Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies

Picture yourself, if you will, at the end of last week. The terrible (rainy) and (unseasonably) cold weather that had been lurking around Baltimore had finally broken, and the sun was shining on the beautiful fall colors. Fall recipes were practically exploding from blogs. All in all it was perfect, except for one thing…

I was still grounded after nearly a solid week of illness. The season was calling, but I couldn’t answer. And to make matters worse, in a fit of panic earlier in the week I had gone a little crazy on the canned pumpkin and butter at the grocery store. I had heard there was a shortage, so when I saw a whole end cap of canned pumpkin at Whole Foods, I decided I needed to stock up–and bought 8 cans.

I was convinced–it was a conspiracy to make me miss the fall–and even my pantry was against me!

I had to do something, before I really went crazy and started having whole conversations with Martha instead of just talking back during the Martha Stewart Show–before you judge, there isn’t a lot on daytime TV without cable! Luckily, while perusing my feed reader, I found myself at a delightful blog run by one Prudence Pennywise, complete with a recipe to help me put Martha back in her place and get myself into the fall spirit.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart via Prudence Pennywise

I must confess, I have a real weakness for gingerbread. Especially soft, pillowy gingerbread like they sell in Colonial Williamsburg. If I had known that these seemingly innocent pumpkin cookies were going to turn out like that before I made them, I probably would have made a double batch! As it was, I think I ate almost all of these by myself and that they had a hand in my recovery. Since I ate them all alone, I’m glad I made a couple of changes to Martha’s recipe. I substituted the evaporated milk with skim milk (who keeps evaporated milk?) and I decided to forgo the icing since I had not been to the gym in a very long time, instead sprinkling cinnamon sugar on top of the cookies before they went into the oven. The lack of icing also made these cookies super easy to put together–in my lessened state I forgot to cream the butter and sugar to start, but they still turned out PERFECT!

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup solid pack pumpkin
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 and 1/4 cup plus two tablespoons flour
cinnamon and sugar mix, for sprinkling on the cookies

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Once fluffy, add the egg and mix until combined. Then add the pumpkin, skim milk, and vanilla extract, and mix until combined. Mix the dry ingredients and spices in a separate bowl, then slowly add to the wet mix with the mixer on low. Mix until just combined.

Using a spoon, place dollops of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Use the back of the spoon to keep cookies as roundish as possible. Make sure you leave enough space between the cookies, because they will spread some during baking. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of each cookie. Place cookie sheet into preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until cookies spring back when touched.

See if you can let them cool completely before you dive into them. Also see how long you can keep them in an airtight container–mine still tasted good after two days.

This recipe has really got me in the fall spirit, so I’ve decided to post a pumpkin recipe every day between now and Halloween! Check back tomorrow for another recipe using everyone’s favorite giant gourd-squash conveniently available in a can!

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