Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have survived moving across the country 5 weeks after having baby #3, and I’m finally ready to start making new things again. Hooray for that! I’ve tried a few new recipes I hope to post soon, but first I am posting this recipe for my favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’m kind of amazed that it’s taken me this long to do it, since I’ve had the recipe since 2003. It’s in my recipe binder but suddenly I feel greatly inconvenienced when I can’t pull up a recipe I want online. =) Anyway…These are good cookies. I love them because they’re easy and very forgiving. I’ve used all sorts of flour blends depending on what I have and they turn out great. Also, they don’t require xanthan gum. Because I’m super cheap, that’s important to me. I love these cookies fresh out of the oven or out of the fridge, but my VERY FAVORITE way to eat these is warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Amazing.


Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Combine:
1/4 C. butter (softened)
1 1/2 C. sugar
(beat ‘til fluffy)

Add:
1 egg
1 1/2 C. pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
(mix well)

In a separate bowl, whisk together:
2 1/2 C GF flour (I used 1 C Rice, 1 C Oat, and 1/2 C. Corn starch, but I’ve used several different combos with Tapioca flour, potato startch, sorghum flour, etc. Use what you have.)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C. chocolate chips (I like the mini)
1/2 C. chopped walnuts (optional, but super good)

Slowly add dry mixture to wet ingredients and mix well. The batter should be pretty moist. Spoon batter by tablespoon onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15-17 min.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I love all things made of pumpkin. When they turn out right. I’ve been looking for the right pumpkin pancake recipe and I think I finally found it! I made them for my family a few days ago and I instantly loved them. Imagine my disappointment when I asked my husband what he thought and his response was, “They’re…different.” Good-different? “It’s just like eating pumpkin pie for breakfast.” Umm, exactly. Some people don’t like dessert for breakfast. I am not those people. Whatever time of day you want to make them, they are fabulous. I got the original recipe at Baking Bites and converted it to gluten-free, so if you’re a gluten-eater, just use the original from their site. Happy Fall!

Pumpkin Pancakes
3/4 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3/4-1 cup milk
1 tbsp oil (I used beans, of course)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. In a medium bowl mix all wet ingredients until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture and whisk until well-combined.  Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high. Pour dallops of batter onto pan. Reduce heat to medium. Cook until golden and flip to cook the other side until golden. They may turn a little darker than regular pancakes, especially because they are kind of thick and need to cook a little bit longer. Serve with maple syrup.
I stored the leftover in ziplocks in the fridge for a few days. They heated up well in the toaster and they were a great snack straight from the fridge. I hope you love them!

Pumpkin Chocolate Cake

October is my very favorite month. I love the whole thing. We celebrated it’s arrival this week with our first new fall recipe and boy, was it a good one! I love pumpkin but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the idea of a pumpkin chocolate cake. I’m a definite believer now. I originally found this recipe on Gluten Free Mommy, but I changed it a little to use the ingredients I prefer.  I used to always just use store-bought all-purpose gluten-free flours in baked goods, mostly because recipes with lists of several flours was so intimidating to me. It worked okay. This year I’ve made a much more solid effort to branch out and try new things. I strongly suggest doing that if you haven’t already. For one thing, the store-bought all-purpose mixes are so expensive. For another, using other flours sometimes gives you much better texture. For example, I have fallen absolutely in love with sorghum flour. I don’t know all the science behind gf flours, but I can tell you that my cakes, breads, etc are so much better with sorghum flour. I’m so glad I finally tried that. Gluten-free baking isn’t nearly as scary as I always thought. Okay, lecture over, on to baking:

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup butter, softened (I used pureed black beans….worked great)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. In your mixer, beat the butter (or beans) until fluffy. Add the sugars and mix well. Add the vanilla, then eggs, one at a time.  Add the pumpkin and milk. Mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Pour batter into two greased 9 in cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min (mine was done in 30). Remove from oven and cool ten minutes. Invert pans onto cooling rack and wait until completely cool to frost.
Oh, the frosting. It’s fantastic. But if you don’t have everything on hand, I think this one would be great, too.


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

4-5 cups powdered sugar (depending on desired consistency)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp orange juice
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
Place all ingredients in mixer and beat to combine, but don’t overbeat.

I only frosted half, then froze the other half and the left-over frosting so we can eat again next week. Can’t wait.

Pumpkin Bars with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the food.  I love pumpkin so I’m always up for trying a new recipe.  I got the pumpkin bar recipe from Betty Crocker and the frosting from here.  These turned out great and I think this frosting would taste good on just about anything you make with pumpkin.

Here is the cake mix I use:
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix Yellow 15.0 oz Box,6 packs
 
Pumpkin Bars
1 box Betty Crocker Gluten Free yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 eggs
1.   Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom and sides of cookie sheet shortening or cooking spray.
2.   In large bowl, beat all bar ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Spread in pan.
3.   Bake 18-20 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 2 hours.
4.   Spread frosting over bars. Store in refrigerator.
 
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. butter, softened
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon