Pumpkin Pancakes

185. "HAPPY THANKSGIVING"

"Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor.

Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light!

Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!"

~Henry Ward Beecher

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/4 cups flour

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup fresh pumpkin puree
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Vegetable oil
• Maple syrup

Whisk first 6 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Whisk milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla in medium bowl to blend well. Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just until smooth (batter will be thick). Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter in 2 additions. Brush large nonstick or griddle with oil; over medium heat. Working in batches, pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls into skillet. Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with oil between batches. Serve with syrup.

My daughter loves small pancakes of various sizes. So I always make a vast array of different sizes for her.

This is a beautiful recipe and the texture is perfect.
They were delicious as well.

"So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart."

~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that

the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Icing

177. This is a frightful post...because you can't eat just one, or two of these awesome cookies and also frightful for the amount of butter in the recipe. Ha, ha! But, that has never scared us away in the past.

With fresh pureed pumpkin ready to use, a batch of Pumpkin Cookies was on the "to-do" list.

I found a few recipes and adjusted them for use with fresh pumpkin puree'.

Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Icing

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup fresh pureed pumpkin

3/4 cup evaporated milk

3 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and brown sugar for approximately 3 minutes till creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, pumpkin puree'. Blend together at medium speed and slowly add the evaporated milk in a stream. Next, add all the dry ingredients. Mix together till the batter is smooth and all flour is incorporated.

The batter will be sticky and wet. Using a cookie scoop, drop dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet allowing room for cookies to spread. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or till they spring back to touch. Remove cookies to parchment paper to cool. Be careful you do not overlap or touch cookies together. They will stick to each other and you will loose the perfect edge.

Cookies will rise nicely and will brown lightly on the bottom.

The centers will be very cake-like and soft.

Browned Butter Icing

4 cups confectioners sugar, place in mixing bowl and set aside

1 1/4 cup butter

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup evaporated milk plus 1 Tablespoon

Place butter in a small saucepan. Melt the butter over medium heat, swirling the butter and continue the cooking process for 3 minutes till butter browns. First the water cooks off and foams, then the temperature rises as the butter boils. Finally, the small bits of milk solids and salt drop to the bottom of the pan. Once the color of the butter becomes nutty brown remove the saucepan from the heat.

Scrap the bottom of the pot to release all the yummy bits from the bottom. Pour all into the confectioners sugar. Add the vanilla and evaporated milk. Blend together till all sugar is smooth and butter is incorporated.

Allow icing to cool and spread on cooled cookies.

Now this is Pumpkin Cookie Heaven!!!

"Eat butter first, and eat it last,

and live till a hundred years be past."

~ Old Dutch Proverb