Sunday, September 5, 2010

Pumpkin Cookies
















Today was a perfect day; bright sun, cool temperatures, no humidity, and a touch of fall in the air. Emily came home for the weekend and baked these incredible Iced Pumpkin Cookies. She found the recipe on allrecipes.com, one of our favorite sites. They have a very nice cake-like texture and a wonderful pumpkin flavor. She did change the glaze a bit: instead of vanilla extract she used maple extract. The guests ate them almost as fast as she served them!


Iced Pumpkin Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Icing
2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 Tb. milk
1 Tb. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla (or maple) extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 tsp. vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

3. Bake for 15-20 min. in preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze over top.

4. To make glaze: Combine all glaze ingredients. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.