Pumpkin Seed Pesto

 

Oh I love me some good pesto! I love it so much I could probably eat it as a side dish :) So when my brother in law stopped by the house with a bag full, a full bag full, of basil leaves from his garden, my heart went soaring!! Obviously I was going to make pesto. Well, it didn't work out quite like that. Let me explain. About this time I had noticed that our cupboards and our freezer were filled to max capacity. Tons and tons of ingredients bought with good intention and then never realized. So my goal for the month was to try my hardest to use the ingredients in the cupboards and freezer to free up some space....so that I could start the cycle all over again! :) That being said I noticed that I had a package of pumpkin seeds that I'm sure I was going to use for some crazy awesome recipe but instead became forgotten and landed on the dusty shelf along with the powdered wasabi and can of sardines. 

So with pesto in the back of my mind and the vision of the bag of pumpkin seeds in the forefront, a crazy scenario came about! What if the pesto and the pumpkin seeds got married but the pumpkin seeds cheated on the basil with parsley and voila they had a love child.....pumpkin seed pesto. Yup, that's what happened in this story. And I'm glad it did cause the ending tasted sooooo good! And for that bag full of basil, well its still sitting in the bag in the refrigerator recovering.

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin seeds

8-10 Tbl olive oil

salt and pepepr to taste

3/4 cup water

2 Tbl lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

1 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Combine seed in a food processor with water, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and cheese. Pulse slowly adding the olive oil until mixture forms a course paste. Taste for salt and pepper. Cover and chill until ready to use.

*If you cannot find pumpkin seeds at your local grocery store you can always crack open your Halloween pumpkins and roast cleaned and oiled pumpkin seeds in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

White Chocolate and Toffee Pumpkin Cookies

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting...and waiting for Fall to come. As of two weeks ago California was still melting under 100 degree weather. I was looking forward to our much needed family vacation at the coast so I could bundle up in warm sweaters, scarves and snuggle under a blanket. Wrong! Apparently the coast didn't get the memo because they were experiencing unusually warm weather. No sweaters or scarves were worn and definitely no blanket snuggling. 

To my surprise the week we got back from vacation northern California's temperatures had plummeted 30 degrees! Hooray I say! So in commemoration of the long awaited Fall I am kicking it off with one of my favorite pumpkin cookie recipes. Hopefully wherever you are, whether warm or cool this will get you in the mood for the changing season and holidays to come!

White Chocolate and Toffee Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 can (15 oz) 100% pure pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups toffee pieces, and more for topping

Glaze:

2 cup powdered sugar

2-2 1/2 Tbl milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour , pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in white chocolate chips and toffee pieces. Drop large rounded tablespoons on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges just start to become golden brown. Let cool before icing.

To prepare the icing place white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl with milk.  Heat in 30 second increments until the white chocolate is melted and smooth. Add vanilla and whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.

Once cookies have cooled top with icing and let it cascade down the cookie. Top with toffee pieces and enjoy!