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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Squash Sugar Cookies, Take Two!


Undecorated allows you to see how nicely they
are rolled and cut as well as the bits of squash and
spices in this wonderful Fall-ish cookie!
In early August, Ian asked for a spice cheesecake for his birthday.  I didn't recall having a recipe for a spice cheesecake but we looked back at the blog because he remembered I had made one before.  We found a 2010 recipe for Squash Chocolate Cheesecake.  He said "yes, that's the one"!  I was so surprised!  Squash? I asked of the "vegetable-hater"... Yes, he confirmed...that's the one.  Fortunately, I've got a couple of cups of roasted and peeled acorn squash in the freezer - it's a wonderful staple to have on hand for sweets (I use it often in lieu of pumpkin) and as a wonderful addition to soups.  The recipe only called for a cup of the squash, so I decided to re-make the Squash Sugar Cookie recipe, I had also done in 2010, with the remaining squash.

I noticed, when reviewing that recipe, that it didn't include any egg.  Huh?  Was that a mistake?  I tried to find the source recipe and it is no longer posted on the B&B Recipe web site.  Hmmmm.  I set out some butter and followed the recipe and I have to say "this MUST be a mistake"...the dough was way too crumbly.

After 2 1/2 more years of baking experience since I developed that recipe, I knew of a couple of tweaks that would make a much nicer cookie...still keeping the sweet flavor of the squash silently in the background.  So, here's the recipe I ended up with.  The texture is now perfect for rolling and I can only apologize if anyone tried to make the one I posted in 2010!!!  I try to be very careful...but sometimes mistakes happen...and I think that may have been one of those times.

Printable Recipe

Squash Sugar Cookies, Take Two!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup drained, dry, roasted acorn squash (I squeezed the squash in a cotton kitchen towel, twisting until quite dry - then I pulsed it in the food processor...I remember the previous cookies having some long strands of squash - the food processor didn't truly puree the squash, but it did cut the long strands)
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until combined.  Add squash and mix until combined.  Add egg and vanilla bean paste and mix until well incorporated.

In a 4-cup measuring cup, mix all of the dry ingredients with a whisk and add to the wet mixture in the mixer bowl.  Mix just until blended.

Divide dough in two parts.  Form a disk and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour - preferably 2 or 3 hours for a nice rolled cookie.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove dough 5 minutes prior to being ready to roll the dough.  Roll either on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper.
Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut various shapes.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet or on a baking mat lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on thickness (some thick cookies that were cut with a large cutter took 13-14 minutes to bake...light brown along the bottom edge is the indicator).  Allow to cool on rack before decorating with a glaze or buttercream frosting....or royal icing if you want to decorate nicely!


These are a great Fall flavored spice cookie with an unusual cookie ingredient.  However, they are great any time of the year.  They are an awesome cookie!  The photos I took were of the naked cookies...the next post will include some of these that I baked recently and decorated for an on-the-beach birthday party.  Keep an eye out for that!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!




 

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