Peach Pie Cookies #thecreativecookieexchange

One of the best things about Summer is definitely the fresh fruit, especially peaches! I love, love, love me some peaches. Peach Cobbler is my absolute favorite dessert (although at certain times of the month, it might be a tie with Chocolate Chip Cookies).

The theme for this month's Creative Cookie Exchange is "Celebrating the End of Summer" and while I'm all about doing a happy dance to celebrate the end of hot Summer days, I am always sad to say goodbye to my beloved peach so of course I just had to pay homage to my favorite fruit.

Peach Pie "Cookies" is just my creative way of saying "peach pie that you can shove in your mouth without looking like an insane person" because that is absolutely what you'll want to do when you bite into one of these babies. I literally almost swooned when I took my first bite. I felt my knees start to buckle and everything, and you know when that happens, you're onto something good.

If heaven were a flavor, this would be it. Who's with me?

Peach Pie Cookies
Makes 12 large cookies or 14-15 small muffin size cookies

Note: For this recipe I used my Whoopie Pie pan but standard size muffin/cupcake pans will work also, you'll just get more cookies


Ingredients:
1 9" pie crust (use premade or your favorite homemade recipe)
2 large yellow peaches, peeled and diced (approx. 1/4" in size)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons golden or light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
zest of one small lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Approx 1/4 cup water

Streusel Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

Directions:

Spray your whoopie pie pan (or cupcake/muffin pan if using) generously with non-stick cooking spray.

Make the streusel by combining all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and cutting in the butter with 2 knives or a pastry cutter. Set aside.

Place the diced peaches, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch and lemon zest in a small saucepan and toss with a rubber spatula to coat. Add the lemon juice and water and stir. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the peaches start to become tender (approx. 5 minutes). Note: If the mixture becomes too dry/thickened while you're cooking it, add a little more water.

Remove from heat, place filling in a bowl and allow to cool to room temp.

Cut the pie dough into 12 circles (if using a whoopie pie pan) using a cookie cutter or approx. 14-15 if using standard muffin/cupcake pans. The dough should fit into the bottom of each well without any gaps. Tip: You don't want the pie dough to be too thin because it is the "base" of your cookie. I cheated and used a premade dough and just unrolled it without rolling it out any further. Keep this in mind if using homemade pie dough.

Place the cut circles of dough into the bottom of each greased well. Evenly divide the cooled pie filling into each well and top with the streusel. Then spray the tops with canola oil spray.

Bake at 350 for approx. 20 minutes or until the streusel is set and browned. Tip: You want to make sure the crust is nice and crispy so the cookies are easy to remove and the bottom is a sturdy base for the filling.

Remove from oven and place the pan(s) on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Gently run a thin/sharp knife around the edges to loosen the pies and remove to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

These cookies are best enjoyed the day they are made.

Summer is almost over, and we have cookies to remember it by! Hint: a lot of these cookies could be made and frozen, to pull out a slice of summer in February! You can also use us as a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

• Apple Shortbread Cookies with Apple Cider Mascarpone Frosting by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Apricot Pochettes by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Blackberry and Cream Monte Carlos by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Black Forest Cookies by Spiceroots
• Blueberry Cookies by The Spiced Life
• Kiwi Thumbprints by Flours and Frostings
• Lemon Basil Cookies with Mint by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Lemon Meltaways by Oven Delights
• Lemon Sour Cream Cookies by Magnolia Days
• Orange Creamsicle Cookies by 2 Cookin Mamas
• Peach Pie Cookies by Live. Bake. Love.
• Pecan Sandies by Food Lust People Love
• S'mores Blondies by A Baker's House
• Strawberry & Cream Cookies by Baking in Pyjamas

Pineapple Carrot Muffins

My first test run on this muffin recipe was a few months ago when we were having a breakfast at Faye's (the brains behind LiveBakeLove).  She had invited a few friends and their kids to just hangout and have breakfast.  She asked me to bring muffins since we were going to have kids around.  I have a basic muffin recipe which I have posted on LivebakeLove a few times using different flavor combinations, love the recipe.  Since pineapple is in season right now, it's cheap and perfectly sweet so I thought this would be a good starting point for a muffin.  I was going to follow my normal recipe and add pineapple  and carrots when I realized I didn't have enough all purpose flour, but I did have wheat flour and cake flour.  So I said, what the heck.. let me give it a try. There you have it, the creation of my Pineapple Carrot Muffins!

 

Honestly, these muffins are so delicious, no wonder the kids at the party loved them so much. And the funny thing is they were eating fruit and veggies without knowing it. 

 

I decided to remake the recipe this past weekend and brought it to a potluck party.  I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top of them and served them as "cupcakes" without frosting, well... a hit again!  The flavor of the fresh pineapple and carrots with a hint of cinnamon makes these muffins delicious. Not overly sweet, but just enough sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth.

 

I hope you give these muffins a try.

 

Happy Cooking Everyone

Pineapple Carrot Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
3/4  cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup fresh crushed pineapple
1 egg, room temp
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

Prep-work:
1. Carrots- I took, grated carrots you find already packaged at the store and put them in my food processor for about 1 minute. Love the way the carrots grate down to little bits. You will need 1 cup of these grated carrots.

2. Pineapple- I took fresh pineapple which I had cut into chunks and put them in my food processor for about 1 minute. Once done, I drained the excess juice.  You will need 1 cup of the crushed pineapple.

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk the three flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the egg, milk, cooking oil and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.

3. Add the carrot and pineapple to flour mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until combined. Mixture will appear crumbly.

4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stir just until moistened, but do not over mix or you will have tough muffins.

5. Divide mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups

6. Bake for 20-24 minutes at 375 degrees.
7. Muffins will appear fluffy.

8. Serve warm or wait 10 minutes to cool and sprinkle with powder sugar.