Pumpkins - Part II

First off:  Happy Blog Day to me.  A year ago I sat down with my new laptop and wondered - how hard can writing a blog be?  Of course it was more than six months before my next post.  Like anything new, you have to make room for it in your life - I gave up bit of TV, life is better, blogs seem more real than TV.  There has to be some kind of payoff and for me - it's you.  Also, it keeps my children happy that I'm sharing my thoughts with someone besides them.

I'm celebrating this occasion with (what else?) cookies.

Do you like pumpkin bread?  Here's the recipe of one of my favorite autumn cookies. They have the taste and texture of pumpkin bread. 

Pumpkin Bread Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 F.

2 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

-------------------------------------------Sift and set aside.

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar

-------------------------------------------Beat until creamy. Add

1  15 oz. can pumpkin

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

-----------------------------Mix well.

-----------------------------Gradually beat in flour mixture.

It's more like cake batter than cookie dough.

-----------------------------Stir in

2 cups semi-sweet "mini" chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecan)

I stir in the chocolate chips and nuts by hand - no mixer - just gently fold them in.

Scoop out a rounded tablespoon of the dough (I use my 1 inch ice cream scoop makes the dough nice and round) and drop onto greased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper to line my cookie sheets - easy clean up and no sticking).

This scoop makes my cookie making so easy - helps to keep all my cookies the same size.  Usually cookies sink down and get flat but this cookie bakes in the shape that you put it on the cookie sheet.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375. Cool on wire rack.

Top (left) going in the oven.  Bottom (right) just came out.

They taste best after 12 hours of cooling. But they are pretty good warm.  

I'm trying to show you the texture of the cookies.  They are like little pumpkin breads.

I'm off to learn new things, meet new people, save the planet, you know, the usual stuff - I'll tell you all about it in another post.