Orange Pumpkin Scone Cookie Cut Outs Recipes

ORANGE PUMPKIN SCONE COOKIE CUT-OUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In mixer bowl on medium speed, blend butter, brown sugar and orange rind until well mixed. Add egg, pumpkin and vanilla and mix some more until nicely incorporated.
• In separate bowl, sift together flour and spices. Add to mixer bowl and mix until a very loose dough forms. Turn dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, form a ball, covered with wrap. Chill 1 hour.
• On surface lightly dusted with confectioner's sugar, roll dough out about 1/4" thick. Use cutters to shape cookies. Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown on bottoms (like a scone).
• Cool cookies on rack. While still warm I spread a scone glaze on top: mix confectioners sugar, a little orange juice, cinnamon, and vanilla extract until a thin glaze forms. Spread over warm cookies. I also add raisins as decorations, adhered to the glaze, at this point.

GINGER COOKIE CUT-OUTS

Steps:

• Beat butter or margarine, pudding mix, and egg with an electric mixer on medium speed until well-blended.
• Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Gradually add to pudding mixture, beating well after each addition. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on lightly-floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes (we use a 4" long gingerbread man cutter). Place a greased baking sheets.
• Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from baking sheets. Cool on wire racks.

PUMPKIN-OAT SCONES

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, and cloves together in a mixing bowl. Cut the cold butter into the mixture with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas or smaller. Whisk the pumpkin puree, 2 tablespoons cold milk, the egg, and vanilla together in a small bowl; fold into the flour mixture until just blended.
• Divide dough into two sections on a lightly floured surface. Gather each into a ball and knead about 10-12 times. Flatten balls to 1/2-inch thickness on a non-stick baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between the rounds. Cut rounds into sixths with a butter knife, but do not separate the wedges.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the bottoms and edges are just golden brown, 12 to 16 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• While the scones cool, mix the confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, remaining pinch of ginger, and dash of cinnamon together in a small bowl. Add more milk to thin the frosting as needed. Pour the frosting into a sealable plastic bag. Snip off a corner of the bag and drizzle icing over the cooled scones in a zigzag fashion. The icing will harden as it cools.

ORANGE PUMPKIN FACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Put the butter in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the flour, icing sugar and orange zest and beat together to make a softish dough. Knead into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for 1 hour.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut 24 circles with a 7.5 cm round plain cutter. Put them on a couple of baking sheets.
• Using a small sharp knife, cut out Hallowe'en faces on 12 of the circles. Gather up the spare biscuit dough and press into pumpkin stem shapes, trimming with a sharp knife. Press to the top of each biscuit with a knife to join. Make lines on the face biscuits with the back of a roundbladed knife, to look like the markings on a pumpkin. Bake all the biscuits for about 15 minutes until pale golden. Leave to set for a while, then cool completely on a wire rack.
• Mix the glaze ingredients to make a smooth, runny icing, adding a bit more juice if needed, then set aside. For the filling, beat the mascarpone with the icing sugar, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate.
• Spread the filling over the cooled plain biscuits, then press the 'face' ones on top - do this just before you want to eat them, otherwise they go soft. Brush with the glaze, using a clean paint brush or pastry brush. Eat the same day.