a batty combo

"Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I won't care, I'll pull down your underwear!" Oh maturity, how banal you are. I wish all parties were costume parties and that you didn't need an excuse to parade around town in a tu-tu or a face full of zombie wounds. I love seeing the random toddler with a ballet or princess outfit on in the grocery store in the middle of May. Too bad a line is drawn at a certain age where it is less "what a cute little kitten" and more "what a crazy cat lady she must be!" My husband thinks I am going to be that lady, minus the cats and plus a few extra whack-a-doo sweaters. If you're never in style, how can you be out?

To embrace this wondrous time of year I wanted to bake something that not only tasted but looked like Halloween. To me, that would be something dark chocolate and something pumpkin flavored. Plus, I had to use the rest of the pumpkin I had from the Marbled Pumpkin Ginger Cookies. I couldn't settle on bars or cookies so I made both with little tweaks to the pumpkin batters and subbing brownie batter for dark chocolate cookie batter. I wasn't sure how keen I was on the chocolate/pumpkin pairing but I think it works as long as you pump up the spices in the pumpkin and bring out that taste of pie.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Yield: 24

INGREDIENTS
pumpkin batter
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 C brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C pumpkin puree
4 oz. chocolate toffee bits

chocolate brownie batter
Half a recipe of your favorite chocolate brownie batter, prepared and set aside.

DIRECTIONS
pumpkin batter
Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil.
1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, spices and baking soda. Stir together and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Beat in the egg, vanilla and pumpkin until well combined.
4. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.

Paper plate from Grandma Suedy.  

I swear this has been around longer than I have been alive,

waiting for the opportunity to bear some Halloween treats.

assembly
1. Alternately drop mounds of each batter in the pan.
2. Using the back of a spoon or butter knife, swirl the batters together and then sprinkle toffee bits over the pumpkin swirl sections.
3. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and placing on your forty-year-old paper plate!

Nutrition: cal, g fat, mg sod, g carb, g sugar, g fiber, g protein

fabulous fall foodstuffs

 Thoughts of ginger, pumpkin,apples and maple are synonymous with autumn for me. Pies, ciders and dumplings dance in my head. What can shake things up a bit but still provide the cozy tradition of fall foods? I thought I'd make my own version of the ever increasingly popular pumpkin cookie. Don't get me wrong, I love those gooey yet puffy blobs of orange usually decorated with a mountain of chocolate chips but I really wanted to figure out how to make a flatter, more true "cookie" using pumpkin. I thought the ginger cookie would add an interesting taste as well and maybe yield an interesting looking product. The overall look was a bit more subtle than I had intended but the taste and texture were a nice mouthful of October.

Marbled Pumpkin Ginger Cookies

Yield: 27 cookies

INGREDIENTS
pumpkin cookie dough
1 C all-purpose flour
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1 t vanilla
3/4 C Hershey's© cinnamon chips

chewy ginger cookie dough adapted from Big Fat Cookies
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
2 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
1 1/2 t ground ginger
3/4 t ground cloves
3/4 C (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 C brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 C molasses

DIRECTIONS
pumpkin cookie dough
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add in pumpkin until incorporated.
3. Gradually beat in flour. Fold in cinnamon chips.

chewy ginger cookie dough
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, spices and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. 3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the egg and molasses and mix until blended. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it.

assembly
1. Roll a heaping tablespoon-sized amount of the ginger dough in your hands and place it on the baking sheet, pressing down to flatten slightly.
2. Scatter a tablespoon amount of the pumpkin dough over the ginger dough. The ginger dough will rise up through, creating the marbled effect.
3. Continue on in that manner, placing the dough on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart, nine cookies to a sheet.
4. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the centers are set, about 12-14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Nutrition: 213 cal, 10g fat, 135mg sod, 26g carb, 16g sugar, 2g fiber, 3g protein

herbal remedies

Not everyone is a fan of cloyingly sweet desserts. It's a sad, true phenomenon that I will never understand. Especially as I am sitting here eating mini marshmallows from the bag. It is with a tear in my eye and a marshmallow in my throat that I accept this and trudge on to make shortbread for my Mommy Dearest or date nut bars for my Grandma Sue. At least I will always have my sister and father, both of whom have the sweet-tooth disease.

What do you do for these batty people who want dessert but would most likely consider a meal-ender a plate of cheese with fruit? Get creative and get down with Mother Nature.

These rosemary shortbread cookies will make your average 8-year-old recoil at the "grassy" pieces and lack of artificial color but all those ladies eating watercress sandwiches will blot the corners of their mouths with pressed linen napkins and exclaim (quietly, of course) "what a delight!" Even better, they have just five ingredients and the ladies in waiting won't have to picture you toiling away at the stove with sweat {gasp} dripping down your brow.

Rosemary Shortbread

from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
Yield: 18 cookies or 8-10 slices

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C butter, chilled
1/4 C sifted powdered sugar
2 T minced fresh rosemary
2 T granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Process first 4 ingredients in a food processor or blender until mixture forms a ball.
2. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a 2-inch cookie cutter; place on lightly greased baking sheets. If you don't feel like going through cookie cutter madness, press dough into an 8" or 9" tart pan and score lines into dough to form eight to ten separate pieces.

3. Bake at 325° for 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition: 89 cal, 5g fat 0mg sod, 10g carb, 1g protein