Halloween Lollipops

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture in two parts and pumpkin puree in one, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until combined (do not over-mix). Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

To make lollipops:

Drop 1 to 1½ tablespoon-sized scoops onto a baking sheet. I found using a small ice cream scoop worked great to shape the balls. The cookie dough will be sticky, so it’s better to place the balls on the sheet and then insert the lollipop sticks in the center of each ball. Remember to do one ball at a time so you can see how much room you will have on your baking sheet.

Place each ball about 1 ½” apart with the sticks lying horizontally. Once you have laid the cookies onto your sheet and inserted the lollipop sticks, lightly press down on each ball with wet fingers or the bottom of a glass (lightly floured) to flatten slightly.

Bake until puffed and edges are golden, about 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets once during baking. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan on top of a wire rack for 5 minutes. The carefully transfer lollipop cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make cookies:

Follow complete mixing steps above. Then drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto two prepared baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets once during baking. Immediately transfer cookies to wire racks, and cool completely.

Decorating Lollipops:

You will need the following:

* Halloween sprinkles or any others of your choice (I found a great variety pack at Target )

* Melting chocolate, white chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate (I prefer Mercken’s chocolate wafers but you can use Baker’s chocolate baking squares also. YOu can find Mercken’s in a variety of colors, which is another reason why I like them. For this recipe I used the Baker’s chocolate and it worked great, too.)

Melt chocolate according to the package directions. When using the Baker’s chocolate, I melted a complete package at one time. Remember to use a dish that will allow you to dip the lollipops in.

While the chocolate in melting, line a small baking sheet (or anything small and flat) with parchment paper. You will be laying the lollipops on this once you have dipped them, and then you will need to place the lollipops in the refrigerator to cool and dry. This why I suggest using something small and flat, especially if your refrigerator is anything like mine, i.e. not as big as you would like!

Once cookies are completely cooled, gently dip cookies into the chocolate, coating the cookie completely. Transfer cookie to prepared lined baking sheet and decorate with the sprinkles of choice. Continue with the remaining lollipops.

Transfer lollipops to the refrigerator (or freezer) to dry or set the chocolate. Then you can use lollipop bags to package the cookies and close with ribbon of choice.