Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that everyone is enjoying this special day with the people that you love most.

This year, I have learned a lot about cultivating gratitude everyday and wanted to share some of the things that I am especially thankful for this year. When thinking of things in my life I am grateful for, I tend to go straight for the things that make me happy, which is not a bad thing, but I’m learning (read: trying) to also be grateful for some of the hard things.

A year ago, I took a fairly large step away from my “grown-up” career and into something new and unknown and frankly, very scary. I started pastry classes and began building a career and business centered in the kitchen, completely blind to what exactly this might look like. I wish that a year later, I could say that I know what I am working towards, but if I am honest, the path ahead looks just about as hazy as it did at the beginning of this journey, but that’s ok. I am thankful for that.

I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to spend this year making cakes and rolling out doughs, using my hands to create things that I am proud of. I am thankful for the ability to bring a smile to someone’s face by dropping brownies or leftover cookies off at a neighbor’s house. I am thankful for the extra time that I have had to try new things, to spend time getting to know and building relationships with people in the community that are often marginalized and forgotten about, and thankful for stories that they have trusted me enough to share with me. I am thankful for the ability to bridge culture and language through good food and conversation. I am thankful for a husband who encourages me to step into scary things and who reminds me that he loves me regardless of whether I fail or succeed. I am thankful for my parents who instilled boldness and confidence in me, and who still cheer me on in any field that I pursue. I am thankful for my family and friends who have listened to me worry or complain, offered wisdom, advice, and friendship on good days and on bad days. And mostly, I am thankful that I am not walking this unknown trail alone. Even though I don’t exactly know where I am headed or what step I am taking next, I am thankful that I know Jesus, the one who has authored the desires of my heart, who knows each and every step long before I take it, and who is holding me tightly as I walk the road before me.

I am praying that you too, enjoy the friends and family around you today, remembering all of the blessings that we have been given, even those that may not look like blessings on the outside. I also hope that you enjoy great wine and lots of extra pie!

Harvest Cookies

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I love fall cooking and baking and for me, Thanksgiving is like the Olympics. It’s the one day of the year where it is completely reasonable and normal to over extend yourself, planning a feast full of intricate and time consuming dishes and I am just giddy over it. For the last 4 years, I have hosted our Thanksgiving dinner and I rarely make the same dishes twice. This year is different though, and we will be traveling for Thanksgiving, spending it with friends in Colorado. Sometimes, we need time consuming desserts. They are warm and cozy and an opportunity to make something a little bit special for those that you love. Other times, like when you are a Thanksgiving traveler, you need something a little quicker and easier to bring to the big dinner. In walks these harvest cookies.

A pumpkin oatmeal cookie, filled with toasted nuts and seeds and studded with chocolate chips, they are the perfect mix of autumn and ease and can be made way in advance (which is one of the biggest pros for a Thanksgiving dish). I chose a blend of pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds, but you can use any nut/seed combination that you prefer. After mixing up the dough, I like to scoop them onto cookie sheets and freeze them. Then I transfer my cookie balls to a freezer bag and have fresh baked cookies in 15 minutes, any time I want. (Just add a couple extra minutes to your baking time if you are baking from frozen). The best part of these cookies is that with all their oats and seeds, you can also enjoy them Friday morning for breakfast, so consider double-batching it. If you’re still looking for one more, low maintenance, crowd-pleasing dessert to add to your Thanksgiving dinner table, you can put an end to your search and spend the rest of your week worrying about brining a turkey.

Recipe: Harvest Cookies

Yield: 18 large cookies

Ingredients: 

1 cup (230 g) butter, softened

3/4 cup (170 g) brown sugar

1/4 cup (80 g) maple syrup

1/4 cup (54 g) sugar

1 egg yolk

1 cup (266 g) canned pumpkin

1 T vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup (200 g) all purpose flour

3 cups oats, toasted*

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup nuts (I used walnuts, pepitas, and sunflower seeds), toasted and chopped 

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Procedure: 

1. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg. Set aside. 

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. 

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and the pumpkin and mixed until combined. 

4. Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add oats and nuts and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. 

5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

7. Using a large cookie scoop (or ice cream scoop), place balls of cookie dough 2” apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until browning and dry to the touch. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 3-5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. 

*Notes: Let’s talk about toasting oats. You don’t have to do it, but I recommend it. Like toasting nuts, toasting your oats helps to bring out a little more flavor and it adds a depth to your final baked good. To toast your oats, spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in a 375 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. They won’t really change color, but you should be able to smell the toasty aroma. Let them cool before using. After you finish toasting your oats, spread your nuts on the same pan and tuck them in the oven for another 5-10 minutes, keeping a careful eye not to burn them.

Butternut Squash Muffins with Pecan Thyme Streusel

My favorite part of fall is squash. I would argue it’s the most versatile of the autumn produce and I love that it can be used in sweet or savory dishes all season long! Also, if you remember from my previous ranting, I think that pumpkin is overrated and gets a little too much attention during the cooler months. This year, I set out to create a spiced squash muffin, reminiscent of pumpkin bread, that can be enjoyed all season long.

These muffins, like most muffins, are made used the “blending method” of mixing. The blending method is when you mix together wet and dry ingredients separately and then combine them gently, stirring just enough that everything is all mixed and there are no flour streaks left in your batter. The goal of the blending method is to create as little gluten structure as possible, which leaves you with a soft, crumbly end product- perfect for muffins and quick breads. Most often, liquid fats like oil or melted butter are used when implementing the blending method because no creaming or beating of the fat is needed. In this recipe, the squash and olive oil work together as our fat to create a super moist, slightly savory muffin. I also really love pairing herbs and spices with dessert to give complexity and to cut through all the sweetness a cake or muffin might have. The thyme pecan streusel does just that and in my opinion, its the best part of the muffin.

Trader Joe’s carries canned butternut squash, just like canned pumpkin, all year round (!!!) and that’s what I used in these. If you can’t find canned butternut squash, you can definitely roast a fresh butternut squash and scoop out the flesh, but I would blend (or smash) it really well so that it is completely smooth when adding it to the batter. You can also always sub the butternut squash for canned pumpkin if that’s how you’re feeling.

These little guys freeze beautifully and are perfect for early morning breakfasts or on the go snacks and would be great as an easy and festive make-ahead Thanksgiving breakfast.

Recipe: Butternut Squash Muffins with Pecan Thyme Streusel 

Yield: 16 muffins

Ingredients: 

For the muffins: 

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 T cinnamon

2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 eggs

1 15 oz butternut squash (TJ)

1 1/2 cups + 1 T sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup olive oil

For the streusel: 

1/4 cup oats, toasted 

1/4 cup pepitas, toasted and chopped

1/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 T flour

2 T sugar

1 T brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

1/2 stick of butter, soft

Procedure:

1. Toast oats and nuts in a 375 degree oven until fragrant (about 5-7 minutes) and set aside to cool. Grease, or line with muffin liners, and lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. 

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, and ground ginger. Set aside. 

3. In another bowl, whisk together squash, eggs, and sugar until smooth. Slowly stream in olive oil, whisking continually. Sprinkle dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold in gently. 

4. To make the streusel: Mix together dry ingredients and nuts. Use a spoon or your hands to mix in the butter until everything is combined.

5. Scoop muffin batter into cups filling them 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle about 1 T of streusel on the tops of each muffin. 

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins spring back when touched or a skewer comes out clean.