Pumpkin Cookies

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These cookies always get rave reviews any time I made them. They are super soft – almost like little handheld cakes. They are not sickeningly sweet – the pumpkin cookie with the warm fall pumpkin pie spices is just the right balance with the cream cheese frosting. This entry will take you through each step of making this easy and delicious cookie!

Start by making the dough for the cookies. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a bowl.

Then in a mixer, cream the 1/2 cup of butter and the sugar. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer. Once those are combined, add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and beat until creamy. Then, slowly add the flour mixture until the dough is combined. It will look like this:

Now, this is the hardest part of the whole process. You need to resist the urge to sit down with a spoon and eat all of this delicious goodness. You can sneak a taste – but using it for the cookies will be worth it – I promise. (Also, I know that you are supposed to not eat raw dough. But let’s be honest – I have been around the sun quite a few times, and I have never been taken out by cookie dough. And trust me – I have had a fair amount!)

Drop the dough by tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. I use a cookie scoop and grab an overflowing scoop of dough. You need to flatten out the dough slightly – i just used the back of the cookie scoop to flatten it out a bit.

By the way – I do think a cookie sheet can have a huge impact on how cookies turn out. I have used a million different ones, from brand name professional sheets to the cheap ones that are super thin. These cookie sheets I bought on a whim to give them a try a few years back and I LOVE them. I am pretty fussy about kitchen supplies when they can have an impact on your food, and I seriously love these. They don’t stick, they cook evenly, they still look brand new and I have used them a million times. I cannot recommend them enough.

 

Bake at 350^o for 15-20 minutes. You don’t want to see these getting brown. Basically, you are looking for them to be firm and no longer shiny. I tend to check these a minute or 2 before just because I don’t want them to get over done. Every oven is different, so I like to check. When they are finished, transfer them to a cooling rack after a few minutes. I don’t like to do it immediately after they come out. Let them sit about 4-5 minutes, and then transfer them.

Bake at 350^o for 15-20 minutes. You don’t want to see these getting brown. Basically, you are looking for them to be firm and no longer shiny. I tend to check these a minute or 2 before just because I don’t want them to get over done. Every oven is different, so I like to check. When they are finished, transfer them to a cooling rack after a few minutes. I don’t like to do it immediately after they come out. Let them sit about 4-5 minutes, and then transfer them.

The last step is to make the cream cheese frosting. I usually use a hand mixer for this. My grandma gave me this hand mixer as a gift about 28 years ago. I think of her everytime I use it. It has held up well, you would never know it was almost 30 years old! The first step is to cream the 1/2 cup of softened butter and the 8 ounces of softened cream cheese. You will want them to be softened or they won’t combine well and it will not be an easy task. Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. This actually makes a pretty large batch of frosting – so you can either cut the recipe in half or double the cookie recipe. Or use the leftover frosting for some other yummy treat.

And that is it! Store them in an airtight container. I can’t give you a shelf life of how long they stay good for because they have never lasted long enough to know when they go bad. I hope you love them as much as I do!!