We have now eaten all of the cookies, brownies, pecan toffees, butterscotch balls, chocolate Santas, and miniature candy canes in the house. The holidays are officially over, and I’m going through sugar withdrawal.
We had most of a can of pumpkin puree in the fridge, left over from eggless muffins. Because I was lazy and running late that morning, I had simply tossed the open can into the fridge. A year living in the co-op put the fear of botulism in me, so it was clear that I needed to use up that pumpkin puree right quick. What an excellent excuse to create more baked goods.
These little cookies are very, very good. They’re light and a little spongy, more like a cake or quickbread than a cookie. They’re sweet enough to satisfy a craving, but not so sweet that you’ll go into a diabetic coma.
I was almost hoping for something sweeter, so I said to Barb: “I think they’d be better with a little cream cheese frosting.”
She replied: “I think they’d be better in me.”
… and then half of the cookies were gone.
If you keep your butter in the freezer like I do, you can grate the frozen butter on a box grater, and shorten the time for the butter to come to room temperature. It’ll still take a while, though, so be patient. (I was not patient, and a few cookies came out with little lumps of butter. Not the worst fate in the world, but these aren’t really supposed to be shortbread or pie crust.)
Pumpkin-Maple Cookies
Adapted from Moosewood New Classics
Makes roughly 2 1/2 dozen 2″ diameter cookies.
1 c. butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 c. pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the maple syrup, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, and mix until well blended. Stir together the remaining ingredients, and add to the bowl. Stir well to form a soft batter.
Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto a large baking sheet covered in parchment paper, allowing plenty of space for the cookies to spread. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are very slightly brown on the bottom. Cook briefly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.
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