Danko Family Scoop: SUPER BOWL SNACK THROW DOWN Week 5

Punting Pumpkin Pies

For those of you who are first time visitors, I'm taking part in a Super Bowl Snack Throw Down Challenge through the HIGHLOWAHA website. Your duty is to vote each week for your favorite recipe between me and my competitor Lauren. The links to both food blogs are on the HIGHLOWAHA website. Click on the red oval and vote away! It's been neck and neck every single week. More visitors mean more votes which leads to an awesome competition!

I knew I wanted to make a sweet treat this week since the ingredient was sour cream. After a lot of thinking, debating, recipe trying, and brain storming, I decided on these Punting Pumpkin Pies. Enough words, let's get to the food.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 Tbsp ( 1 stick ) soft unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs *
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

* I did not use eggs in this recipe. I used the Ener G Egg replacer so the boys could enjoy these! Brandon has severe allergies to nuts and eggs. I've used this in gingerbread cookies, banana bread, and even some mini quiches. People who don't have children with food allergies will never understand how hard it is to keep kids, like Brandon, away from deadly ingredients. I've learned how to cook for him, where we can and can't eat out, and how to make sure they get a chance to eat really yummy dishes.

Preparing the cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Blend the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Mix the butter and sugar with mixer on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for 30 seconds. Decrease the speed and blend in the sour cream and pumpkin, only until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and mix just until blended.

Drop tablespoon sized mounds of batter on parchment paper** and mold into a football shape with the back of a spoon. Bake for 12 minutes. While they are cooling, prepare the icing

**Parchment paper is a wonderful little trick to making cookies. I just started using it a few months ago and make sure my kitchen is always stocked with it. What's better than making cookies, throwing away the parchment paper and being done...NO CLEANUP!

Icing

6 Tbsp soft unsalted butter
4 ounces cream cheese softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Mix powdered sugar in on low until combined.

Spread icing on the bottom of half of the cookies. Put the rest of the icing in a ziploc bag, seal it, snip the corner and pipe the football stitching on the top of the other half of the cookies. Sandwich them together and enjoy. This recipe made 30 sandwiches and they are freezable for up to 1 month.