No new insights to report tonight. No charming anecdotes, no hand-wringing over sleep or peer groups or plastic toys. I am still feeling my returned health as a small miracle, and because of that, I seem to be reveling in the basics. I have been reading stories and singing songs all day, with renewed gusto. And now that my appetite and digestive operations are back on track, I just want to bake. And eat.
Just in case any of you are in the same mood, here are some delicious cookies I made today, sans small helpers, just for the smell and taste and overall satisfaction of it all in my quiet kitchen.
I had a can of pumpkin in my pantry, intended for some holiday recipe that was conceived and never realized. I had half a bag of determined, sturdy little cranberries in my fridge, having persevered in the same corner of a crisper drawer for weeks.
Muffins? Nah. Today, I am thinking about going back to work. I am anticipating a second interview next week for an intriguing job, feeling strangely peaceful in my not-knowing what the outcome to all this will be. Mike has been a patient and supportive listener for days on end. The kids were great this afternoon. Gabriel insisted on many kisses-on-the-lips from Mama and a million hugs from Didi.
Okay, so it's not just my health inspiring this mood. It feels as if someone opened a window wide in my life, and a new season's breeze is gently blowing us all about.
An occasion for cookies, if ever there was one.
This recipe is adapted just a tiny bit from Joy the Baker's Super Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola or corn oil (I used 1/4 canola and 1/4 coconut, only because that's what I had on hand)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cranberries
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips and cranberries.
I used a soup spoon to drop these onto the parchment paper, then gently flattened the tops so they weren't quite so lumpy.
Bake the cookies until tops are firm, about 16 minutes. Texture will be cakey; cranberries lend a lovely tart bite to all that sweet softness.
If you are lucky, you can time this to be able to offer your toddler (or partner, or roommate, or co-worker) a warm cookie as he emerges from his too-short nap, rubbing his eyes and teetering on the edge of grumpiness - and voila! The afternoon is saved.
2 comments:
I started to get excited about the recipe since I, too, have a stray can of pumpkin in the kitchen left over from last year (or the year before??).
But then I saw "whole wheat flour" and my eyes instantly glazed over and I couldn't scroll down fast enough to post-recipe blog. Nooo thank you!
Speaking w/ my newly acquired credibility due to my new compost & farm share subscription, I refuse to cross over into that cardboard-tasting barley, rye, whole wheat, blah blah flours that the Moosewood types put in desserts.
Give me the crisco, the lard, and the bleached, processed, sugar & flour any day!
Standing tall, standing proud.
Heather
Oh come on. Today, it's pilates. Tomorrow, it's brownies with agave nectar and chick pea flour! California will have its way with you, H. Just say goodbye to Criso and try to be a good hippie buddhist about it. Let go. Breathe deep.
love to you, tall lady.
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