Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting from Lianna Hawkins

 

    This time of year, my family looks forward to not only time together but the extra special dinners coming their way. I'm a baker, so pies are one of my favorite desserts to make. I especially love decorating them with cute cookie cutter shapes like stars, fall leaves, and hearts. Last year, I changed things up by making a different dessert. Since we can only eat so much food, I chose to make cookies instead. Try these Pumpkin Cookies for something different this holiday season.  

PUMPKIN COOKIES INGREDIENTS:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, plus extra for sprinkling
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces (1 brick) low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar


HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN COOKIES:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until combined. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add in the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat on medium speed until just combined. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.
4. Drop on cookie sheet by heaping tablespoonfuls (I usually use a cookie scoop), then use a spoon to flatten them a little. (These cookies will puff up a little rather than flatten out during baking, so they won’t rise much)
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are cooked through and bounce back slightly if you touch them. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool until they reach room temperature. Then frost or drizzle with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with an extra pinch of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon if you’d like. Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

 
 
HOW TO MAKE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

1. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla together on medium-high speed until smooth. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until it is all combined and the frosting is smooth. If it is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of milk or water until it reaches your desired consistency. If it is too thin, add in more powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency you want.

 
Enjoy this tasty treat!
Lianna

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LOST TREASURE OF THE WILD WEST by Lianna Hawkins

 

Stories of lost treasure in the Wild West have inspired the idea for my third book, THE BOUNTY’S BETRAYAL, in my Runaway Outlaws series. I’m currently drafting this western romance due to release in 2022. Duke Logan and Samantha (Sam) Beckett chase a lost treasure in the wild Montana Territory of 1887.

There are numerous legends of outlaws who robbed stagecoaches or trains in the Wild West. With the threat of a posse after them, outlaws often would bury the loot. For those captured, retrieving it was impossible. To this day we wonder where all that loot is still buried, waiting to be discovered.

Over the centuries, thousands of stories have been told and retold. Have you heard the famous pirate legend of Jean Lafitte? According to the legend, Lafitte buried 20 chests of stolen treasure formerly belonging to the Emperor Napoleon. He buried the treasure in several locations along the Texas and Louisiana coast. Every now and then, a few lost gold coins surface and keep the legend of Lafitte alive.

Then there are the notorious outlaws of the Wild West like Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and the Wild Bunch. They are credited with burying thousands of dollars in Irish Canyon—a remote place in the Colorado Uintah Mountains. Some doubt this story because if they hid the mass fortune within reach, why travel all the way to Bolivia to start over? Perhaps they went to Bolivia with more than their bad reputations.

The fun part of these legends arises when we wonder where fact and fiction blend. As an author of historical western romance,  I draw ideas from the fascinating history of the American Wild West. 

See you next time,  

Lianna

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Book 1 Available at:

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Book Blurb:

Duke Logan, a down-on-his-luck treasure hunter, was more determined than ever to find the elusive Captain’s Loot treasure. His father’s death spurred him on to find the missing clue necessary to solve the old outlaw legend. His adventure is only beginning when he shows up in the Montana Territory seeking the information he desperately needed. Instead, he finds a feisty dark-haired beauty who refuses to hand over the clue. Will Duke convince Sam to join him in the quest to find the lost treasure? Or will the treasure forever be lost?

Samantha (Sam) Beckett has successfully carved out a new life for herself, as a single woman. She swore off any man who wanted something from her. There was no chance of saying “I do” in her future. When Duke Logan shows up in town, wanting the very thing she yearned for, she digs in with more determination than ever. She refuses to lose out on the tantalizing dream of finding treasure she herself had searched for.

Their treasure hunt will thrill you as Duke and Sam dodge booby-traps, fight rival treasure hunters, and follow a worn treasure map leading them past betrayal, greed, and a centuries old legend more dangerous than they could have imagined.

Will Duke and Sam fall in love with more than a dream of holding the lost Captain’s gold? Or become yet another long line of cursed souls?

Butternut Squash Recipe

 

Ingredients: 
1 butternut squash-peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil 
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and ground pepper to taste
 
Directions:
Step 1:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Step 2: Toss butternut squash with olive oil and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and black pepper. Arrange coated squash on baking sheet. 
Step 3:  Roast in the preheated oven until squash is tender and lightly browned, 25 - 30 minutes.

​NOTE:  If you don't want to cube butternut squash, you can simply cut in half, take seeds out, and then season with olive oil, garlic, and salt/pepper. It may take a little longer to cook. Take out when tender and browned.

See you next month,

Lianna Hawkins
Award-Winning Author of Western Romance
www.Lianna Hawkins.com

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THE PONY EXPRESS by Lianna Hawkins

The history of the wild west has always been a fascination for me. I’ve started to design my next series while writing book three in my Runaway Outlaws series. Part of this process is searching history for inspiration. I came across the Pony Express which holds a short window of time in history. Only a year and half. Here are some fun facts about this unique way the U.S. mail was delivered.

Photo from the National Pony Express Association

 

1.    ~The Pony Express was more than twice as fast as its competitors. In March of 1861, riders carried the inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln from Nebraska to California in just seven days, 17 hours. The average time was 10 days compared to an overland stagecoach taking 25 days.

2.      ~It never made a profit. When the Pony Express closed in October of 1861, it had lost around 200,000 dollars.

3.      ~There was a weight limit to be a rider. Most of us picture tough cowboys as riders, but in actuality most of the riders were small, wiry men who weighed between 100 and 125 pounds.

4.      ~The riders had to take a loyalty oath.

5.     ~ Mail was carried in a specially designed saddle bag.

6.     ~ Ordinary people usually never used the Pony Express.

7.    ~  Robert “Pony Bob” Haslam made a historic ride by traveling 380-miles run in less than two days.

8.     ~The riders didn’t have the most dangerous job in the Pony Express. Being the stock keeper at the transfer stations wasn’t safe due to them being vulnerable to ambush.

9.     ~Buffalo Bill was more likely not a Pony Express rider even though he claimed to be in his autobiography.

~The transcontinental telegraph was the historical event that finally finished the Pony Express. 

Ellie Beckett and her sisters have spent more than a decade trying to move on from their outlaw past. When Henry Weston arrives at the sisters’ business, Fallen Dove Saloon and Hotel, demanding part of their profits, Ellie schemes a plan to take him down before he does the same to them. But, when Liam Holt arrives wanting to rescue her, even though Ellie insists she doesn’t need rescuing, both Ellie and Liam collide head on with her past.

Liam Holt arrives in Helena, Montana with a motive to not only track down an outlaw but escape a life of privilege. At least long enough for him to figure out what he wants.

When Liam meets Ellie Beckett his plan spins out of control. With danger lurking, he wants nothing more than to protect her. For the first time in his life, he knows what he wants and that is to make the fiery red-head his. Though she refuses to make this an easy task, he’s determined to win her heart.

As the pages turn, sparks fly, igniting a fire between them not even they can stop. Will love win or will unforeseen circumstances keep them apart?

See you next month,

Lianna Hawkins
Award-Winning Author of Western Romance
www.LiannaHawkins.com

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