pumpkin spice cookies with cinnamon frosting

I know, a lot of pumpkin spice on the blog — and not a whole lot of blogging; I’m full of reasons/excuses. First and foremost, Serbian takes up a lot of my brainpower, with not much left over for the blog. I’m trying to get better about it but it also happens to be college basketball season, so that eats up a lot of time as well. Anyway. Cookies. The day after Thanksgiving, I was ready to start baking Christmas cookies. Baking Christmas cookies is just one of the many holiday traditions I love. I also particularly enjoy using many of my mom’s holiday cookie recipes because the cookies remind me of home and family (and Christmas, of course). Although I will be able to go home for Christmas this year, I really appreciated being reminded of home — and of Christmas — last year, since we were in Uzbekistan and all.

But before I could start making any Christmas cookies, I had to make pumpkin cookies (although I did listen to Christmas songs while baking them). To me, pumpkin is Thanksgiving. So why pumpkin cookies post-Turkey day? Because I had been planning on making them and I had all the ingredients ready and waiting to go, so I just had to make them (the second main reason/excuse). Nice and soft, and flavorful without being overly sweet, these cookies were delicious. And I mean delicious. We brought thirty into class the next day and had no trouble getting rid of all of them. Unfortunately, the pictures I have do not do them justice as the lighting here is just terrible and they disappeared before I could actually take a good picture. Oh well, next time!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t ground cloves
• 1/4 t ground allspice
• 1/4 t salt (1/2 t if using unsalted butter)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, allspice, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
3. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients.
4. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls 1-2 inches apart; flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Cool cookies before frosting.

Cinnamon Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 4 cups of confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1 to 1 1/2 t ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Using a mixer, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add the confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon (cinnamon to taste*).
3. Mix until blended and creamy, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
4. Frost the cooled cookies and enjoy!

*Cinnamon frosting is arguably my favorite kind of frosting and I tend to like more of a cinnamon flavor, so I used 1 1/2 teaspoons; I realize not everyone shares my strong cinnamon preferences. We also use saigon cinnamon instead of regular cinnamon and it yields a much deeper, more complex flavor.