Orange Honey Butter

I certainly hope you guys don't think I'm insulting your intelligence. I'm sure you loyal readers are super savvy. I stress this because I know you guys can probably figure out how to mix together honey and butter to make, well, honey butter. I mostly just wanted to post this so I could tell you guys about this flavor combination and tell you to make these super delicious ginger cakes from Roost. The little spiced cakes are perfect for this colder weather and are perfectly paired with the sweet/salty/citrus-y honey butter.

Orange Honey Butter
Makes about 1 cup

1 cup salted butter, at room temperature (do yourself a favor and use Irish butter)
1/4 cup honey (I used orange blossom honey)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest

Place all ingredients in a bowl and blend with an electric mixer (or in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment) until everything is completely blended together. Spoon into jars and keep in the refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies with Nutella Cream

When you have a blog, there is a lot of pressure to be clever, or thoughtful, or have a super interesting story as to how you came up with your awesome recipe. And you know what? Sometimes I DO have really interesting and clever things to say . . . about life, and not about cookies. But, you guys don't get to hear those things, because this is a recipe blog. And sometimes, I just get inspiration to make boring pumpkin chocolate chip cookies way more interesting with Nutella. And that's all there is to the story. Perhaps I'll have a more interesting one next time, but, in the meantime, I'll be making more deliciously fall-ish cookies :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

makes about 30 sandwiches

For the cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (containing xanthan gum)

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used semisweet)

For the filling:

1 cup Nutella (or other hazelnut-chocolate spread)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons heavy cream

In a mixer, cream together butter, both sugars, and vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl. Stir together both flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Add to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Scoop by heaping tablespoon onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, until cookies are set but still soft. Remove from oven and wait several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before filling.

To make the filling, mix together all ingredients with an electric mixer until fully combined. Spread about 1 tablespoon of filling onto a cookie and cover with another.