Guest Post - Pumpkin Raisin Drop Cookies!

Eating With A readers: My cousin-in-law Melissa recently graduated college and moved all the way across the country to start her new life. I got her started on couponing and now she is kicking my butt and doing it much better than me!

She also has been cooking for herself, so I told her that any time she wanted to send me posts, she can guest write. This is her debut on Eating With A. Everything below this paragraph is her words. Enjoy!


PUMPKIN RAISIN DROPS

I got this recipe from my aunt, who got it from a healthy foods, low-fat cookbook. Keep in mind that these come out cake-like, not like cookies.

I love this for a fall treat! Halloween, Thanksgiving, a random weekday - SO GOOD. I've been making these a few times every fall for a couple of years. They're always a hit with friends and co-workers!

If you aren't a fan of raisins, like me, leave them out!


Ingredients:

1 beaten egg (I use egg-beaters)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (meaning plain, canned pumpkin -- NOT pumpkin pie filling, which has lots of things added to the pumpkin)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raisins (I don't use these)
Non-stick spray coating


Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together egg, pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla.

2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Stir in raisins.

3. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray coating. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonsful, 1 inch apart, onto the cookie sheet.

4. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until done. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 cookies.


Keep in mind that the standard size jar of Libby's Pumpkin (approx 29oz) will make you 4 or 5 batches of these cookies. Also, even though the "raw" batter looks like baby food and smells less than fantastic, don't let this deter you!


Yes, I know the final product looks a little...gross. But these "cookies" are so spongey and moist, I guarantee that if you like pumpkin, you'll like these cookies.


FYI, as we gradually eat them over the next few days after baking, we usually put them in a toaster oven before serving, so they are hot and slightly browned.

Game Day Snack Week 8 - Halloween Treat! Ghastly Meringues

Today's recipe was a borderline disaster. I found this recipe for Ghastly Meringues in my Food Network Magazine and they were so cute I just HAD to try them.

Well, for anyone who doesn't know how to make meringues and has never tried them before...this may not be the best recipe to try for the first time on the day you want to make them.

I recruited my husband for help. The recipe seemed simple enough...beat egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar together until stiff. Well, either the beating needs to be for more than the recommended 5-6 minutes or else my husband and I just fail at this task.

We actually made two batches. The first batch I actually used egg whites and the mixture just wouldn't get stiff enough and turned into a runny mess.

The second time, I had Meringue powder made by Wilton and you can use it as an egg white substitute. So I did.


It seemed to work better from the start, but when I tried piping the mixture onto the way paper, it didn't stay in stiff peaks and ended up in blobs. I hoped it would rise in the oven. (It didn't).

My end result ended up meringue cookies. They tasted great, just not in the shape I wanted!! OOPS!!

I would say this is a dessert that only people who have a lot of time to perfect it try, or people who already know how to make a meringue. Otherwise it is a super cute and tasty treat for a game day around Halloween, or for a Halloween party!

Here is the recipe: (total time, 1 hour 35 minutes. 35 minutes active time, 1 hour baking).

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until frothy.

Beat in the sugar; increase the mixer speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 5 to 6 minutes.

Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe 8 to 10 swirls on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake until dry, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let cool completely.

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave on 50 percent power until melted, about 1 minute, stirring halfway.

Transfer the melted chocolate to a zip-top bag and snip a corner. Pipe the chocolate on the meringues to look like eyes.


This recipe was classified as easy, but I obviously do not have talent enough for this. Oh well - chalk it up to the fact that I am still NOT the best baker and am better at cooking dinner recipes.

It's still a cute recipe and seems easy so good luck to all who try it out!

Stay tuned either later or tomorrow for a special guest post by my cousin-in-law, Melissa!! She made a special pumpkin treat.


** Top Photograph courtesy of Raymond Hom on Food Network website. It does not belong to me. (I just wanted a picture of how the treats were supposed to look!)

Here is what my crappy "ghosts" ended up like!! :-)