Iced Punkin' Cookies

These were just fabulous if I do say so myself, and I even altered the ingredients. The 'cookies' are more like cake in texture, however the dough retains its shape, so it isn't going to spread out on the cookie sheet. I used a 2T sized ice cream scoop to portion mine out.

Pumpkin Cookies

2.5 cups flour- I used 1 cup unbleached all purpose and 1.5 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1.5 cups sugar (I used 1/2 cup brown and 1/2 cup white)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup pumpkin, canned
1 large egg
1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease baking sheets.

Combine all the dry ingredients and spices in a medium bowl. Cream together the butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. (this didn't really smooth out for me) Gradually beat in flour mixture, then drop by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake 15-18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool.

Now, the recipe calls for powdered sugar glaze, but I kicked it up a bit with buttercream. I didn't have a recipe, I just threw it together.

Vanilla Buttercream
1 stick of softened butter
Approx. 1 cup of powdered sugar
1 t vanilla or more depending on preference
2-3 T milk

Just beat the butter until creamy, add sugar in small bits, like 1/4 cup at a time. Add extract and watch for the texture to be just right. I started with 1/2 cup sugar, but it wasn't enough so I added more, then it was dry, so I added some milk etc. Then I tasted it and when it was sweet, but not pure sugar, I stopped beating it. Spread on cooked cookies. Dee-lish!


I make an 'unhealthy' dessert about once a week or less, but this is partly whole grain and I reduced the sugar some, so it wasn't too awful. Not to mention I used real food ingredients instead of mixes. These were great with a glass of milk or coffee.