Pintertest Kitchen:Glazed {Maple} Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cookies

Let's talk.
What are your favorite flavors?
I pretty much am the quintessential white girl who will eat any and all things pumpkin.
Well, except the PSL at Starbucks. I used to love it when it first came out, I feel like the recipe has changed.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

What is here are these ingredients:

Whoa, how did that glass of wine get in there...

Alright much better.
Combined, these ingredients make some divine pumpkin cookies.

And let me tell you, I'm pretty picky about pumpkin cookies. I find that most of the time they have a weird cake like texture. With a sticky filmy coating.  Dislike.

These cookies have that same cake like texture, however no filmy business, and instead, are topped with a brown sugar glaze, which make the sticky factor irrelevant.

Speaking of brown sugar, do you have a favorite sugar? Granulated? Confectioners? Sanding?
Mine is brown. Hands down.

And this recipe calls for it in the cookie as well as the glaze.  I knew this would be good.

I also love any excuse to use my cookie scoop.
I consider her my magic wand in the kitchen.

The cookies came out of the oven beautifully, and cooled nicely while the next batch baked.

By the time the last batch was in the oven, I had the glaze simmering.
And here is where the best part comes in - add 1/2-1 tsp of maple extract to the glaze.
TRUST.

I also recommend subbing the vanilla extract in the cookie dough for maple extract.

Pour yourself a tall glass of milk, pile up some of these babies, light your favorite fall candle and enjoy.


Original Recipe by Sarah from Clover Lane:

1 cup butter, room temp

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla maple extract

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Glaze:

3 TBS butter

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2-2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2-1 tsp maple extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and the sugar together still fluffy.

Blend in pumpkin, egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon and salt.

Mix flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture.

Drop tablespoonfulls 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.

Bake the cookie for 10-12 minutes until golden around the edges.

Remove warm cookies and transfer to racks.

Let cool completely for at least one half hour, then frost with glaze.

For glaze:

In a medium sauce pan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium heat until bubbly.

Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute or until slightly thickened.

Beat in the milk.

Blend in confectioner's sugar until the glaze is smooth and spreadable.

Keep the sauce pan over the stove on the lowest possible heat to keep from hardening.

I give this recipe 5 gold stars (one for each cookie I ate) and am linking up with Jessica's Pintertest Kitchen!

It's an exciting month to link up, she's got a giveaway going on - check it out! TRUST.

Pintertest Kichen: {The Road to Hana!}

The Pintertest Kitchen. The link up I look forward to all month long!
This time, I'm taking it for a little bit of a different spin (I'm a rulebreaker like that).

The motto is "Bake it or Make it"
Well, this month, I'm SEEING it.
You'll see where I'm going with this.
Promise. 

A few weeks ago, I was in gorgeous Maui living a tropical dream.
The last time I had been to Maui was 7 years ago, and despite traveling with my sister and our friend Ashley, and having one of my favorite vacations ever, we almost never left the hotel. It was lovely, and luxurious. And what we all wanted to do.

This time, I wanted to approach Maui a little differently. Take on adventure. Such as the Sunrise at Haleakala, a snorkel cruise, learning the ukelele, and the Road to Hana.

Let me set the scene. It's Saturday morning. Early. The sun is just peeking out over the West Maui mountains.

We hit the road and my dad and I have full tummies from a delicious breakfast in Pai'a Town, at the local Anthony's Coffee (their coffee was SO good).  The first stop on our journey to Hana.

We made a quick stop at the Maui Cyclery in order to get my sister a local cycling jersey as a souvenir.

And then, we are hitting the road, Hana or bust.
Before even getting on the official Hana Highway we make our first stop at a little cliff (okay a big cliff) where surfers and paddle boarders were catching waves below us. After a few minutes of watching, we were officially on Highway 360, the Hana Highway.

As we drove through the wide, nicely paved roads (which would soon be the last for a very long time), I started using the Maui Revealed App on my iPad to guide us through the sites. Thankfully, I picked my head up just in time to see a couple taking photographs in a grove of trees on the side of the road, I craned my neck as we cruised past, and yelled to my dad, STOP! PULL OVER! RAINBOW TREES!

He pulled our little rental over and the very next turnout, and we carefully crossed the windy road back to the grove, where we found Rainbow Eucalyptus!

Me and those trees, we had a photoshoot. Right then and there.
If I could have uprooted one, packed it in my suitcase and brought it home with me without penalty of death and dismemberment by Hawaiian Agriculture, I would have.

It was like walking in a Dr Seuss book. Pure, pure magic.
At the time, I couldn't remember their name, or where I had seen them before - because I had seen a picture of these unicorn trees - I was thinking Maui Revealed, but back in the car I couldn't find the picture I saw in my head.

Later on, I realized, PINTEREST. I had seen these trees, and pinned them, on my Wanderlust Board on Pinterest.

Bake it. Make it. See it.
Pinterest dream come true right there.

Right? Right.

Anyway, from here, the Road to Hana was still incredible. But by far, this was my favorite spot. Since we were traveling in July, it is the driest season for the Island and most of the waterfalls were more like watertrickles, if not bone dry.

I mean, I was in Maui. So I'm not complaining. At all.

Everything was lush and green. Just not a lot of flowing water.
I love this picture of my dad. It really shows the perspective of the walls of flora and all the lush greenery we were driving through.

