Auntie Em's Soft Divine Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I didn't bake these. I did however, eat them. Those who know the ever zany trips I take to the fantastic state of Utah will also know that my adorable sister Em lives there. She's gluten free and also watches a lot of things, like sugar and junk in her diet. It's cool because she's not the only one! When Em shared these cookies she made, I couldn't help from smiling! They are the perfect pumpkin cookie. Never mind that they are gluten free, low sugar, loaded with the health benefits of pumpkin and um...chocolate. They are beautiful! No way anyone on earth would ever think they were gluten free...and I've tasted a lot of gluten free snacks. These blew me away. So, this one is all Em. She converted my pumpkin cookie recipe and I'm seriously in love. Thank you Em! Now I can't stop thinking about them...in fact, I'm making them today. Again.  

Auntie Em's Soft Divine Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar * 
1 cup white sugar*
2T molasses
1 can (15 oz solid pack) Pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
6 cups Chef Tess Super-Grain All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend** OR you can use my  favorite white flour blend from Grandpa's Kitchen --it's not whole grain but it's awesome!
1T baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp xanthum gum
1T Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend OR 1T Saigon Cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg (note...this isn't even going to be close to how amazing they would be with the Wise Woman blend...it's available in all the Honeyville Farms retail locations)
3 cups gluten free chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream  the softened buter, sugars, and molasses. Scrape down the bowl. Add the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla. Mix well about 2 minutes. Add the flour, baking  powder, salt and Wise Woman Spice Blend. Stir well and add chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by rounded Tablespoon onto ungreased  baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a cooling rack. Yield about 8 dozen pumpkin cookies. Yeah...that's a lot of cookies. Emily put them in snack size baggies in her freezer to take to work and for snacks. 

*Sugar free and natural? I use granular erythritol in place of the sugars in this recipe.

There you go. Make some awesome pumpkin cookies! Thanks Auntie Em!

Get the printable version of this recipe here.

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Get Ready to Watch the NBC 12 Morning Show Pumpkin Segment

Tomorrow, (Monday) at 6:45 AM on our local Phoenix NBC 12 morning show, I'll be making some amazing things with Pumpkin from our local Organic growers at  Love Grows Farms! I visited the farm yesterday and the pumpkins are beautiful! I adore their community supported agriculture program (CSA program ). It's an outstanding way to get organic veggies and not pay a ton of money.

One thing I found was their New England Pie Pumpkins (aka baking pumpkins) are amazingly sweet and wonderful for just what the name implies...baking. I popped the full size pumpkin, whole uncut, in my crock pot and let it go on low for 6 hours. After six hours I cut through the skin and scooped out the seeds, discarded...and had soft perfect pumpkin ready to bake with. No mess. It was awesome!

The smaller ones called Iron Man Pumpkins store up to 4 months and are great for pie too!

 This one is a classic Jack-o-Lantern Pumpkin...but will bake well too.

Pumpkin is also a Powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, essential oils and fiber that your body needs! It's considered a super food among plants! I bet you just thought they were good for baking right? Nope. The consumption of pumpkin provides you with potassium, magnesium, alpha and beta-caretenes and antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E! They help provide a vast array of disease fighting nutrients. Plus, at 5 grams of fiber per 1/2 cup serving of pumpkin puree...they're an outstanding source for that too! 

Oh...and did you know that pumpkin seeds contain vitamin E, Iron, Magnesium, potassium, zinc, and are an outstanding source for plant based Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids?!

That being said, here's what I'm making on the show.

  If you want the printable recipes go  Here

On the show I'll be starting with sticky buns...

Pumpkin Spiced Peach and Pecan Sticky Buns

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Sweet Pumpkin Spice Tamales 

There you go! Enjoy the magnificent fall pumpkins! 


Go visit my friends at  Love Grows Farms! 

