pumpkin muffins & salted chocolate chunk shortbread cookies
Hello! I hope that you had a restful Thanksgiving! I am so thankful that I got to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends. It has been so special being at home, cooking and baking, and seeing people who I haven’t seen in awhile.
My family is one of those families that loves participating in local fun runs, so for Thanksgiving, my family woke up bright and early to do a turkey trot in San Jose. I’m super proud of all of us! We all completed the 10K and did better than we expected! It was great seeing so many people come out for the turkey trot, and it was also nice making room in my stomach for a massive brunch afterwards :)
Another one of the highlights of break was baking with my close friend and baking bud, Micaela. It’s always such a joy baking with her. I think that pumpkin seems to be our spirit ingredient, because whenever we bake together, we usually make something with pumpkin. This time, we made pumpkin muffins with buttercream frosting and salted chocolate chunk shortbread cookies.
Both the muffins and the cookies turned out really well. The cinnamony pumpkin muffin paired so well with the fluffy buttercream frosting, and the walnuts sprinkled on top added a nice crunch. The cookies were scrumptious. The rich chocolate went perfectly with the buttery shortbread, and the sprinkle of sea salt on top enhanced all of the flavors.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°. Place paper liners in a regular sized muffin pan.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt; Add flour mixture slowly to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths to almost all the way full.
Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Do not overbake. It makes all the difference between a good and a great muffin. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Makes 2 dozen muffins.
Note
The original recipe calls for chocolate chips, but we chose not to add chocolate chips because we were going to ice our muffins with cream cheese frosting, and we didn’t want the muffins to be too sweet.
You can substitute pumpkin pie spice with cinnamon and nutmeg (add as much as you want).
We reduced the sugar and the chocolate chips, feel free to adjust according to preference.
Ingredients
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 can (15 ounces solid-pack pumpkin puree)
1-1/2 cups canola oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Ingredients
8 ounces (224g) full-fat block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar, plus an extra 1/4 cup if needed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add the extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar (I add it).
Cover and store leftover frosting for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting for a few seconds so it’s creamy again.
Notes
Consider 1.5x the recipe for 24 muffins. I made the recipe as is, and I found that the muffins could have used a bit more frosting than what was yielded.
You can change the amount of confectioners sugar you add based on how sweet you want your frosting. I like my frosting less sweet, so I only added a cup.
Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2¼ sticks) cold salted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped (but not too fine, you want chunks, not thin shards of chocolate)
1 large egg, beaten to blend
Demerara sugar (for rolling)
Flaky sea salt
Directions
Using an electric mixer and a medium bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until super light and fluffy, 3–5 minutes.
Using a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour, followed by chocolate chunks, and beat just to blend.
Divide dough in half, then place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold plastic over to cover dough and protect your hands from getting all sticky. Using your hands (just like you’re playing with clay), form dough into a log shape; rolling it on the counter will help you smooth it out, but don’t worry about getting it totally perfect. Each half should form logs that are 2–2 1/4" in diameter. Chill until firm, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet (two, if you’ve got 'em) with parchment paper. Brush outside of logs with egg wash. Roll logs in demerara sugar (this is for those really delicious crispy edges).
Slice each log into 1/2"-thick rounds. Arrange on prepared baking sheet about 1" apart (they won’t spread much). Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake cookies until edges are just beginning to brown, 12–15 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating them all.
Do Ahead: Cookie dough can be made 1 week ahead. Tightly wrap in plastic and chill, or freeze up to 1 month. Cookies can be baked 5 days ahead. Store in plastic wrap or an airtight container.
