Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies

I love lots of aspects of fall, the crisp days and cozy nights, the beautiful and vibrant colors of the leaves on the trees, and of course the delicious food. One thing that I'm not crazy about is Halloween. I know, I know, this is very bad. I know lots of people who go ga-ga over the holiday but it really isn't my thing. In large part because I'm not all that clever with costumes. I often see costumes and fall on the ground in utter amazement. I'm so jealous of their creative genius. Ah well, this is my lot in life. Even so I will attend a Halloween party on occasion. And of course, I love Charlie Brown and the pumpkin patch.

One thing I know I love about fall - and every other time of the year - is cookies. I love all cookies and like many desserts am drawn to the chocolate variety. But, I also really love ginger cookies of all varieties. As I've mentioned before I especially love an orange ginger cookie a local coffee place used to sell. I'm still very sad about that development. Anyway, this is a happy post so on to the cookies.

As you know this is pumpkin-week in my life so naturally these are pumpkin flavored cookies. Added bonus this recipe in combo with the pumpkin shake uses a whole can of pumpkin puree so no waste!

A note about these cookies. They are of the moist and soft variety. I must say I generally prefer chewy cookies but these are so delicious and I really love their softness.  They are best with vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream - and really what dessert isn't best a la mode?

Step one:

Assemble the cast

Step two:

Cream the butter and sugar

Step three: 

   Combine the remaining wet ingredients 

Step four: 

Mix in the dry ingredients 

Step five: 

Let it cool in the refrigerator for an hour or more.  Gah! Why don't I ever read the directions all the way through before I start...I was making these four my book club and really only had an hour to allow the dough to firm up in the fridge. 

Step six: 

Roll into balls and cover with granulated sugar. Cook 'em up! 

Minus my recipe-reading mistake these turned out fabulous. The ladies at the book club loved them and so do I! 

Pumpkin Ginger Snaps 

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Yields 3 dozen cookies

½ cup of butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling the cookies
½ cup of pure pumpkin (I used Libby's canned pumpkin)
¼ cup of molasses
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions: 

Mix butter and sugar until creamed with an electric mixer. Add pumpkin pure, molasses, egg, and vanilla to mixture and combine. 

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, and salt. Slowly add to the wet mixture until just combined. Refrigerate for at least one hour and as long as a couple of days. This is important as it will firm up the dough before you roll the cookies into balls. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the cookie dough into tablespoon-sized balls or use a small cookie-sized ice cream scoop. Roll into granulated sugar to coat the outside of the cookie. Place on cookie sheet and I would recommend using a silpat or parchment paper to line the sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow a few minutes on the sheet to cool before transferring the cookies to a wire cookie rack. 

Enjoy! 

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