Yummy Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Every now and then I browse through my physical recipe book (most of my regular recipes have also been scanned onto the computer) to get ideas. For Thanksgiving this year I decided to make a recipe that I’d printed out five whole years ago. It was hiding in the back of the binder’s pocket, so I’d completely forgotten about it. Boy am I glad I found it again! These cookies turned out much better than I expected. Maybe it’s just because I’m pregnant and crave all things sugary and resembling cake or cookies… but I don’t think so.
The recipe was from the Taste of Home website, and they’re called “Pumpkin Drop Cookies.” Attributed to Denise S. of Wyoming, these plump, soft cookies are cake-like and highlighted with a sweet, flavorful icing. And because they’re filling, I won’t eat a million of them, which is also good. And the pumpkin is not overwhelming, so even though they seem like autumn cookies, I feel they would be great for a Christmas cookie exchange as well. So here goes:
Pumpkin Drop Cookies
Prep: 45 min
Cook: 10 min plus cooling
(I didn’t take that long to prep, but they definitely needed more cooking time)
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
3 cups sugar
1 can (15 oz.) solid-pack pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Cinnamon Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Beat in the pumpkin, eggs, and milk. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, allspice and cloves; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
(I used rounded teaspoonfuls and found the cookies to be more than big enough. I didn’t grease the cookie sheets, but used non-stick pans. I found that when “lightly-browned” they were still undone on the inside, and so cooked them until a dark brown around the edges, which was more like 14 to 16 minutes.)
In a small bowl, combine the frosting ingredients; beat until smooth. Frost cookies. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 11 dozen.
(I actually used a whole box of confectioners’ sugar and added a couple extra tablespoons of milk to the icing. Make sure the cookies are totally cool before icing. I got nowhere near 11 dozen cookies. I got about 5 dozen, and didn’t have enough icing for all of them, but I didn’t feel like making more icing, so we just sprinkled powdered sugar over the rest.)
I’ll be keeping this recipe on hand, either for Thanksgivings in the future, or even dinner or tea parties during the holidays. It’s a little bit different and the cookies are a nice after-dinner treat. And do you see all those yummy bits of cinnamon in the cookie and the icing? Mmm!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tags: autumn recipes, cookies, pumpkin, Recipes, thanksgiving