Welcome Fall!!

Poor little neglected blog...turns out I haven't felt like baking in months! Something about being pregnant affects my sweet tooth and man is it sad. Lucky for me Fall has come and I always get the itch to bake, especially pumpkin themed or anything that seems related to the season. I'm taking a bit of a break from chocolate since it tastes terrible for the time being. I guess that will lead me on to explore some other things I would otherwise overlook with my chocolate obsession. The other week I made some baked pears with raspberry sauce...not something I would usually even consider as a dessert...needless to say they were quite delicious and really hit the spot without making me too sick.

Today Rachel and I pulled out a fun recipe I've had for a couple of years...Candy Corn Cookies. It comes from the Martha Stewart publication "Everyday Food" and was sent to me a by my sister-in-law Tracy. Since my two favorite sweets lately have been candy corn and vanilla tootsie rolls I thought they would fit the bill-and they did! I really liked the recipe because it didn't make too many-one pan full, which was perfect for us. They were just the right buttery texture with the added sweetness of the little candy corn gem in the center.

Welcome Fall! I look forward to many happy days of baking...maybe pumpkin bread pudding, pumpking cookies, and pumpkin bread-not to mention something apple pie-ish. Just thinking about it makes me happy!

Candy Corn Cookies

4 T. unsalted butter, very soft

1/2 c. sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 t. vanilla

1/4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

about 36 candy corns

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter and sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour, and mix until a dough forms. Scoop out level teaspoons of dough, and roll into balls (chill dough briefly if it becomes too soft to handle.) Place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch (do not let cookies color), 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly.) Cool on sheets 1 minute, transfer to a rack to cool completely.

*note* I rolled some of mine in orange sugar before baking to give them a little extra festive look!