"H" Recipes

Halloween Pumpkin Spice Cookies/Halloween Spider Web Cupcakes

Halloween Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Yield about 6 1/2 dozen cookies

Decorating cookies can be an enjoyable activity for a Halloween party. Using colorful royal icing, you can decorate round spice cookies to look like jack-o'-lanterns. Using a pastry bag fitted with a #2 tip, pipe around the edge of the cookie and outline a jack-o'-lantern's face with icing. Then fill in the areas using another pastry bag filled with royal icing of a slightly thinner consistency. To make royal icing thicker, add more confectioners sugar; for thinner icing, add another egg white.

4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup molasses
Royal Icing
Paste or gel food coloring

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl; sift, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar. Beat, starting on low speed and increasing to high, until mixture is fluffy, about 2 minutes; scrape the sides of the bowl down once with a rubber spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla; beat on medium speed until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Turn off mixer. Add molasses, and mix on medium speed until just combined. Scrape sides of the bowl, and add dry ingredients. Mix, starting on low speed and increasing to medium high, until ingredients are just combined, about 30 seconds.

Transfer dough to a clean work surface. Roll the dough into four 1 1/2-inch-diameter logs. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, 1 to 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350 F. Unwrap, and slice each log into 3/8-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies crack slightly on the surface, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

When completely cool, decorate with royal icing mixed with desired food coloring

Basic Recipe:

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Halloween Spider Web Cupcakes

These cupcakes are fun to serve for a children's or adult Halloween party.

Cupcakes Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 cups sugar
•  1/4 cup Butter, softened
•  2 eggs
•  1 cup Sour Cream
•  1/2 cup milk
•  1 teaspoon vanilla
•  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
•  1 teaspoon baking powder
•  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting Ingredients:

•  3 cups powdered sugar
•  1/4 cup Butter, softened
•  3 to 4 tablespoons milk

Glaze Ingredients:

•  1 cup real semi-sweet chocolate chips
•  4 teaspoons shortening

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar and 1/4 cup butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add eggs; continue beating until creamy. Add sour cream, milk and vanilla. Continue beating until well mixed. Add all remaining cupcake ingredients. Reduce speed to low; beat until well mixed.  Fill each paper-lined muffin cup with about 2 tablespoons batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.  Combine powdered sugar and 1/4 cup butter in small bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often and gradually adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency.  Melt chocolate chips and shortening in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth (3 to 4 minutes). Place melted chocolate in small heavy-duty resealable plastic food bag; snip tip from one corner to make very small hole.  Frost 6 cupcakes at a time, using about 1 tablespoon frosting for each cupcake. Immediately pipe 3 concentric circles of melted chocolate onto each frosted cupcake. Starting at center, draw toothpick 5 or 6 times through chocolate circles to outside edge of frosting to make spider web design. Repeat with remaining cupcakes and frosting. Let stand until chocolate is firm.

TIP: Microwave chocolate chips and shortening in small heavy-duty resealable plastic food bag on HIGH until chips are melted (30 to 60 seconds). Squeeze bag several times to combine melted chips and shortening.

Yield:  2 dozen cupcakes

Nutrition Facts (1 cupcake)

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