raw and agave in the raw, but it gave it that weird aftertaste that stevia does for me. I’m not a fan of sweetener, sweet n low, equal, or any of those fake sugars. I’m all for the real thing, and I really think that makes a huge difference in baking.

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And now for the giveaway…

Tate’s Bake Shop was not only nice enough to send me a book to review, they’re sponsoring a giveaway to one of my lucky readers! Here’s what you’d be getting:

It has “something for everyone with three 7-oz boxes of cookies, one each of chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and white chocolate chip macadamia nut. Two rich, buttery raspberry bars, two chocolate chip and walnut loaded blondies, and two rich, dense and fudgy plain brownies round out this crowd pleaser. Each 7-oz box contains approximately 12 cookies, and bars measure 4” x 2.75″‘ This particular cookie and bar tower set retails for $48 on their website.

How do you enter? 
Just leave a comment on this post saying what you do for Thanksgiving, if anything at all. 
Do you throw a Friendsgiving? Eat Tofurkey? Stay at home in PJ’s and watch movies all night? Sit at your computer at 12:01 AM and wait for Black Friday deals?
Make sure to let me know by this Saturday, November 17th at 11:59PM pacific time. The winner will be chosen by random.org.

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Pumpkin Pie Granola & a Tate’s Bake Shop Giveaway

Ingredients

  • 4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 cup baking stevia OR 1 cup sweetener of choice that measures like sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
  • 3 tbs sugar free maple syrup (or honey or agave nectar)
  • Optional Add-ins: 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1 cup honey teddy grahams lightly crushed

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix together the oats, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, stevia, salt, and baking powder.
  3. In another bowl, mix together the pumpkin, applesauce, and maple syrup. Slowly mix in the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until evenly coated.
  4. Evenly spread out the granola on prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, then stir granola around. Bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the granola is golden brown and is crisp. Take the granola out of the oven, and let it cool completely.
  5. Stir in any additional add-ins, if using. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
https://lovintheoven.com/pumpkin-pie-granola-a-tates-bake-shop-giveaway/

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