Cookie time!

Melodie's birthday is approaching fast! And of course, she wants a Princess Sofia birthday party.

So, to keep that weekend from being insane, I've gone ahead & made sugar cookies, iced them, & all frozen to keep 'em tasty for the big party!

I've made sugar cookies before, but decided to hunt around Pinterest for something new.

I found THIS sugar cookie recipe! YUM!! Her instructions were fairly simple & I enjoyed some of the tips she provided! The only change I made was instead of 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, I did 1 tsp vanilla & 1/2 tsp almond. Just to be different. The hubby & kids taste tested the broken ones, that's all the approval I needed!

Of course, they fit the theme...

Well, as pretty as they were, I wanted to do more! I have a friend at work that who always has the BEST icing on her sugar cookies! It's her mom's recipe, & I begged & pleaded...turns out it wasn't some special cookie icing, but buttercream! But wow, yummy!

"Mom's" Recipe
Melt 3/4 stick butter
Add 1lb powdered sugar & 1 tsp vanilla
Add about 4 Tbsp of milk
Beat slowly & add more milk until you reach desired consistency

See? It was easy! Granted, I just went with an entire stick of butter & a little extra vanilla, & alternated adding sugar & milk til it looked like enough & tasted & felt the way I wanted it to.
(Yeah, I STINK at recipes...I have to change SOMEthing!!)

So, I slathered it on, added sprinkles, candy pearls, & used that spray on food coloring, then layered on a cookie sheet to freeze so they'd be stack-able. Melodie was begging for one. I appeased her with a Popsicle! Don't wanna run out on party day!

So, they're all frozen & ready for party day! Next project...getting fondant squares ready for a MineCraft cake I need the weekend after her party!

Amii's Copycat Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (with high altitude notes)

Amii's (Copycat) Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I cobbled together about a dozen other recipes to find the happy medium between not so much fat and not so much salt (seriously, some of them called for 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt!) and "where did the flavor go?" to arrive at this final product. Being in Wyoming (above 6500 feet, I need a bit more water (3/4 cup rather than 2/3), and a bit more flour (a good pinch of whole wheat, since that is thicker, or about a scant 1/4 cup white flour) to get the same consistency that you do on regular altitude recipes. I have listed the standard recipe, since most people don't need the high altitude adjustments, but have noted what works for me here, just in case.

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups white flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

16 oz cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup oil ( or 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/2 cup oil- canola)
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2/3 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 1/2 c semis and 1/2 c dark)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees . Grease two (9x5 inch) loaf pans or three (8x4 inch) loaf pans.

Mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside.

Mix pumpkin, oil, eggs, and 2/3 cup water together and stir into dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter in prepared pans. Bake for approx.. 60 minutes, check at 45 minutes in case your oven varies.
For regular muffins, cook for about 18-25 minutes (check around 10 minutes to get an idea of where you need to be for time, high altitudes make this a difficult conversion, so I'm guessing based on most muffin recipes.)
Mini-loaf pans/mini loaf stoneware or large muffin: 25-35 minutes, depending upon how full you fill them, and altitudes.

Note about bread and baking temperatures: breads and breading coated foods usually cook at higher temps to get that nice crust and speed things along, but with the chocolate, that isn't always desirable. You can boost the temp by 25 degrees and just use your nose to speed up cooking time a bit, just be sure to keep an eye on it!