Today was beyond busy ... having to bake both pumpkin bread and sugar cookies plus a regular volunteer session in kindergarten, an eye doctor appointment and subsequent glasses order for Adrienne, and then finishing up the Halloween presents for the teachers tomorrow (added a cute little notebook). At least it's all done at this point. :-)
I'll start with the sugar cookies ... it's a tried and true recipe I found on All Recipes several years ago. Warning, though, they DO NOT MAKE GOOD CUT OUT COOKIES! They are very gooey batterwise and work best to scoop with a cookie scoop. Today I pressed a cookie cutter in the top of the ball of dough to give it it's shape - worked out really well. My only complaint is that I used too large of a cookie scoop and the cookies are HUGE! Oh well, easier for them to decorate tomorrow I suppose. Here's my photo and recipe ... (pumpkin bread recipe and photo below this one)
Soft Sugar Cookies I
(courtesy of AllRecipes.com)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I leave this out)
Combine milk with vinegar to make sour milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugars, shortening, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
Stir in sour milk and mix well. NOTE: Dough will be very sticky and hard to handle. You could refrigerate it for a few hours, or just use plenty of flour when rolling out.
Roll on well floured board to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters to desired shapes (large cutters work best).
Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown on bottom.
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For the pumpkin bread I used a new recipe - also from All Recipes. I made them into small loaves instead of larger ones and gave one a taste - they really have a nice flavor and I think Adrienne's class will enjoy them tomorrow.
Pumpkin Bread
(courtesy of Allrecipes.com)
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves (I ended up using about
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg 3 T pumpkin pie spice)
1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
In a mixing bowl, dream butter and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Stir in pumpkin. Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until bread tests done.