Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Crunchy Pumpkin Spiced Cookies


I finally succeeded in making a better, crispier and crunchy pumpkin cookies than my previous attempt.  Since I don't use canola oil now, I have to find a substitute for it.  I can't use peanut oil because I mostly make this as gift besides our own consumption.  You know, have to be careful about peanut allergy these days.  I don't want to use my extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil because they are expensive.  So, I left with butter, butter is what our grandma used in the old days anyway before cheaper oil replaced it in baking.  Anyway, today we know that butter is a good fat and it would not raise your cholesterol level by eating it in moderation.  So, I am not afraid of butter anymore and have been using it to substitute my older recipes that called for canola oil.  As for my Chinese New Year cookie recipes, I will either use peanut oil or butter as the substitute.


This is so crunchy and delicious!  You just have to make it to believe it!  Now I learned the trick, I have to shape it thin and bake it until it's slightly brown to make it crunchy.  As you can see above, I make it for teachers at school and I hope they like this little crunchy pumpkin spiced cookie!  :-)

If you make this, please do feedback to me ya! 



Ingredients:

Wet:
  • 2 sticks (or 1 cup) of unsalted butter
  • 2 cup granulated cane sugar
     
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup organic pumpkin puree

Dry:
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon powder
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cloves 
  • 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour  

Method:

1.  In a large Pyrex bowl,  add in the butter.  Heat it in the microwave for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir.  In the same bowl, add in sugar. Hand whisk until smooth. Add in vanilla and pumpkin puree, whisk until combine and smooth.

2.  Add in the dry ingredients as listed.  Whisk after each addition.  For the flour, just whisk until it can handle and then switch to hand kneading.  Knead until a soft dough is formed.

3.  Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a long log.  Wrap in a cling wrap and keep in the freezer.  It can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.  You can also bake it after an hour in the freezer, or bake some and save some for later!

4.    Preheat the oven to 350'F.  Prepare baking pans lined with parchment papers.

5.   Take one log out of the freezer and thinly slice it and arrange it one inch apart on the baking sheet.  Bake for 14 minutes or until slightly brown on the sides.  Take it out and let it rest for 5 minute on the baking sheet before transferring it to cool completely on the wire rack.  When cooled, keep them in an air-tight container.  Enjoy the crunch!

~Each log would probably have about 50-60 cookies.  About 200+ cookies if you bake it all on the same day.

19 comments:

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

a festive cookies, perfect to giveaway during this Christmas time.

Noob Cook said...

looks good! yup, better is much better than margarine. And I read that coconut oil is actually healthy too.

tigerfish said...

Cookies just right for the season, ya? The teachers 有口福了!

Little Corner of Mine said...

I think so too Sonia. :)

Noobcook, coconut oil is good for us, over here in the U.S. it's very expensive.

Haha Tigerfish, yup 有口福了.

AL TAN said...

I wish the people who makes chinese new year cookie for sale could be this creative. It would be wonderful if this cookie is available during Chinese New Year.

Unknown said...

Its so cute my mommy, personal chef in austin use to made this to me, and I miss it.

Thanks for sharing this!

daphne said...

This is an unique cookie! I can see that it is crunchy for sure. Nice gift! Merry Christmas to you and family!

Anonymous said...

Just discovered this today. Glad to hear that butter works.
Worried about using canola oil. Have enjoyed your Crispy Pumpkin Cookes (posted Mon. Oct.22, 2012).
Wanted to increase the crunch so make them as biscotti. Everyone loves them.
Same recipe. Shape a log 14" long by 2" wide on the cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees Farenheit for 30-35 minutes.
Cool 5 minutes, slice 1/2" thick and arrange standing up on the cookie sheet.
Bake at 300 degrees Farenheit for another 30 minutes, until dry.
Let cool on the cookie sheet.
Halving the other recipe (1 1/4 cup flour) makes 2 dozen biscotti.
Thanks for the recipe.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Thanks for the feedback Anon, pumpkin biscotti sounds so yummy! :) Glad you enjoyed that recipe and now I hope you give this crunchy pumpkin cookie recipe a try, it's really crunchy and delicious too! :)

Unknown said...

Hi there,

May I know 2sticks (or 1cup) equal to how many grams?

Little Corner of Mine said...

Hi Zuhaili,

1 stick equal to 113g so, 2 sticks= 226 gram.

Unknown said...

Ohh.. thank you very much for the reply! :)
I already try to make this cookies, but when I try to cut it, it seems not so perfect round shapes as you do.. any tips on how to do it perfectly round?

and also, can i use mixer instead of whisk to creamy the butter and sugar?

Little Corner of Mine said...

Hi Zuhaili,

Just make sure when you shape your log, it is really a round log, try to shape it as round as you can. And yes, you can use a mixer instead of a whisk. Hope you liked my cookies!

Kameokatz808 said...

Aloha:
This is such a great recipe. The cookies are so wonderfully delicious. Mahalo Nui Loa for sharing

Little Corner of Mine said...

Hi KameoKatz,
Thanks for your feedback! This is my favorite pumpkin cookies too! I am going to make this for Christmas as gift. ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi, it's me again, Anonymous. OOPS! Just re-read your response to my comment from Nov. 7, 2014 and realized I was unclear and apologize for the delay in catching my error. I use THIS recipe for the biscotti, not your other recipe. Instead of butter, I now use Thrive oil and increase the baking powder to 3 teaspoons, up from 2 1/2 teaspoons. I make these every year. They are one of my favorite cookies. Thank you again for creating and posting this wonderful recipe!

Linda (Nova Scotia) said...

Hi! Glad I tried your recipe. It’s just what I was looking for. Not too sweet, and the perfect texture. I made a test with one roll: flattened it out, laid pumpkin seeds and chocolate chips on the dough and then rolled it tightly, and kept on with the instructions. This turned out great 😊! Thank you very much and Happy Thanksgiving from Canada. These will be a host present (if enough are left).

LCOM said...

You are welcome Anon!

LCOM said...

Hi Linda, thank you so much for your feedback and I am so glad you like this recipe too.