The famous pumpkin cookie recipe
It's fall, so for me it's baking season. The last couple of years while I was sick, getting diagnosed, and trying to get healthy again, I didn't do much of it (among many other things). I realized I'd missed it; in itself it is tremendously therapeutic. So the house is once again filled with the scent of cinnamon, chocolate, apples and other baking related ingredients.
I bake more than we can eat, so various family members, co-workers and others also benefit from the baking.
I baked several batches of my pumpkin, oatmeal & chocolate chip cookies before Halloween and gave them away to various people and brought them for the office Halloween party. Since then, people have been going NUTS about them. Everyone wants the recipe. So since I'm not able to actually give any of my internet friends the fresh baked version, herewith is the recipe to do with as you may.
Big Orange Cat's pumpkin cookies
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together with electric beater until smooth:
1 - 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 egg
1 cube butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Then add:
2 1/2 cups flour
Mix again until smooth. Then add (it works best to mix this part by hand):
2 cups oatmeal (the "1 minute" kind)
1/2 to 1 cup of chocolate chips (depending on your chocolate fixation at the moment)
Scoop large dollops of dough (somewhere between golf ball and baseball size) onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake 20-25 minutes
Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.
I should mention that this is isn't the original version, which for the life of me I can't remember where I got it. The original recipe had twice as much butter and sugar, less pumpkin and oatmeal. I experimented and came up with this somewhat "lower-fat" version; you can make them even healthier by substituting up to half of the cube of butter with more pumpkin and oatmeal. They are also very good with a whole wheat & white flour blend; they're also not bad with a 100% whole wheat flour.
The feedback I've had from people who've made these is that it's really crucial to be familiar with your oven's typical performance. I have a gas oven which seems to run a little cooler temp-wise, so I bake mine for the full 25 minutes. If you have an electric oven, you'll probably want to monitor their progress in the last 10 minutes of the baking cycle.
Steve says they are best eaten within 24 hours of baking; generally, they don't stick around that long anyway. :)
I bake more than we can eat, so various family members, co-workers and others also benefit from the baking.
I baked several batches of my pumpkin, oatmeal & chocolate chip cookies before Halloween and gave them away to various people and brought them for the office Halloween party. Since then, people have been going NUTS about them. Everyone wants the recipe. So since I'm not able to actually give any of my internet friends the fresh baked version, herewith is the recipe to do with as you may.
Big Orange Cat's pumpkin cookies
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together with electric beater until smooth:
1 - 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 egg
1 cube butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Then add:
2 1/2 cups flour
Mix again until smooth. Then add (it works best to mix this part by hand):
2 cups oatmeal (the "1 minute" kind)
1/2 to 1 cup of chocolate chips (depending on your chocolate fixation at the moment)
Scoop large dollops of dough (somewhere between golf ball and baseball size) onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake 20-25 minutes
Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.
I should mention that this is isn't the original version, which for the life of me I can't remember where I got it. The original recipe had twice as much butter and sugar, less pumpkin and oatmeal. I experimented and came up with this somewhat "lower-fat" version; you can make them even healthier by substituting up to half of the cube of butter with more pumpkin and oatmeal. They are also very good with a whole wheat & white flour blend; they're also not bad with a 100% whole wheat flour.
The feedback I've had from people who've made these is that it's really crucial to be familiar with your oven's typical performance. I have a gas oven which seems to run a little cooler temp-wise, so I bake mine for the full 25 minutes. If you have an electric oven, you'll probably want to monitor their progress in the last 10 minutes of the baking cycle.
Steve says they are best eaten within 24 hours of baking; generally, they don't stick around that long anyway. :)