Pumpkin Pocket Pies

Aren't pocket pies just the best? They are the perfect single serving size and they have just a little more crust then filling which is perfect for me because I love the crust! During Valentine’s Day, I posted a chocolate pocket pie recipe that was pretty tasty and in honor of fall I wanted to bake up some pumpkin pocket pies.

I searched and searched and searched some more but I couldn’t find a recipe. I found recipes where people took a baked pumpkin pie and used the inside for filling in the pocket pies and I found a couple forums where people said that a traditional pumpkin pie filling was to runny and would just seep out. I was getting ready to forgo my attempt and make apple pies instead but then I came across Joy the Baker and she had posted a recipe for pumpkin poptarts!! Very clever of her! The filling works perfectly inside the pie crust and the coarse sanding sugar sprinkled on top gives each bite a little added crunch.

Ingredients:

2 store-bought pie crusts

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar or 5 ½ Tbls of Splenda Baking Blend

1 egg white

In a small sauce pan, combine pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice and heat until fragrant about 3-5 mins on medium heat. Remove from heat and transfer to a medium sized mixing bowl. Whisk in egg, salt and sugar and place in the refrigerator while you cut out the dough.

Unroll the store bought crust onto a pastry board and go over it a few times with a rolling pin (I didn't use any flour on the board or rolling pin but you may need to if it is sticky). 

Using a pocket pie mold, cut out 16 of each shape (8 solid and 8 with the decorative cutout). Re-roll the dough scraps, if necessary, and cut out more shapes. Repeat with the remaining dough disk. If you don't have a fancy pocket pie cutter than use a cookie cutter and seal the edges with a fork.

Place a solid dough shape in the bottom half of the cutter and gently press the dough into the mold. Fill the center with 2 Tbs. filling and brush the edges of the dough with some of the egg white. Top with a shape with a decorative cutout. Press the top half of the cutter down to seal and crimp the edges of the pie. Remove the pie from the mold and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Brush the top of the pie with egg white and sprinkle coarse sanding sugar on top. Freeze the pies for 30 minutes.

Bake pies on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 22-25 minutes.


Enjoy!!

Brownie Cookies

I love getting and giving homemade items! One of my dear friends celebrated her birthday this week and when I asked her what kind of cookies she would want she said "Well, I love chocolate in any form!" As soon as she said that, I knew that I wanted to make this recipe!


I found this recipe on Pinterest, it is from a blog called Pure and Yummy. I real like that you didn't have to plan ahead for this recipe. You didn't have to bring butter to room temp or chill dough in the refrigerator. 


These cookies are really, really rich! And pack BIG chocolate flavor. Get ready for your home to smell like the Hershey's factory.

Brownie Cookies

½ cup butter
4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, and 1 ½ cups chocolate chips in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter and chocolate melt; let cool.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer. Gradually add dry ingredients to egg mixture, beating well. Then add the chocolate mixture and beat well. Stir in remaining 1 ½ cups chocolate chips.

Scoop dough onto baking sheets 1 inch appart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Baked Doughnuts

There were mini-cupcakes, then whoopee pies and now there is baked doughnuts!! 

I stopped by Sur La Table to check out their adorable Easter decor and found heart shaped doughnut pans on clearance. The pans were originally $10.95 and were on clearance for $5.75, what a steal! I just couldn't let that deal pass me by. 

Tools Needed:

• Doughnut pan
• Mixer
• Large Bowl
• 2 Cooling Racks
• 1-3 Shallow bowls for toppings 
• 1 Gallon ziplock bag
• Small sauce pan

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/4 tsps ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 2 Tbls melted butter or margarine
• Nonstick spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray pan with nonstick spray. 

Tip: When you are using a odd shaped pan, spray with nonstick spray and invert pan on paper towels so the spray will run and hit the entire surface of the pan. I always use this technique when baking with those cool Nordicware pans.  

In large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Add milk, eggs and butter. Beat until just combined. Fill each doughnut cup with about 2 tbls of batter. 

Tip: For ease, I rolled down the sides of a gallon ziplock bag and placed it in a bowl. I filled the bag with the batter and snipped a corner of the bag. Then, I piped the batter into the pan going around the heart twice. 

