Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

Source: Being on vacation means you get to eat a ton of awesome food in other places, but it doesn't allow you to update a recipe blog... (If I knew how Portage Bay Cafe made their waffles, you bet I'd post it here.) So it took a friend mentioning that she had just had some awesome pumpkin chocolate chip scones to remind me that I hadn't posted here in a while. It was not at all hard to find a recipe for this on the web. In fact, it was hard to choose one, but I ended up adapting this one. (If you make the glaze(s), let me know how they turn out. I was lazy.)

Rating: Very Favorable

Notes: It's looking like these are best the day you make them, light and fluffy and scrumptious. They're not bad the second day either, but already taste a little tougher. I'll take this opportunity to push another product I love: Silpat. I'm sure baking on silicone will eventually kill me and all those around me, but I could not live without these. Air bake cookie sheets? Still easy to burn your cookies. Silpat? Never.

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INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups flour (better if you make it w. 1/2 c. being whole-wheat)
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2-2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 egg
• 1/2-3/4 cup chocolate chips

METHOD:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious; set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips. Form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 3 times as long as wide. The dough will be moister if you used more pumpkin, so add as much flour as you want to make it workable.
3. Cut the pieces into triangles or other shapes so that you end up with about 12 pieces. Place on Silpat on baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

Freezer to Oven Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: This one is from my mother-in-law, also from ages past. I'll admit I'm not the hugest chocolate chip cookie fan, but my hubby is and I liked the whole freezer-to-oven aspect of it. A quick dessert when needed? Perfect.

Rating: Favorable

Notes: These are fairly airy and light when baked, not the dense, chewy kind (which I prefer, when I prefer chocolate chip cookies). But they're quite tasty. Probably all that butter in them. They don't spread out much, but I might not have pre-heated the oven enough-- hard to tell with a toaster oven. You'll also likely want to roll these into balls because it makes them a heck of a lot easier to freeze. I'm enamored with the new cookie dough baller my mom got me for Christmas, though, so I went that route instead.

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INGREDIENTS:

• 1 3/4 sticks butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 oz. chocolate chips

METHOD:

1. Melt butter in microwave, covered.
2. Add butter to large mixing bowl with brown sugar. Stir in the eggs. Add flour, salt, baking soda and vanilla, and stir. Mix in chocolate chips. (Can mix this all, except the chocolate chips, in a stand-up mixer.)
3. Chill the batter, but not for too long (about 20 minutes). Using cookie dough scooper or your hands, place 1-inch mounds on a cookie sheet and freeze for a couple hours. Transfer to a ziploc baggie.
4. When needed, place on an ungreased cookie sheet in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.