Iced Pumpkin Cookies

It’s finally cooling off here in Virginia, and I’m excited to share more pumpkin recipes with you!  Fall is my favorite time of year for several reasons, and baking with pumpkin is high on the list.  I have close to sixty pumpkin recipes bookmarked, so I can assure you that many more will popping up between now and Thanksgiving.

These pumpkin cookies are actually more cake-like than cookie.  They’re soft and pillowy, much like a cupcake, and they’re full of pumpkin flavor.  The spices make the cookies taste even more like fall, with the perfect amount of spices to pumpkin.  The thing that really sets these cookies apart is the the cream cheese icing.  Pumpkin and cream cheese are often paired together, and now I understand why it’s such a popular combination.  The icing takes these cookies from good to phenomenal.  With these cookies and a pumpkin spice latte, I’m ready to welcome fall with open arms.

I’ve made these cookies twice, once with Libby’s pumpkin purée and once with organic pumpkin purée.  I didn’t get the orange color this time around (when I used the organic kind), but I expected that since the purée itself was lighter in color.  However, the flavor was still just as good.  I plan on making my own pumpkin purée soon, since I know I’ll be using so much of it in the next couple months.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients:
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
(You can substitute 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for the previous three spices.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups pumpkin purée
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.
-In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Set aside.
-In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until fluffy.
-Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla.  Continue beating until creamy.  Gradually beat in dry ingredients.
-Drop batter onto cookie sheet by heaping tablespoonfuls and flatten slightly.
-Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  Cool on racks.
-While cookies are cooling, prepare frosting.
-In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine powdered sugar and cream cheese on low speed.  For extra flavor, add an extra teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
-Once cookies have cooled completely, pipe or spread the frosting on as desired.

Yield: About 40 cookies

Adapted from Gimme Some Oven, originally from All Recipes