Fall Food

Well, it's not officially fall (yet) but it's beginning to feel a little bit like it outside and it sure as heck looks like fall (well, winter actually) outside my windows. With fall comes leaves changing, sweaters (or sweatshirts in my case), boots, crisp-air smells, fresh apples (and subsequently crock pot applesauce), a different schedule, darker evenings and fall foods.

Our community group is starting up again this week and Mike & I are down to bring dinner for this first go-round. Our group consists of 9 couples and fixing dinner for everyone (and dessert, of course) is seriously a treat. We made it through the rotation 2x last year before we broke for summer, meaning we got lots of different dinners from everyone. I've decided to kick off our group this year with my very favorite Crock Pot Chili, Fritos, cornbread and homemade Carrot Cake Cookies. You've heard me mention The Noisy Rabbit before (the food co-op that we're apart of)...and I'm trying my darndest to use up all of our veggies - what better way to use those massive carrots than in cookies?! (: Stay tuned & I'll let you know how they are!

If you're interested in trying them for yourselves (or like me, you have a plethora of carrots lying around...) here's the recipe:

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe here)

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside.
• Combine (brown & white) sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until well combined. 
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. 
• Mix in oats and carrots. 
• Chill dough in refrigerator until firm *at least 1 hour*
• Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. 
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. 
• Once cooled completely, spread cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie.