Chocolate Ginger Halloween Cookies

Happy Halloween!

I made it just under the wire.

Okay, confession time. I’ve never really cared for Halloween.  Scary movies, dressing up, voluntarily going up to strangers (even if they would give me candy) – just not my thing.

Then my nephews and nieces came along.  How can you not get caught up in a child’s excitement? My sister’s kids LOVE costumes.  The only way my nephew agreed to dress up to be my other sister’s ring bearer was to explain that we would all be wearing costumes to the wedding.  As soon as he heard that, he was on board.  Now, whenever we have a family event, we always talk about what kind of costume we’ll be wearing.

But costumes aren’t just for weddings and Halloween.  My four-year-old niece can find princess attire to suit any occasion - dinner, birthday party, bowling.  And my nephew certainly knows how to dress up creatively.  I think Spiderman cowboy was my favorite, with Batman storm trooper coming in a close second.

To help them celebrate, this year I made them some chocolate ginger cookies.

Chocolate Ginger Halloween Cookies (adapted from allrecipes.com)

2 c sugar

1 ¼ c butter

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

2 ½ c flour

¾ c cocoa powder

1 t ground ginger

1 t baking soda

½ t salt

For topping

1/3 c sugar

1 t ground ginger

About 50 mellowcreme pumpkins

¼ c mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

Gradually beat in flour, cocoa powder, ginger, baking soda, and salt until combined.

In a small bowl, stir together sugar and ginger.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and then roll in sugar-ginger mixture.

pretend this isn't blurry

Bake for 8-10 minutes. While the cookies are baking, melt chocolate chips.

When the cookies come out of the oven, dip the bottom of the pumpkins in the melted chocolate and place a pumpkin on each cookie.  Wait about 5 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.

 

Raining Cats and Dogs Carrot Cake

First Irene and now Lee and Katia – when is hurricane season over?  I’m certainly over it.

But enough of the whining.  As promised, here is the carrot cake recipe.

I'll probably get a lotta flack for this, but I have to admit I'm not a fan of carrot cake.  Ginger, however, is another story. Everything tastes better with ginger. When I saw the combination of pineapple and crystallized ginger, I knew I had found a winner of a carrot cake recipe.  To tie in the flavors, I also added a teaspoon of ground ginger to the cream cheese frosting.  And unless my friends were all being very enthusiastic liars, the recipe was a hit.

Carrot Cake (Bobby Flay's recipe from Food Network website)

¼ c butter

1 c crushed pineapple, drained

3 eggs

½ c canola oil

2 t vanilla

1 lb carrots, peeled and finely grated

2 t freshly grated ginger

2 c flour

1 ½ c sugar

½ c brown sugar, lightly packed

2 t baking soda

½ t ground ginger

1 ½ t ground cinnamon

½ t freshly grated nutmeg

1 t salt

1/3 c crystallized ginger, finely diced

¾ c toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter and flour two 8-inch cake pans.

In a food processor, finely chop pineapple.  Melt butter.

In a large bowl, beat eggs for about 10 seconds.  Add oil, melted butter, vanilla, carrots, chopped pineapple and fresh ginger. Mix until combined.

In another bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in crystallized ginger and pecans.

 

Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake 40 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs.

Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

I decorated the cake with dog-shaped carrot cake shortbread cookies (see previous post) and fondant carrots.  To add a little more color, I gave the dogs orange collars and green leashes.

Carrot Cake Shortbread Cookies

A friend of mine has spent the last 5 or 6 (or is it 84?) months caring for three very special puppies. They were from a litter of 11 (yikes!) and were born with congenital birth defects that made their front legs crooked.  At two months old, a veterinary orthopedic surgeon operated on the puppies to correct their deformities. After a couple broken legs, a little more surgery, casts, external metal pins, special braces, and lots of time and TLC, these fast-growing puppies are now in water therapy and slowly but surely gaining strength and stamina.

You can learn more about Hope, Seal, and LuSeal at the Pet Rescue of Maryland website or check out their news story (these are some famous puppies - at least among Baltimore animal lovers).

Hurricane Irene delayed our celebration of this amazing foster mom’s birthday, but this weekend we partied. When I heard my sleep-deprived, sanity-challenged friend was craving a piece of carrot cake, my Internet search for the perfect recipe began. 

But first, I started with the cookie decorations. (Later this week I’ll post the cake.) 

Carrot Cake Shortbread Cookies  

I slightly adapted this recipe from Bake WhatYour Momma Gave You.

1 c butter, softened

1/3 c shredded carrot

1 t vanilla

2 ½ c  flour

½  c brown sugar

¾ t cinnamon

½ t ground ginger

¼ t freshly ground nutmeg

¼ t salt

3 T ground walnuts

In a medium bowl, beat butter, carrot, and vanilla. Form butter mixture into a log and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate overnight or, in you’re in a hurry, freeze for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300° F.

In a large bowl, combine stir, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and ground walnuts.

Cut butter into chunks and add to flour mixture.  Using a pastry blender or your hands, cut the butter mixture into the flour mixture until it resembles fine crumbs.

Knead the dough until it is smooth and forms a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.

I decorated the cooled cookies with cream cheese frosting, a sprinkle of ground walnuts, and tiny fondant carrots.