These are the pumpkin muffins I described earlier, as well as some cheese muffins from a recipe I adapted from a Cooking Light recipe (I'll post it if anyone is interested).
I also baked the rest of the chocolate cookies, and made the amazing espresso shortbread cookies, which I believe originally came from a Dorie Greenspan recipe (it's only a matter of time before I break down and buy her fabulous cookbook) [Edit: I found one for 1/2 price on Amazon. I broke down and bought it. That didn't take long]. I've made these shortbread cookies twice. I don't keep expresso powder on hand, so I used instant coffee instead. One time I used 2 tablespoons and the other time I only used 1; go with the higher amount. I also tried it with dark chocolate and with toffee/chocolate. I didn't think it made a huge difference one way or the other; the toffee flavor doesn't really come out.
(shortbread)
(shortbread and chocolate cookies)
And lastly I made my usual chocolate chip cookies for the Sunday school class. This is a recipe I've adapted from a Mrs. Fields cookbook.
Cream together:
1/2 C butter (Earth Balance works fine for this recipe; I have a relative who is allergic to milk so I've tried it quite successfully).
1/2 C brown sugar
(optional: add 1/4 C white sugar in addition to brown sugar. I don't because I don't like super-sweet cookies, but I do find some people prefer it).
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg/ener-G equivalent (I use the equivalent because then you can eat the cookie dough without having to worry about salmonella. Also it's cheaper).
Add in:
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1.25 C flour
Mix until blended, then throw in a few handfuls of chocolate chips (the more the better; I probably use about a cup).
Eat cookie dough.
Bake remaining dough at 325 for 10-15 minutes (my oven runs pretty hot, so it doesn't take long). I like to take them out when they look just barely underdone and leave them on the cookie sheet to cool. This allows them to bake that last little bit while staying soft).
