Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

NEWSLETTER
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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Food for thought

The air temperature has turned from hot and humid to crisp and cool. Thoughts of apple cider and pumpkins come to mind. Besides being cut into jack-o-laterns, pumpkins also have several culinary uses like eating the seeds or making soup, tortellini, pie, ice cream and cookies.

These cookies are a great way to celebrate fall, Halloween or Thanksgiving. To cook with fresh pumpkin, cut off the top of the pumpkin and remove all of the seeds with a spoon or a scoop leaving the inside hollow (Take the seeds and dry them and then bake them with some salt in a toaster oven or conventional oven on top for a good snack). Cut the shell of the pumpkin into small pieces. Make sure to cut the outer skin off. Place the pieces into boiling water and cook them until they become soft. Keep cooking the pumpkin until a fork can break the pieces apart. Let it cool. This is important so they do not cook the other ingredients. Place the pieces in a blender or hand mash them and then measure out the amount needed for a particular recipe.

It is much easier and cleaner to stick with canned pumpkin, which can be found in the baking section of any grocery store. If pureed pumpkin cannot be found, pumpkin pie filling or butternut squash puree are fine substitutes. The only difference with pie filling is that it already has spices and a strong flavor already, therefore, additional spices are unnecessary.

– 2 C all-purpose flour
– 1 t pumpkin spice (cinnamon or nutmeg can be substituted or the spice can be left out entirely)
– 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
– 1 C brown sugar
– 1 C unsweetened pumpkin puree
– 2 eggs
– 1 T vanilla extract
– 1 t baking soda
– About 1 C white chocolate chips and 1 C halved pecans. For a Halloween twist, substitute with black and orange M&M’s. Regular chocolate chips can also be used.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine flour, spices and baking soda in a small bowl. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the pumpkin puree. After mixing well, add the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. Be sure not to over mix the batter. Stop when the ingredients have combined. Lightly stir in the chocolate and nuts. Place dough on a cookie sheet in balls about 2 inches a part and bake for 20-22 minutes. Transfer the cookies onto wire wracks or a piece of aluminum foil to help the cooling process.

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