Pan filled about 1/2 full

Bake 4-5 minutes or until the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes before removing. Repeat with the remaining batter. Finish doughnuts with desired topping. 

This is what the bottom of the doughnuts looked like before adding toppings

Topping Options:

-Glazed Doughnuts - 1 cup confectioners sugar, 2-4 Tbls milk & 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract. Combine in dish and dip each doughnut.

-Cinnamon Glaze - Add 1 tsp cinnamon to above mixture

-Cinnamon Sugar - Use 2 shallow dishes, fill one with 4 Tbls melted butter. Fill the other with 1/2 cup coarse sugar, 1 Tbls brown sugar & 1 Tbls cinnamon, mixed well. Dip all sides of doughnut in butter and roll in the cinnamon sugar mix.

-Raspberry Glaze - 1 cup confectioners sugar, 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, 1 Tbls milk and pink food color. (I didn't try this one).

I set up a dipping station and also set cooling racks over paper towels. 

Glazed Doughnuts with & without sprinkles

Cinnamon & Sugar Doughnuts

Here is my finished product!! A glazed doughnut, a cinnamon & sugar doughnut and a cinnamon glazed doughnut. 

All of the doughnuts were tasty but my favorite was the cinnamon & sugar. I'm sure being dipped in butter made them extra good, plus I enjoyed the texture of the sugar. 

A treat for your Sweet!

 

Valentines Day is a few weeks away and I wanted to make something sweet to celebrate! 

My sister-in-law gave me the heart shaped pocket pie mold from Williams-Sonoma for my wedding shower and it has been a fun addition to my kitchen. I made some apple pocket pies a few months ago and they turned out yummy. For Valentines Day I'm making chocolate pies. 

I love making these pies because you can either spend a l-o-n-g day making these or you can break it up steps and make them over several days. Enjoy!

Tools Needed:

Pocket Pie Mold or large heart cookie cutter and a fork

Pastry Board

Rolling Pin

Pastry Brush

Wax Paper

Colored Sugar

Ingredients:
4 - pre-made pie crusts or double the recipe below
Pastry:

• 9 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 2 cups
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 1/2 ounces shortening, approximately 6 tablespoons
• 3/4 cup milk

Chocolate Filling:

• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• Pinch kosher salt
• 10 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

I broke this project up over three days. The first day I made the pie crust and refrigerated them. 

In the bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and mix. Add the shortening and knead it into the flour with your hands until it is crumbly. Add the milk all at once and mix in with a spatula until it begins to come together. Lightly flour your hands and the counter top and turn the dough out onto the counter top. Knead the dough ball, folding over 10 to 20 times. Place dough in a zip lock bag and refrigerate or continue to the next step. 

On the second day, I made the chocolate filling and assembled the pocket pies. 

Let the dough stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. On a floured surface, roll out 1 dough disk into a round 3/16 inch thick. Brush off the excess flour. Using an apple pocket pie mold, cut out 8 of each shape (4 solid and 4 with the decorative cutout). Re-roll the dough scraps, if necessary, and cut out more shapes. Repeat with the remaining dough disk. If you don't have a fancy pocket pie cutter than use a cookie cutter and seal the edges with a fork.

Place a solid dough shape in the bottom half of the cutter and gently press the dough into the mold. Fill the center with 2 Tbs. chocolate filling and brush the edges of the dough with some of the egg wash. Top with a shape with a decorative cutout. Press the top half of the cutter down to seal and crimp the edges of the pie. Remove the pie from the mold and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Freeze the pies for 30 minutes.

Resist the urge to overfill them because they will leak. If they end up leaking don't stress. If this happens allow them to cool just a couple mins than take them from the cookie sheet with a spatula and let them cool on a rack. The excess will drip off and they will be beautiful. 

After they have been in the freezer for 30 minutes you can either proceed to bake the pies or you can move them into a freezer container and freeze them up to 3 months. These pies are awesome because you bake them straight from the freezer. 

On the third day, I baked the pies on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 22-25 minutes.