Pumpkin Pie Spice Chips - Perfect for Fall Baking

I've never seen pumpkin pie spice chips - in a store or online. So, let me be the first to introduce you to pumpkin pie spice chips - the new fall baking ingredient that will creep its way into:

• Cupcakes
• Pancakes
• Scones
• Cookies
• Muffins
• Waffles
• Cakes
• ...and more!

When you add pumpkin pie spice chips to your baked goods, you'll be met with small explosions of pumpkin pie spice flavor throughout your whole eating experience.  I'll be sharing a couple of recipes using these chips later this week, so check back soon!


How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Chips

I based my homemade pumpkin spice chips on a recipe from Mind Over Batter for homemade cinnamon chips.  The chips are not waxy like store-bought cinnamon chips; their texture more closely resembles wet sand.  When they are melted in baked goods, they remain more coarse than their counterparts, but are equally pleasing.  Aside from changing the cinnamon to pumpkin pie spice, the only other change that I made from Mind Over Batter's recipe was to replace the shortening with unsalted butter. Here's the recipe with my notes:

Yield: 1 cup pumpkin pie spice chips

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (If you can't find pumpkin pie spice, you can make homemade pumpkin pie spice with a recipe from My Baking Addiction.  You can also use any other spice you like.  How about ginger chips?)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 F.
2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until they are well combined.  The mixture should be crumbly.
3. Place the mixture onto a parchment- or Silpat-lined cookie sheet and press on it with your hands until you have a blob that's about 1/4 inch thick.  It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, since it will spread and smooth as it bakes.
4. Bake for 35 minutes or until mixture is melted and a little bubbly.
5. Cool completely.
6. Take one small piece at a time of the cooked blob and smoosh it into a chip like shape.  It's near impossible to give your pumpkin pie spice chips perfect chip shapes - remember, they are homemade.  It's OK.  The fun part of making homemade chips is making them any size you like.  Maybe you'd like three jumbo chips in your cookies, or perhaps you'd prefer ten mini chips. It's up to you.
7. Use in your favorite fall recipes.  When using the chips in a recipe, be sure to fold them into the batter very gently.  They can easily fall apart if not handled with care.