Pumpkin Seeds

http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook/recipe03.htm
Pumpkin Seeds

Description: A traditional, healthy snack to during fall pumpkin carving.
Make sure to check out the various different flavors you can use.

Ingredients: Seeds of one pumpkin and salt.

Preparation Directions:
Extract seeds from pumpkin.
Separate and discard pulp.
Thoroughly wash seeds in warm water.
Spread seeds out onto a cookie sheet.
Sprinkle generously with salt.
Put into oven and bake at 350 degrees for approximately
20 minutes.

Check every five minutes and stir, adding more salt or to taste.
Check seeds to see if they are done by taking a sample out,
allowing to cool and tasting. If the insides are dry, they are done.
Allow to cool and serve.

Flavor Variations:
There is no rocket science required here.
You can make as many different flavors of pumpkin seeds
as you can imagine.
Replace the salt from the recipe above seasonings.
Here are some we suggest you try:

Cheesy Pumpkin Seeds- sprinkle with Cheesy popcorn seasoning.

Tex-Mex Style- Sprinkle powdered Taco seasoning onto the
seeds. This is better mixed in a bowl first. Add more red
pepper powder for a really hot seed!

Cajun style- Mix seeds in a bowl with a packet of cajun
seasonings mix. If you like it really spicy, add extra hot sauce.

Garlic Salt- yum!

Hint: Want more ideas? Just think about the flavors of
popcorn and give it a try!

Serving Tips and Suggestions:
Try using reduced salt for an even healthier snack.
Leftover seeds can be kept fresh in an airtight container
or frozen for extended periods.

CINNAMON BUNS (like Cinnabon's®)

CINNAMON BUNS (like Cinnabon's®)
Serves : 12 - 15
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 Tbls. ground cinnamon
(2) .25 oz. pkts. active dry yeast
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 cup 110 degree water
1 cup warm milk
2/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup melted butter OR margarine
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs - slightly beaten
up to 8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup melted butter OR margarine
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts OR pecans - optional
1/2 cup melted butter OR margarine
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup melted butter OR margarine
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. maple extract - optional, but recommended
up to 6 Tbls. hot water

-Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and the cinnamon; set aside.

-In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in warm
water; set aside.
-In a large bowl, mix together milk, 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup
melted butter, salt, and eggs; add yeast mixture and 4
cups of flour to mixture; beat until smooth; stir in enough
flour to form a slightly stiff dough.

-Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead for
8 minutes.

-Place dough into a large greased bowl, cover, and allow to
rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 - 1 1/2
hours.

-Punch down dough and let rest for 5 minutes.

-Roll dough out onto a floured surface into a 15" X 20"
rectangle.

-Brush 1/2 cup melted butter over dough; sprinkle cinnamon
sugar evenly over dough; sprinkle nuts evenly over dough,
if desired.

-Tightly roll up dough and pinch edges together to seal; cut
the roll into 12 - 15 slices using dental floss or thread.

-Coat the bottom of a 13" X 9" X 2" baking pan with 1/2 cup
melted butter; sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar evenly in the bottom
of the pan.

-Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the prepared
pan; cover pan and allow to rise in a warm place for 45
minutes.

-Bake rolls in a 350 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or
until golden brown.

-Stir together powdered sugar, 2/3 cup melted butter,
and extracts; stir in hot water, 1 Tbls. at a time, until the
glaze reaches desired spreading consistency.

-Spread prepared icing over slightly cooled rolls.

Pecan Chews - Hannah Swensen

Pecan Chews - Joanne Fluke

Preheat oven at 350 F
rack in the middle position

1 cup butter (2 sticks, 1/2 pound)
3 cups brown sugar ***
4 eggs, beaten (with a fork is fine)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsps vanilla
2 cups chopped pecans
4 cups flour

Melt the butter and add brown sugar.
Mix well and let cool.
Add beaten eggs and mix.
Add salt, baking soda, vanilla, and nuts. Mix well.
Add flour and mix until flour is thoroughly distributed.


Form dough into balls with your fingers. (Make them
the size of a walnut with shell.)
Place them on a greased cookied sheet,
12 cookies to a standard sheet.

Press them down with a spatula.
(Spray it with Pam first, or grease it.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Let cookies set up on cookie sheet for 1 minute,
then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

*** There's no need to keep brown sugar in stock.
It can be easily made with white sugar and molasses,
1/8 C molasses for every 3 C white sugar.
(That's how they manufacture it, really. And it will
save you from having to deal with all those lumps.)
Just add the molasses to the white sugar and stir until
thoroughly and evenly mixed in.

Regency Ginger Crisps - Hannah Swensen

Regency Ginger Crisps - by Joanne Fluke
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup brown sugar
2 large beaten eggs (or two medium, beat with fork)
4 tablespoon molasses (that's 1/4 cup)***
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
2 1/4 cups flour (not sifted)
1/2 cup white sugar in a small bowl for later)

Melt butter and mix in sugar.
Let mixture cool and then add eggs)
Add soda, molasses, salt, and ginger.
Stir it thouroughly. Then add flour and mix in.
Chill the dough for at least one hour (overnight is better)

When the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 375 F degrees,
rack in the middle position.
Roll dough into walnut-sized balls with your hands.
Roll the dough in white sugar. (Just dump them in the bowl
with the sugar and shake bowl gently to coat them.)
Place them on greased cookie sheets, 12 to a standard sheet.
Flatten them down with a spatula.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until nicely browned.
Cool on cookie sheet for no more than 1 minute and then
remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. (The rack is important
-- it makes them crisp).

If you leave these on the cookie sheets for too long, they'll stick.

*** To measure molasses, first spray the inside of a measuring
cup with Pam so that the molasses won't stick to the sides of
the cup.

