Recipe: Melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies a festive treat

Leaves are changing. Coats, boots and hats are making small appearances. Pumpkin desserts are a necessary fall staple to add to this mix. These cookies are the perfect amount of pumpkin to blow everyone away because of their incredibly smooth texture with just a hint of sweet in the frosting. The most common response I’ve received is, “What do you put in these to make them so smooth and delicious?” The answer is a heart-stopping amount of butter. Call me Paula Deen, but what is life without butter? It really does make everything better. Bake these cookies for proof.

Skill level: intermediate

Tastiness: 9/10

Yields: about 60 cookies

Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 15-oz. can pumpkin
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar (add until desired consistency/firmness)
• ground cinnamon sprinkled on top (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the 2 cups of butter with an electric standing or hand mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer; stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon.

2. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 1-2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

3. For frosting, heat the 1/2 cup butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan until melted and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cookies. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon if desired. Serve, and wait for praise to follow.

(Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

— Mikayla is a sophomore majoring in graphic design. Her favorite utensil is a fork. Email any recipe requests or cooking experiments to mikaylakapp@gmail.com.