Recipe: Pumpkin-Pecan Cookies

 

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post featuring a recipe for baked pumpkin pie pudding from "The America's Favorite Pumpkin Recipes" from Centennial Kitchen. The very next day I wanted to try another recipe!

I love pumpkin cookies; my go-to recipe is usually Nestle's pumpkin spiced and iced cookies, which include chocolate chips. But I wanted to try something new.

Ingredients

• 15.25-ounce package yellow cake mix (i.e. one box)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup vanilla frosting
• Ground nutmeg or cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly create cookie sheets with shortening; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, cinnamon, ginger, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg.
3. Add pumpkin and butter. Using an electric mixer, beat on low to medium speed until well combined. Stir in pecans.
4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls two inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 11-12 minutes or until set and light golden brown around the edges. Cool on baking sheets 1-2 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire cooling racks to cool completely. 
5. Spread frosting on cooled cookies; sprinkle with additional nutmeg or cinnamon.

I did change many things about this recipe, mostly out of laziness. I don't have nutmeg or ginger, but I do have pumpkin pie spice, so I used one teaspoon of that along with the ground cinnamon. I also didn't put in the nuts (since many people are allergic), and I didn't ice the cookies since they are easier to store/freeze without the icing. 

My baking scoop helped make my cookies perfectly round!

The cookies are yummy, and I love their fluffy texture. But I do think they would taste better with chocolate chips in them. The Nestle recipe calls for two cups, which I think is too much; at that point, the chocolate overpowers the pumpkin. But one cup is good in that recipe, and I think it would be in this one, too. Plus, I think more people would like chocolate chips in their cookies rather than nuts!