Pecan Pie Cookies

Mmm mmm mmm, Thanksgiving dessert! Isn't that part of the meal that everyone really looks forward to? The sugary cap to an already overindulgent meal. The last bite you take before you go pass out on the couch in the post-turkey coma.

I've never been a big pie person. Never the pumpkin or the pecan. I can get behind apple pie- warm with a dollop if Blue Bell vanilla on top. But other than that, I could really pass on the pie. I am, however, a huge can of cookies. Yum yum! So many different kinds of cookies and so many fun combinations. I found these cookies in the search for a yummy thanksgiving cookie to make- pecan pie cookies. All the flavor of the classic in the delivery method of a cookie. 

Pecan Pie Cookies

Recipe makes 10 3-inch cookies. 

Ingredients

1 prepared single pie crust (I used Kroger brand, comes in 2-pack)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup corn syrup (dark if you've got it)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup melted chocolate for drizzle topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a large, nonstick pan heat butter, pecans, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, and eggs. Cook on medium-low heat until just thickened (kind of like the consistency of pudding). 

Remove from heat and set aside. 

Unroll pie dough on parchment paper and use a 3" cookie cutter to cut out circles. Place circles on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Gently roll the edges of the dough up to form a wall- about 1/4 of an inch. 

Spoon a tablespoon of the pecan pie mixture into the middle of each cookie. 

Bake for 8 minutes or until the filling has just set. Remove from the oven and let cool on pan. Once cooled, remove from pan and place on cooling rack.

Optional: Drizzle melted chocolate on top of the cookies. Yum! :) 

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

I've always been a canned cranberry sauce kind of girl. Growing up, I remember my favorite part being the can-shaped cranberry goodness at the kid's table. I didn't mind that you could literally see the ridges from where it formed in the can, I probably even thought it tasted better that way.

However, this year I have grown up. Since it's just the four of us this year, there was no reason to have both canned and whole cranberry sauce, so homemade it is! I found this recipe on FoodNetwork.com and made a couple tweaks.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups fresh cranberries

Super Easy Directions
Throw everything in a medium/large skillet. Stir so all ingredients are combined. Bring mixture to a simmer.

Ready to cook!

After a few minutes you'll hear *pop*pop*pop* - that's the cranberries exploding because of the heat. This is, by far, the most exciting part... just make sure you've covered the skillet with a lid or that you're not standing too close!

Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until mixture has thickened up. Your kitchen will smell amazingly of cranberry, orange and cinnamon- like you've lit a fall-scented candle. Yum!

Finished cooking.

Once it's finished cooking down, remove from stove and let cool before serving. I made mine a few days before, so I let it cool and then refrigerated it. 

Cranberry Orange Muffins

You can always bank on moms to have the good stuff in bulk. When prepping for thanksgiving, she let me have a big ol' bag of cranberries that she had. In addition to having some to make homemade cranberry sauce, I also have plenty left over to make these bad boys.

A few months ago, I signed up for the weekly digest of Sally's Baking Addiction and every week I get an email fun of delicious recipe ideas. So much inspiration and so little time and money to make them all. This is one of those recipes- one that I knew I had to make!

Cranberry Orange Muffins
Makes 12 medium-sized muffins.

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 cup yogurt (I used vanilla greek yogurt)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
zest of 2 oranges
1 & 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp milk (I used skim, can use any kind)
1 & 1/2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen will work)

Glaze (optional): 3 tbsp orange juice and 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

In medium or large bowl (I used my KitchenAid mixer), cream butter on high until smooth. Add sugars and cream together until smooth.

Scrape all ingredients to the bottom. Add vanilla, mix. Add one egg at a time mixing well. Then, add yogurt and make sure all ingredients are combined. Mine turned out a weird consistency- I think the protein in the greek yogurt did something odd- but it all worked out when I added the dry ingredients.

Add orange zest and mix until combined. Add salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon- make sure to mix well. Then, add flour and mix until combined.

Finally, add orange juice and milk and mix until combined. Using a rubber spatula or large spoon, mix in cranberries.

Fill well-greased muffin tins 2/3 of the way full with mixture. Top with 2-3 cranberries for color.

Bake at 450 for 5 minutes, then without opening the oven, lower the heat to 350 for 15 more minutes (the recipe said 18 more minutes, but mine were done in 15). The muffins will be finished baking when a toothpick comes out clean! :)

Optional- top with orange glaze drizzle. Mix together 3 tbsp orange juice and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix well and drizzle on top.

These turned out so yummy! 

Now... what am I going to do with other 2 & 1/2 pounds of cranberries?! ;) 

Playing Catch-Up and Making Cupcakes

It's been a busy few weeks- hence the no posting. Lots has been going on at work- lots of fun things, at least! 

My department put on a really fun project for our current students to take part in. We partnered the event with our monthly "Kolache Day" and asked students to tell us what they "gig" or love about being an Aggie. We got some really fun and enlightening responses. While we got some of the expected answers- "traditions," "12th Man," and the "Aggie Family," we also had a lot of students tell us that they loved being a part of something bigger than themselves.

The below response was a personal favorite of mine- Fish Camp! :)
It seems like just yesterday I was out at Lakeview with Camp Crawford. So many good memories!

Halloween also happened since I last posted- and it was such a fun day at work. One of the best fun things about working about The Association is going all out for Halloween. And I mean all out! Two of my coworkers donned full body paint and dressed up as wind animals (see pics below)!

Then came Aggie Ring Day on November 7th. The Association of Former Students presented over 2,100 Aggie Rings to Aggies who had worked long and hard to earn them. It's always a fun day- and busy! It was fun to see the steps add up on my Fitbit app (I also got a Fitbit since I last blogged)! I was over 12,000 steps at the end of the day without even trying. What what! I included the picture below to show what Aggie Ring Day typically looks like- so. many. people! 

Then, last week came Elephant Walk. Thankfully, I had no part in planning the event or making sure it went off without a hitch. My office helps with creating PR materials, but thankfully my duties are done long before event itself. So, last Friday some of the staff from my office went over to participate in the festivities, which, means taking photos with these gigantic, beautiful animals! 

Then, comes the cupcakes! 

These are, simply put, the easiest cupcakes I have ever made. 

I ran across the concept on Pinterest a while back and thought, "there's no way that you can actually make cupcakes that way!" Well, ta-da! It works! 

Cupcake Ingredients

1 box of cake mix

12 oz. soda

Any "extras" you want to add

Yup, it's that easy! So far, I've made cranberry cupcakes and Dr. Pepper Devil's Food Cupcakes. They've both turned out great!

Cupcakes- round 1!

1 box yellow cake mix

12 oz. cranberry sprite

chopped dried cranberries

frosting (can't have cupcakes without frosting!)

Cupcakes- round 2!

1 box devil's food cake mix

12 oz. Dr. Pepper

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

frosting- green! 

Yum! :)