Remember my Free Cracker Making Class is tomorrow morning at 10 AM 
 Honeyville Farms Store
  33 South 56th Street Suite 1 


Chandler, AZ 85226

Phone: (480) 785-5210 

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Pumpkin & Spiced Peach-Pecan Sticky Buns-o-Glory

I got a phone call from the morning producer on NBC 12 asking if I could come into the studio Monday morning and do some wicked  delicious recipes for Fall with Pumpkin. So...I called my buddy Michael down at Love Grows Farms to see how the pumpkins were coming along. He says they are amazing and that I need to come pick some up. I'll be on the farm tomorrow morning. Tonight I decided to really perfect my pumpkin sticky bun recipe for the show and whip out some of the Sweet Pumpkin Spice Tamales to bring in as well. I'll be making a lot with pumpkin in the next few days for that reason. However...I think I'm fair in adding some torture here with this picture...

I'm not going to lie. They are incredible. There's pumpkin in the dough...and peach preserves in the middle of the rolls to add some remarkably lightly tart and moist filling to the mix. Add an accent of the mixed spices of my blend with hints of orange, lemon, and some culinary rosepetal and lavender...Perfection. 

Don't beg. I'll share the recipe here...but you have to promise to make them.

Chef Stephanie Petersen's

Pumpkin & Spiced Peach Pecan Sticky Buns-o-Glory

1 cup warm milk (not too hot now)
2 tsp active dry yeast (1 pkg)
1 tsp salt
1 cup packed canned pumpkin
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp almond extract

2T Chef Tess Wise Woman of The East Spice Blend

3/4 cup sugar free peach spread

Topping:

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup honey (caramel honey sauce or peach amaretto honey are amazing here)

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans

Directions:
Put the milk, yeast, sugar, pumpkin in a mixer with a whisk and mix until smooth.

 Add remaining ingredients. Mix with a dough hook until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes (by hand about 300 turns). Put dough in a covered bowl and raise about 1 hour until doubled. Lightly flour a counter top and roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness, 12 inches by 18 inches rectangle. Spread jam or honey over dough and sprinkle with spice blend. Roll tightly and pinch seam. Cut into 2 inch wedged

 Make the topping. In a 1-quart saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and honey over low heat; stir until sugar and butter are melted.

 Pour mixture into a greased 9" x 13" pan and sprinkle pecans on top.

place one inch apart 

Allow to raise until doubled in size, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375°. 

 Imagine yourself just sitting in a hot tub of caramel pecan goo....and you would probably be just fine with my little friends.

Bake buns until golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

 Remove pan from oven and immediately invert onto a serving tray or baking dish. Let buns cool slightly and serve warm.

There you go. Make some sticky buns!  Get the printable recipe Here.
I want to see those buns! 


Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Pumpkin Decorative Bread Tutorial

Today I want to share the latest fun we've been having here with bread! Pumpkin shaped decorative bread. I have to admit it has taken me a while to wrap my head around this technique and figure out how to make the shape of the pumpkin stay. Thanks be to my buddy John Miles for suggesting the the use of butcher's twine! It was literally a stroke of culinary genius! So without further chatter...let's get this pumpkin punk-fest started! I'm so excited to show you how to do this!


Take 10 oz of 5 day bread dough, roll it and gather the dough at the bottom. Allow a balloon-like structure to develop.

10 oz of bread dough, well kneaded and holding it's own. Like a very nice...rock...or something.
The outer skin of the dough will be very tight and clean, again, like a balloon.

Get yourself a wad of butcher's twine. I found mine in the kitchen tool section at the local grocery store. Easy to find.

Oil your bread very well.

Tie with twine, leaving the knots on the underside of the dough and the rounded part of the dough facing upward for baking.

Do not raise! It will be too difficult to control the shape. Simply Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. When still hot and uncooked, removed from oven and cut the twine off. It will be tricky, but I had fun with it. I found if I left the twine on the whole length of the baking, it was almost impossible to remove it.

After the twine is removed from the hot bread, I poke a whole in the top of the loaf and insert some of the Edible Decorative Bread dough (inert dough for flowers on bread) . This dough will adhere to the top of the bread if a little water is placed on the bottom side of the decorative additions. That inert dough must be made ahead of time.

Detailing on the leaves will stay nice and clean in the inert dough.

