Pumpkin Cookies

I’ll never forget the first time I had pumpkin cupcakes.  It was around Christmas several years ago, and my sister-in-law made them.  When she told me what kind of cupcakes she made, I grimaced.  Pumpkin?  That can’t be good.  I thought to myself.  Boy, I was SO wrong.  I couldn’t stop eating them, and have made them MANY times since then.

Since then, I’ve been experimenting with pumpkin recipes.  And I’ll be honest, when I open that can of pumpkin puree that will be going into the recipe, it doesn’t look or smell all that appetizing…but literally every recipe that is thrown together with pumpkin turns out to be absolutely delicious.  Since it’s the fall, the perfect opportunities present themselves to experiment with more and more pumpkin recipes.  With these cookies, I was really impressed.  They were thick, soft, and addictive.  The icing on top is just an added sweetness to their yumminess.  I gave some to my sister-in-law to try out since she likes pumpkin recipes, and asked her how she liked them.  She responded, “Yeah, a little too much.  I want the recipe.”  I think she liked them.  😉

For the Cookies:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar, beat with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy.  Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, continue mixing until smooth.  In a separate smaller bowl, add all dry ingredients.  Gradually add dry ingredients to mixture, and continue beating until well combined.  Using a cookie scoop, place on cookie sheet or baking stone.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a very light golden brown on top.  Cool cookies on cooling rack.

For the Cookie Icing:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3-1/2 cup milk (based on desired consistency)

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

combine all ingredients in small mixing bowl, and stir together until your desired consistency.  You’ll want it to be thick, but runny.  Dip completely cooled cookies one by one into icing.  place back on cookie sheet for icing to set.  Store in airtight container.

*Add some extra zing to these cookies by throwing in a bag of cinnamon chips or mini chocolate chips!