Thankfully, we did manage to find a few waterfalls that were flowing. One in fact, that is actually more exciting when it is low flowing - Three Bears Falls. In the rainy season the three falls become one giant fall, but in the dry season, you get to see the beauty of three separate falls flowing into one pool below.

This was probably the most awesome waterfall we saw, and I was REALLY tempted to climb down to the pool, but there is a really steep few steps down, and I'm really not steady on my feet, and my dad wouldn't be able to help me if I fell or hurt myself. So we just enjoyed it from above. But another time, I might have explored further.

We also caught a drive by waterfall....

And some municipal "waterfalls"

And finally, at one spot, I was able to get up pretty close and personal...

Sadly, even though I was wearing my swimmy, the water was way too stagnant to swim in. The trickle wasn't giving it much flow, and it seemed kinda sketchy. I think this is more than enough reason to plan  another winter or spring time Maui trip!

We continued on the windy and narrow roads continuing our journey to Hana (which the books all say is not about the destination, but the journey!). And we took a 2.5 mile detour down to Nahiku, the tiniest, and I mean tiniest, little village (and that is a big word for this) off the Hana Highway.

We parked our car, and got out to explore the little cliff area at the end of the road. A big family of locals were spending the day picnicing and bbqing together here. We even saw a guy come up from the water with a giant inky squid in hand, throw it in a ziploc to take home for what I assume will be dinner.

Another family sat on the cliffs below, water splashing up, jumping into the less churny side of the water.

Dad and I sat for a few minutes, sipping our iced teas that we had packed and enjoying the crazy amazing views.  Completely worth the 2.5 miles going approximately 2.5 miles per hour.

And this is where the story turns.
It gets a little bit crazy here.
But mostly only for me.

All along the Road to Hana, and particularly on the road to Nahiku, were these adorable honor system fruit and flower stands.  You take what you want, and you leave money in a padlocked box. I really wanted to check out this super pretty one on the way back up to the Hana Highway.

The flowers were magical and the fruit was so interesting. It was such a cool little hut along the side of the road.
And then, I lifted out one of the cool flowers in a bucket. It was this awesome vine like flower, that was dangling like a fishing rod.
Next thing you know, I was attacked by mosquitoes. Literally SWARMED. We got in the car and left. But had all our windows open and it was hardly an escape. I think the water was a breeding ground for the mosquitoes and I unleashed something awful.
I had literally 12 bites on each leg. Slightly traumatizing for me, as I usually swell up terribly with mosquito bites.
Thankfully these guys were supremely itchy, but did not swell up.

Thankfully, we were almost in Hana. And contrary to what all the books and guides say, the destination is pretty awesome in and of itself.

And that concludes the DSLR portion of my day.
There were a few more events that occurred after arriving in Hana.

Such as lunch at Bruddah Hutts - an amazing food truck parked in someone's front yard with the best BBQ on the island (as stated by the locals eating across from us).

And you guys. It totally was.
Seriously, one of the best meals, if not THE best meal, I ate in Hawaii.
Sadly, I could hardly even put a dent in this BBQ Chicken Plate Lunch.
It. Was. Huge.

I made my dad stop at one more road side stand along the way back, so we could scope out the coconut candy and other goodies. I also got an iced coffee (mmm...Maui coffee). And sadly the guy selling sorbet in side of fruit (mango sorbet in a mango, pineapple sorbet in a pineapple) was all sold out, otherwise I would have gotten that too.

We took the Hana Highway back. Going a little faster, with less cars on the road, and a little more knowledge of how and where it was going.

Seriously, one of the biggest highlights of my trip. Especially those rainbow trees.
They do exist, for reals, in nature.
And not just on Pinterest.
I tested them out. They're real.

Linking up, a little early, with Jessica:

Because tomorrow's post is the official 3rd Annual Mug Swap! See you then!

Pintertest Kitchen: Tasty Kitchen Edition

Please say that 5 times fast.

Just about a year ago, Mel invited me and a few other blog friends over for a Pioneer Woman Cookbook Potluck.  It was a super fun gathering of friends trying out some fantastic recipes.
I woke up early that day and made Ree's Texas Sheet Cake. It was delicious. It was not only my contribution to the potluck, but also my Pintertest for August.

A few days before Mel emailed us about this year's potluck, officially the Second Annual, I had pinned a White Texas Sheet Cake recipe, which happens to come from The Pioneer Woman's recipe database website, The Tasty Kitchen.

So, technically I cheated.  This isn't an official Pioneer Woman recipe, however I found it through Ree. So, just roll with it.

Like any good Pioneer Woman recipe, there are a ton of ingredients. Most everything you will have in your cabinets and fridge. I had to go out for sour cream. And I already had almond extract.

There is also a ton of butter. Oh the butter.
So much butter at Mel's potluck.
I think the Pioneer Woman would be proud.

Despite the amount of ingredients, it's a very straightforward easy cake recipe.

The frosting is to die for.

I brought a second cake to work a week later, and my coworkers said it tasted like the chocolate frosting on an old fashioned donut. YUM.

My other favorite thing about this recipe is that the frosting is made while the cake bakes. And you get to frost it immediately. This is a HUGE convenience for me, I like getting the cake made and the dishes done. ASAP.

I hope the rest of the girls didn't mind my cheater recipe too much! (Original Recipe Here) I thought it was delicious, and so were all of theirs. Mel's recap has pictures and links to all of the other recipes used, head over and check them out.

(Photo courtesy of Mel)

Linking up with Jessica!!