While my five-year-old is pretty much the standard issue five-year-old when it comes to her love of pizza, macaroni, hot dogs, and pretty much anything you can find on any American restaurant's kids' menu, she has a pretty sophisticated palette when it comes to sweet treats. Many of her favorite Fall treats are of the pumpkin spice variety, with a major breakfast favorite being Trader Joe's pumpkin biscotti; that was this morning's breakfast request. Much to her displeasure, I informed her that TJ's doesn't have them in store yet, and that is only a seasonal thing. Having some canned pumpkin puree and my trusty Penzeys Pumpkin Pie Spice on hand, I decided to check out King Arthur's online recipe library. Lo and behold, they had just what I needed. I followed this recipe to the letter, opting for cinnamon sugar over the sparkling sugar, which my daughter doesn't seem to like. The final result: a perfect balance of pumpkin and spice in a super crunchy cookie that is perfect for dunking in a hot cup of coffee or tea; or hot chocolate if you are the standard issue five-year-old! The only thing I would do differently the next time around--and there will be a next time around--is to set the final bake to about 40 minutes, as some of the cookies browned a little too much on the edges.
Added bonus: It is one of those awesome "dump everything in one bowl" types of recipes, and most of the ingredients will likely be in any baker's pantry. I didn't even pull out the stand mixer; a hand mixer worked just fine. I found that lightly wetting my hands made the dough much easier to shape than trying with my bowl scraper. Thanks to this recipe, which was pumpkin spice loving five-year-old kid approved, no more TJ's pumpkin spice biscotti will be making an appearance in our home!
