Happy, Merry, Whoo Hoo It’s Finally Here Icelandic Pumpkin Bunny-Killer Breakfast Cookies Thanksgiving Eve! My original Thanksgiving Leftovers Cookies were crazy tasty, the 2014 version of Thanksgiving Leftovers Cookies were even more yummilicious, but the 2015 version of Thanksgiving Leftovers Cookies blows both of the previous “leftovers” recipes out of the water. Kaboom! Thank the Lord Almighty Above, because this girl needs a stunningly stupendous cookie to get her through this holiday.
My oh-so-easy holiday has quickly become a last-minute race to the end event. How many of y’all know what I’m talking about? You told yourself, “I’ve got this,” but y’all have quickly come to the realization that you don’t anywhere near the gates of Hell got this shit. You’ll survive, but you won’t do it without an extreme amount of effort and a complete bad-s-word-load of anxiety.
My Thanksgiving Eve will start off by waking up early to take pictures of these pumpkin-laden cookies, edit them, and then insert them into this post. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right? After that, I may just take a shower before heading off to work. Maybe. If I smell like I’ve donned a little bit more perfume than normal, that means the probably didn’t happen.
When I am eventually freed from that demon-world otherwise known as work, I will be headed straight to the market to buy eggs, because my back-up eggs have mysteriously disappeared. I swear I hid an entire dozen of eggs from myself in the back of the fridge, but they have somehow Houdini-vanished. These are the problems I face in my world. Vanishing eggs.
After I finally manage to get those little egg-suckers hard-boiled, I also need to fry up some maple sausage breakfast links, because my plan is to make Maple Sausage Breakfast Deviled Eggs for Thanksgiving day. It’s a semi-plan that I have a general idea of, but we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out. At this point there is no room for error. We all know how well that usually goes. Expect flames, smoke, or at least a cat attack to happen.
Somehow, if I manage to survive all of this, I will most likely be headed off to see the Capitals game with B.O.B. Bob and his nieces in D.C., because B.O.B. Bob is CRAZY INSANE. Sure, let’s head to D.C. during rush hour the evening before a major holiday. Sounds like a Freaking-Insert-Other-F-Word-Here plan to me. Don’t get me wrong. I am excited about spending time with the Matthews clan, but D.C. – Rush Hour – D.C. – B.O.B. Bob’s driving – D.C. – Holiday – Rush Hour…am I the only one thinking that there is no way this will end well?
Can you tell how excited I am about this day? I’m so excited that I’m going to tell you the dirty-down-low truth about these cookies. They aren’t really called Thanksgiving Leftovers Cookies, because they are just begging to be called Icelandic Pumpkin Bunny-Killer Breakfast Cookies. I know right about now you’re thinking I’ve totally lost my mind and forgotten to breathe for the past few minutes, but I swear to you that everything is completely normal.
Cookie Definition: The Icelandic comes from the Icelandic Milk Chocolate used in this recipe, the pumpkin come from both the canned pumpkin and pumpkin seeds used in this particular cookie, and the Bunny-Killer comes from that one Easter chocolate bunny that gave its life to make this cookie over-the-top scrumptious. To top it all off, these cookies taste almost healthy, almost like granola, almost like you could easily eat three of them first thing in the morning without feeling guilty. Breakfast cookies really need to be a thing. Let’s make it a thing. Please.
P.S. “Serenity Now!” Speak it out loud , repeat it, repeat it yet again, and if all else fails, scream it at the top of your lungs. You’ve got this shit.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 3 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
- 2 Eggs, Room Temperature
- 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 3 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 Teaspoon Instant Espresso Coffee
- 2 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
- 2 Cups Finely Chopped Milk Chocolate
- 3/4 Cup Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Additional for Decorating)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- On medium speed, cream the butter and sugars together for 3 minutes.
- Add the honey, pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla; mix for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and instant espresso.
- On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture; mix until just incorporated.
- Use a silicone spatula to fold in the oats, chopped chocolate, and pumpkin seeds.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to drop the dough onto a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Decorate the top of each cookie with 3 pumpkin seeds.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, before removing to a baking rack to finish cooking completely.
Suggestions:
- Freeze your chocolate before chopping to make the job much easier.
- Package the cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.
- This recipe will yield between 5 and 6 dozen cookies.
Improvements:
- Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the cookie dough.
- Instead of decorating the cookies with pumpkin seeds, dip the top of each cookie in chia seeds before baking.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 3 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
- 2 Eggs, Room Temperature
- 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 3 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 Teaspoon Instant Espresso Coffee
- 2 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
- 2 Cups Finely Chopped Milk Chocolate
- 3/4 Cup Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Additional for Decorating)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- On medium speed, cream the butter and sugars together for 3 minutes.
- Add the honey, pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla; mix for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and instant espresso.
- On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture; mix until just incorporated.
- Use a silicone spatula to fold in the oats, chopped chocolate, and pumpkin seeds.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to drop the dough onto a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Decorate the top of each cookie with 3 pumpkin seeds.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, before removing to a baking rack to finish cooking completely.
