Minnesota, Maple Cookie Sandwiches for Fall

Jen the Juggler. Perhaps that should be my new business card? I don’t have apples, oranges or face-paint, but I do have 15 different tasks, responsibilities and “to-do” items floating right round. It’s an every day game of catch the baby, toss the laundry, and keep my eye on dinner. Steady as I go, and then enter friends, work, and time for smooching my main only man.

Luckily, I juggle with glee. Everything I’m holding and/or tossing is something fundamentally important to me: creating a welcoming home for family, writing and designing for creative projects, and being readily available for good friends. I’m committed to keeping the fundamentals afloat.

Confession: I don’t consider baking and/or cooking a fundamental. I’m dedicated to serving a plated dinner at 7pm, but my meals are usually made by Mr. Kowalski or his friends Lunds and Byerly. For example? I purchase Chicken Dijon and stuffed mushrooms from the deli, and then I bake said items for 25 minutes at 375. A tossed salad with a bit of blueberry vinaigrette, and voila! Dinner, yes, but my contribution to the meal was maybe 5-minutes of shuffling things around.

I have the culinary prowess of a middle schooler, but I’ve got creative recipe ideas to rival the 2015 Le Cordon Bleu valedictorian. This week, for example, my inner chef dreamed about maple-vanilla cookies with a pumpkin crème center. Sounds good, yes? Except we all know I can’t bake. So what did I do? I called 1-800-Food-Scientist. Literally.

Not quite as odd when you know that my good friend Bethany is the food scientist in question. Homegirl has a master’s in food development, works at General Mills, and considers the art of cooking/baking a fundamental. I sent her an email with my pumpkin crème idea, and she said she’d bring the ingredients over the next day.

And the next day at circa 12pm? My baby boy Max played in his Jumperoo, three dogs (my Cockapoo and Bethany’s two Goldens) roamed for crumbs, and we whipped up (I promise I helped!) Minnesota-shaped cookies that tasted exactly how fall feels.

How cute is Max in oh baby! own Max Crown?

 How cute is Max in oh baby!'s own Max Crown?

 

What You Need:

Maple sandwiches:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 ½ tbsp butter, soft
  • 1 tsp maple extract
  • 1/8 tsp stevia extract
  • Minnesota Cookie Cutter (like this one from Bibelot)

Pumpkin crème filling:

  • 4 TBPS unsalted butter, soft
  • ½ cup pure pumpkin
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 5 cups powdered sugar (taste-test as you go and add/reduce to adjust the sweetness to your liking).

We made treat bags while we waited for the dough to chill. The bags are filled with white chocolate covered pretzels, pumpkin candy corn, and sea salt popcorn.

Further Instructions: 

Pumpkin Crème inspired by Wine and Glue: 

http://www.wineandglue.com/2014/09/pumpkin-buttercream-frosting.html


Maple Crème Cookies inspired by All Day I Dream About Food:

http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/09/maple-cream-sandwich-cookies-and-the-best-part.html

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