Have there been times in your life when you've wanted somebody to fall in love with you? Obey your every command? Be at your beck and call? I'm sure we've all felt one of these at one time or the other. I personally felt the strongest of these feelings when I was in my Advanced Placement American Government class in high school; I desperately wanted an A and my teacher seemed reluctant to recognize how worthy my hard work was. So I poisoned him. Just kidding, I didn't poison him...that's crazy talk. BUT I did bake him the best pumpkin cookies ever to have been baked. And when he tasted his first cookie he said to me "You get an A for the rest of the semester." I mean, he was just joking, but I imagine if he had eaten more of these cookies he would have legitimately fallen under their spell. While he didn't give me an A just for the cookies, he (along with the rest of my class) insisted I bring these cookies in to class every Friday. And since then I bake these cookies for people who I want to impress...and get to love me.
Now, I know a lot of people are so "health" conscious these days. It is, of course, good to be healthy. But cookies and other baked goods become the outcasts once people start counting calories. That doesn't need to be the case with cookies! You can still have your cookie and eat it too! These wonderful pumpkin cookies aren't too heavy in the calorie department. You can use margarine instead of butter and these cookies will still turn out great. I guarantee you that if you feed these to anyone who absolutely dispises pumpkin, this will turn them into a pumpkin lover.
These pumpkin cookies melt in your mouth...literally. I am not just saying that to make it sound good. The pumpkin spice isn't too strong that it overwhelms the rest of the cookie and the creamy frosting compliments the spice of the dough. I would suggest adding cinnamon to the frosting; it just adds a little extra something. The cookie could even be eaten by itself, it's that good. The cookies are soft and cake like, not at all sticky or doughy. You can make these at holidays, Thanksgiving or Christmas, for any ocassion (my mom just baked some for the local fire department), or just for when you are getting a craving for delicious cookies. I still firmly believe that if you feed these cookies to an unsuspecting victim, the cookies will be so delicious that they won't be able to say no to any favor you ask of them. Who ever said pumpkins weren't magical?
Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
- To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.
