Shutter to Spatula: October 2012

Tis the season to cook with pumpkin! You know I have to admit in the past I have always thought pumpkin was similar to baby food, and even a slice pumpkin pie needed extra whipped topping just for me to consider eating it. However, if Rhianna can give Chris Brown a second chance I figured the least I could do is try some pumpkin again. I'm glad I did. I've discovered how versatile pumpkin can be, I also like to think of it as "flexible". Meaning...it is so moist you could forget you were baking pumpkin cookies one time and they still came out moist and chewy! Just last weekend I made pumpkin ice cream and a pumpkin turtle pie. The turtle pumpkin pie was perfect for people who might be getting bored by the much expected pumpkin pie, but it was still pumpkin pie-y enough to please the traditionalist at any gathering. ANYWAY, back to the cookies...they are easy to make, and if you are like me and somehow always have a can pumpkin in their cupboard all year round then you won't even need to go to the store to make these.

First take a can of pumpkin (its 100% pure, its orange, and it says libby's...we all know it too well) and put it into a sauce pan. This is the part where you get to be creative if you want. I like to simmer my pumpkin with some honey, maple syrup, sugar/cinnamon mix and ground cloves, but feel free to enhance your pumpkin in anyway you want. Let that simmer and then cool while you get your mixing bowls in order.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl you'll combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Then in a larger bowl, beat together your stick of softened butter and both sugars. Then beat in your pumpkin mixture, egg and vanilla.

Next, gradually add your bowl of dry ingredients to your larger bowl. Once your ingredients are fully incorporated go ahead and set aside your beaters to be washed (you'll need them for the icing), and then you can stir in the last ingredient...the pecans.

Add little dollops of dough to a greased baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes.

While your cookies are baking you can go ahead and make your icing. My mom gave me this icing recipe when I was probably about 9 when she and I made a family favorite cake together. Truthfully, the first time I made these cookies I didn't ice them. They were delicious, but I'd have to call them a "brookie", a nice moist cookie so chewy it could almost be mistaken for bread. That's when I decided I needed to amp them up, and what better way than to top them with rich homemade icing? This icing recipe is so easy and comes out perfect literally every time! Let's just say if this icing was American, it would be in the 1%. So to make the icing you'll need a mixing bowl. In the bowl add a stick of softened butter, 8 oz of cream cheese (I like to get the whipped cream cheese because I feel like half the work is already done for me), 4 and a half cups powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat these ingredients together until well incorporated and then add to the tops of your cooled pumpkin cookies!