Butter Pecan Pumpkin Cookies

These are a taste of fall.  We think of certain flavors as being seasonal.  Pumpkin is one of those flavors even though we can buy canned pumpkin year round.  These are a quick and easy cookie to make for a beautiful fall day.  These cookies are nice and soft and will not get hard after they cool.  So if you like soft cookies these are for you. 

These cookies also will not spread out.  I wish more recipes told you if they did or not.  I would have made these a little differently had I known they wouldn't spread.  I would have flattened them out a little more.

Only 4 ingredients.  Doesn't get any easier.

Start with a butter pecan cake mix.  I am not sure if you can find this flavor year round or not.  I'm also not sure if all stores carry this flavor.

To the cake mix add 1 can of pumpkin puree.

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips.  I used the mini chips I thought the smaller ones would be better. You could probably use white chocolate if you wanted to change them out.

Then about a 1/4 cup chopped pecans.  Then mix well.  The dough will be thick.

Scoop up the cookies.  Place on a parchment lined cookies sheet.  You can flatten the tops of them a little bit.  Place in a preheated 350 oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cook on the cookie sheet for a few minutes.

Butter Pecan Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

1 box butter pecan cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

Fall is in the air and with it comes some dishes we like to classify as fall, brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.  I don't know why we tend to serve these during the fall.  We can get them year round now.  Same with butternut squash.  But they are classified as fall veggies.  Anyway they are good any time you can make them.

I know that brussels sprouts gets a bad rep but roast them and try them that way.  That is really the only way to get them. I have some picky young men that love them that way.  I was actually told I can even make brussels sprouts taste good.  I will take that as a compliment. 

I have roasted these vegetables before but there is an interesting twist this time.

Peel and chop one nice size sweet potato.

Slice 1 lb of brussels sprouts in half.  I use frozen sprouts that have been thawed.  If you use fresh you need to steam them a little or they won't be cooked through.  This is the voice of experience talking.  Learn from my mistakes.

Pour a little olive oil and toss to coat.

Now sprinkle a little garlic and toss.

Now here is an interesting addition.  I will be doing this when I roast all my veggies from now on.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Pour some olive oil on the foil.

Use your hand and coat the foil well.  It's yucky on your hand but it works.

Now spread out the veggies in the pan.

Now sprinkle some cumin in your hand so you can sprinkle it on top.  You don't want globs in one place.  You just want a touch of cumin in each bite.

Lightly sprinkled with the cumin.  You really can't see it well and that is what you want.

Now some pepper

Salt.  Place in a preheated 400 oven.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Measure about a Tablespoon or so red wine vinegar

Take the veggies out of the oven.

Drizzle the vinegar on top.  The vinegar adds a nice little bite to the veggies.  You could also use balsamic vinegar as well.

I wish I had some of these veggies right now for lunch.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts Recipe

1 lb brussels sprouts
1 large sweet potatoes
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 400.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Bacon Spinach & Artichoke Pinwheels

Another Saturday afternoon of football and I needed a little snack to hold me over to our evening kick off.  These were the perfect thing.  Artichoke and spinach seem to go hand and hand then add bacon to the mix and it takes it over the top.

I will admit they did not turn out pretty, but sometimes it doesn't matter how things look but how they taste.  These taste great!

Most spinach artichoke recipes uses frozen spinach but this one uses fresh.  It didn't use a lot of the fresh so I will be looking for something else to use it up.

Start out by cooking the bacon.  I am going to cook it in the oven when I do the rest of the recipe.

I found the crescent roll sheets a couple of weeks ago.  Last year I looked and looked for it for some recipes.  Never found it.  So when I saw it in the store I grabbed a can.  Then couldn't remember what I wanted it for.  So this recipe came along and it was perfect.  I rolled it out on parchment so it wouldn't stick to the counters.

Normally for pinwheels they want to roll up the big piece but this recipe said to cut it into 4 pieces like I have done.

Then spread the softened chive and onion cream cheese on each piece.  I bet the garden vegetable would be good too if you don't like chives or onions.

Here are all four pieces with the cream cheese.

Drain a can of artichoke hearts.

Then chop them up.

I sprinkled them on top of the cream cheese.

Now for the spinach.  I rolled up a couple of pieces and made some thin slices.

Sprinkled that on top.

My bacon got a little too done but I used it anyway because it tasted fine.

Sprinkle on top.

The grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top.  Now they are getting a little full of ingredients.

Try and roll them up without loosing the ingredients.  This is why they were not really pretty.  I had them stuffed.

Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter.

Cut and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Get the melted butter

Brush the tops with the butter.  Place in a preheated 375 oven and bake for about 13-17 minutes.

The recipe says to eat them while they are warm.  I had some left over when the rest of my crew came in and they ate them cold and loved them.

You can also add a little more fresh grated cheese on top.


Bacon Spinach & Artichoke Pinwheels Recipe

1 can crescent rolls
3/4 cup softened chive and onion cream cheese
1 can artichoke hearts
4 slices cooked bacon
3/4 c shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
2 Tablespoons butter melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder--I didn't add this to the butter but you can.

Preheat oven to 375.  Bake 13-17 minutes.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Now the other day I made a salad dressing that used just a little bit of pumpkin.  You might remember that.  Well I had the rest of a can of pumpkin that I needed to use.  Last year they told us that canned pumpkin would be scarce this year so I didn't want to waste it.  That is where this recipe comes into play.  It uses a little bit of pumpkin too.  I know you thought all the ingredients were going to be in the title of this recipe.  Funny story in a little bit about that. 

These cookies could have been made a little bigger and used as breakfast cookies.  They are nice, moist, and soft cookies. After a day or so I would put them in the fridge though. 

I know you are thinking that's a lot of ingredients but I promise you they are worth it.  The spices make them smell so good.

Start with 2Tablespoons softened butter.

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

Cream that well.

Add 1 egg

Mix well.

Add 7 Tablespoons pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon.  I like cinnamon.

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Dash of nutmeg.  Yes my measuring spoons have a dash.

1 cup all purpose flour

2 cups old fashioned oats.  Mix that well.  The batter is going to be thick.

Now here is the funny part.  I got to the bottom of the recipe and I thought to myself, there's suppose to be white chocolate.  Now I had written down the recipe so I go find the original recipe to make sure I didn't forget to write it down.  Nope not in the original recipe even though the title says white chocolate.  So I guessed and added 1/2 cup of white chocolate.  Since they were white chocolate pumpkin pecan oatmeal cookies I thought they should have white chocolate.

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Now mix those into the batter.

Scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place in a preheated 350 oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes. These cookies do not spread so you can put them fairly close together.

When they come out of the oven let them cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before you remove them. This gives them a little time to firm up a little.

Then plate up and enjoy.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
dash of nutmeg
2 Tablespoons softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
7 Tablespoons pumpkin
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.