It’s fall! Which means, among other things such as football and cooler weather, that almost everything is getting a pumpkin makeover these days. I love this time of year for a variety of reasons. The leaves, the weather (the style that comes with the welcomed lower temperatures), birthdays, Thanksgiving…oh I could go on for days. But I would be lying if I didn’t include in that litany a nonfat pumpkin spice latte. So naturally, this season I have been experimenting with a few pumpkin related recipes. Our first year in Mobile, we made a homemade pumpkin pie, but since the husband is quite fond of cookies, I opted this go around to make some pumpkin spice cookies & they were delicious! I also added a little autumn flare to our game day and tried a “pumpkin fluff” dip recipe which turned out rather tasty as well. And the dip was so incredibly easy, so that is always a plus! Both recipes are below
- 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
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt then 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 the butter/sugar mixture, and beat until creamy.
- Mix in dry ingredients to medium bowl
- Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls & flatten slightly
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes
- Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
- Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency you want (I added a tad more milk after it sat for a min)
- Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze on top
- 1 (16 ounce) container cool whip (thawed) - I used the light version
- 1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
- In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice (or spice mix)
- Fold in the thawed cool whip
- Chill in the refrigerator until serving
- *I used ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground cloves instead to equal about 1 teaspoon of spices
- For extra seasonal fun - serve in a hollowed out mini pumpkin with Nilla wafers! 🙂