Once topped with some of the Edible Decorative Bread dough (inert dough for flowers on bread) work quickly. It must be returned to the oven within a few minutes. When you return it to the oven, reduce heat to 350. Bake about 15 minutes. While it bakes, get your painting supplies out. People, for the love of all that's good and righteous...please use clean fresh brushes and bowls. Yikes on wiping nasty germs on bread. Keep it sanitary.

How long do you bake the bread? Excellent question. So glad you asked. Bake until bread is over 170 degrees internal temperature (test with a meat thermometer). Allow to cool 10 minutes before painting.

A combination of paprika and turmeric or curry will give you a bright orange hue. This is a natural coloring. If you prefer, you can use food coloring, though it won't be natural...it will still work and be very cool.

Make sure you have a very clean new brush. Did I mention "clean" enough?! I prefer a flat brush like this when working on larger surfaces.

For the brown on the leaves, use the coffee granules dissolved in water or Pero brand natural grain drink dissolved in water. If you want another method, look at my in depth Basic Bread Painting Technique

To set color, return to the hot oven for 5 minutes.

There you go. Pumpkin bread at a whole new level.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Grandma Neive's Pumpkin Chocolate Chim Muffins

With the advent of a new year comes the opportunity to eat better, and retain the habit for more than 2 days, or 2 hours depending on your will power. I know for a fact that there are a lot of folks trying to cut back on sugar, so I wanted to show how to bake with a sugar free substitute called xylitol. It's calorie free and more than 99% natural. It bakes almost exactly like sugar, but doesn't add calories or fat.

Don't use it for dog biscuits though. Who makes their own dog food?! I need a good recipe. Our Dotson named Karmel is insane, and I'm pretty sure it's her diet and nothing to do with living under the same roof as a zany chef who sneezes whenever she enters the room. That would give anyone a complex...yes, a complex worthy of several hundreds of hours of good psychological therapy. The dog shrink is so glad I'm here with Karmel, I'm sure. Random...whenever I open the front door Karmel makes a mad dash for the opening, and then if she makes it out, she's gone for several hours. Pretty sure there is a dog shrink in the alley who is giving her all kinds of advice on how to deal with me? Can you see that beagle sucking on a stooge shaped chew toy asking my dog to tell him about the human mother figure in "that house". Twitching Karmel with glazed over insane eyes sucking her paw and pulling on her own ear. Yea, that about covers the relationship I have with the dog.

The real test was seeing if I could use the xylitol in a real recipe that we had enjoyed for years.
Enters, my mother's recipe for pumpkin muffins. I have loved the fluffy little pumpkin nibbles since I was a little brat...I mean kid. I wasn't a brat. I have not achieved the past tense yet. So, here's the recipe my mom passed on to me:

Neive's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cup whole wheat all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar (or today xylitol)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Wise Woman of The ... East Spice Blend, or 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup thick pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)

1/2 cup milk or soy milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup chocolate chips ( I use sugar free chocolate bars, chopped)

Sweet Caramel Sprinkle (from Pampered Chef)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, xylitol, and chocolate. In a medium separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk, egg, and vegetable oil until the egg is totally broken up. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Do not over-mix!

Stir until just combined. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Like my bootie.

Shameless product plug. I don't work for Pampered Chef, but I love the cinnamon plus and the sweet caramel sprinkles. I sniff the bottles on a regular basis...which explains a lot of my brain damage.

The sprinkles on top of the muffins right before baking, add this caramel crunch that makes my heart just flutter. I've threatened to put the sprinkles in my bath water just so I could smell like that bottle. Would it be weird to say I should have a jar at the baby changing table for stinky diaper neutralization powder? Is that taking it too far? Well, I guess it's probably good that I don't have a baby then. Okay, either grease the muffin tin, or put parchment cupcake liners in the muffin slot thing. What do they call those? Cup holes? You know what I'm talking about right? In the crevice shaped like a muffin that's attached to your pan. Gosh, we are way too technical today. Yields one dozen, so just divide the batter between the cup thing-a-ma-jigs.

Bake in 375 degree oven 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Serve warm or cold...but I suggest serving them warm with a good book and a cup of cocoa.

There you go.