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies - Hannah Swensen

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies - by Joanne Fluke

1 cup butter (2 sticks melted)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 beaten eggs (beat with fork)
2 1/2 cups flour (not sifted)
2 cups crushed corn flakes(crush them with your hands)
1 - 2 cups chocolate chips

Melt butter, add the sugars and stir.
Add soda, salt, vanilla and beaten eggs. Mix well.
Then add flour and stir it in. Add crushed corn flakes
and chocolate chips and mix it all thoroughly.

Form dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers and
place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet.
Press them down with a floured or greased fork in a
crisscross pattern (the same method as peanut butter cookies).

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.
Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to
a wire rack until they're completely cool.
(The rack is important -- it makes them crisp).

Walnuttoes - Hannah Swensen

Joanne Fluke's Walnuttoes

2 cups chocolate chips (12 oz bag)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
4 eggs (beaten)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour (not sifted
)2 cups chopped walnuts
1/2 cup white sugar (for later)

Do not preheat oven - dough must chill before baking.
Melt chocolate chips with butter.
Mix in brown sugar and let cool.
Add eggs, mix in vanilla, baking powder and salt.
Add flour and finely chopped walnuts. Mix well.

Chill dough for at least 4 hours, overnight is even better.
When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees,
with rack in the middle position.

Roll walnut-sized dough balls with your hands.
(Messy - I wear thin plastic gloves).
If dough becomes too sticky, return to the refrigerator
to chill while cookies are baking.

In a small bowl, coat dough balls with white sugar.
Place on a greased cookie sheet and flatten with a
greased spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
Let cool on cookie sheet for one minute, then remove to wire racks.

Pecan Divines - Hannah Swensen

Joanne Fluke's Pecan Divines

2 cups melted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 cups white sugar
4 tsps vanilla
4 tsps baking soda
2 tsps salt
4 beaten eggs
5 cups flour (not sifted)
3 cups chocolate chips
4 cups chopped pecans

Melt the butter.
Mix in the brown sugar and the white sugar.
Add the vanilla and the baking soda.
Mix thoroughly. Add the eggs and stir it all up.
Then add half the flour, the chocolate chips,
and the chopped pecans.
Stir well to incorporate.
Add the rest of the flour and mix thoroughly.

Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookied sheets,
12 cookies to a standard sheet.

If the dough is too sticky to handle,
chill it slightly and try again.
Bake at 350 degrees F
for 10 to 12 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes,
then remove to a wire rack.

Yield: Approximately 10 dozen.
(You can cut this recipe in half, if you like.)

Oatmeal Raisin Crisps - Hannah Swensen

Joanne Fluke's Oatmeal Raisin Crisps

1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 large eggs, beaten (just drop them in a glass and whip them with a fork)
1 cup raisins (either regular or golden, you choose)
2 1/2 cups flour (no need to sift)
2 cups GROUND dry oatmeal (measure BEFORE grinding)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position
Melt the butter in a large microwave bowl.
Add the sugar and mix.
Then mix in the salt and the baking soda.

When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, mix in the eggs.
Add the flour and stir it up. Then mix in the raisins.

Prepare your oatmeal. (Use Quakers if you have it --
the cardboard canister is useful for all sorts of things.)
Measure out two cups and dump it in the food processor,
chopping it with the steel blade until it's the consistency
of coarse sand. Dump it in your dough and mix it all up.
(This dough will be fairly stiff.)

Roll walnut-sized dough balls with your hands and place
them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet.
(If it's too sticky to roll, place the bowl in the refrigerator
for thirty minutes and try again.)

Squish the dough balls down with a fork in a crisscross
pattern (like peanut butter cookies.)

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet
for 2 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Corn Cookies - Hannah Swensen

CORN COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F rack in the middle position
2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks, ½ pound)
1 egg
1 15-ounce (by weight) can mashed pumpkin (I used Libby’s)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup golden raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups flour (no need to sift)
1 package of candy corn
Melt the butter. Add the sugar and mix.
Let the mixture cool to room temperature and then stir in the egg.
Then add the rest of the ingredients, all except the flour,
mixing after each addition.
Now add the flour, one cup at a time, and mix it thoroughly.
Let the cookie dough sit for 5 minutes to "rest."

Drop by spoonful on a greased cookie sheet,
12 cookies per standard sized sheet.
Flatten the cookies with a greased spatula.
(If the dough is too sticky, refrigerate it for a few minutes to firm it up.)

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 8 to 10 minutes.

When the cookies come out of the oven, leave them on the cookie
sheets and immediately press pieces of candy corn on top as a design.
Do this right away so that the candy will stick after the cookies have cooled.***
Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer them
to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 6 to 7 dozen, depending on cookie size.

*** - If you fail to put on the candy corn when the cookies are still hot
from the oven, you can put it on later using a little dab of powdered
sugar frosting (powdered sugar with a tiny bit of milk) as "glue."

Tracey’s friends really loved these cookies and they all offered to help
me decorate them next year.
(Published in "Cupcake" by Joanne Fluke - a Hannah Swensen Mystery)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Word of Warning about COCOA

When cocoa is used in any of my recipes, make sure to use plain old
American cocoa (I usually use Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa.) There
are many designer cocoas on the market. They’re wonderful in their
own right, but they won’t work in my recipes. Make sure you don’t
buy cocoa mix, which has powdered milk and a sweetener added.
Stay away from Dutch process cocoa – it has alkaline added. Also
beware of cocoas that are mixed with ground chocolate or other
flavorings. They won’t work either. Things were simpler in my
grandmother’s day (and she’s the one who gave me the Cocoa
Snaps recipe.) If you’re in doubt, check the ingredients that are
listed on the container of cocoa. It should say "cocoa" and nothing else.