Pumpkin Pie Cookies

We all have a can of pumpkin laying around after Thanksgiving, and the last thing anyone feels like is pumpkin pie, so why not reinvent the classic holiday pie into this cake-like cookie. While they make a great dessert, I think they are best in the morning with a hot cup of coffee. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Cookies

(Adapted from Libby's Pumpkin Website)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking sheet.

In one bowl, mix together dry ingredients: 

2.5 cups flour (I used half wheat flour, half regular)

1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder 

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients:

Blend 1.5 cups white sugar with 1 stick softened butter

Once blended, add 1 cup pumpkin, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla

Gradually add dry ingredients to wet until incorporated

Drop the cookies onto your greased baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until they just start to brown around the edges. The dough is a bit looser than standard cookie dough so don't be surprised!

They are delicious by themselves, or you can glaze them. To prepare the glaze mix about 2 cups powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add more powdered sugar if the glaze is too runny, add more liquid (melted butter or milk) if it's too stiff. I also had some pumpkin spice coffee creamer in the fridge which worked perfectly in the glaze. You can also add a dash or two of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the glaze for a kick. 

For easy glazing, try this: put a ziplock baggie in a drinking glass and fold the seal over the lip of the glass (as if the ziplock is a trash bag, and the drinking glass is the trash can). Spook the glaze into the open ziplock and seal. Remove the glaze-filled baggie from the glass, snip a small slit in one of the bottom corners of the baggie and Voila! You've created your own piping bag. This will make for easy drizzling over your cookies. Just make sure the cookies cool completely first.