I got a little carried away with the baking...

I’ve had a little bit of extra time this week while Andrew is away working, so I planned to accomplish a lot of things that were on my “want-to-do-but-not-necessary-to-live” list.

Maybe the time alone made me a little ambitious, but today I woke up determined to bake. After one batch of cookies, I kept feeling like more (I think the smell and new cookie cutters had something to do with it).

Shortbread, spiced shortbread, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, and two loaves of pumpkin bread were the product of a long afternoon in the kitchen. The kitchen smelled amazing and I got to utilize all of the baking oriented wedding gifts that I’ve been salivating over.

Here are some of my favorite recipes from today:

Spiced Shortbread

• 1 1/4 cups All-Purpose flour
• 3 TBS Brown Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/8 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/2 cup Butter

Preheat oven to 325F.

In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender (or fork for those without), cut in butter until it resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling. Use your hands to shape the mixture into a ball and knead until smooth.

Lightly flour your counter, rolling dough until 1/2” thick.
Now you have two choices: use a cookie cutter or make a “pie” of sorts.

I chose the “pie,” making one large circle and pinching the edges (like a pie crust). Use a sharp knife to make your lines (you'll have to cut them again once you take it out of the oven--before it cools!)

Place your final product on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden-brown. Let cool and enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

• 3 cups Sugar
• 1 cup Cooking Oil
• 4 Eggs
• 3 1/3 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 2/3 cup Water
• 1, 15oz. can Pumpkin

Grease two standard loaf pans, set aside. Beat sugar and oil, adding in the eggs. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients. Alternately add dry mixture and water to the sugar mixture until combined. Divide the batter into the two pans and bake at 350F for 55-65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely—wrap and store overnight before slicing. Super moist and tasty!