It’s officially the first day of fall, and I am so excited! I have already been apple picking once this year, but my family is headed back to the orchard again tomorrow.
Our local orchard has so many activities going on all the time, that we visit a few times before the season is over. In addition to their bountiful supply of apples and pumpkins, they have squash and flowers available for picking. They also have an ice cream stand, fresh baked apple cider and pumpkin spice donuts, apple cider, goats that my kids just love to feed, chickens, rabbits, a bird cage, a sand box, hay rides, a corn maze and so much more! Tomorrow, they are having a performance from Timber Tina of the Great Maine Lumberjack Show!
The last time we went to the orchard, we picked a whole bunch of apples, and my daughter just had to bring home a million different pumpkins. This kid is going to have some serious fall decorating skills when she is older. She selected lots of different varieties, but I made sure we grabbed a couple that would be perfect for baking with.
The pumpkins we bought were so fresh that I could not even cut into them when we got home. They were just too darn hard! I had to let them sit for about 2 weeks before they were ready to be cut into. I really wanted to bake a pumpkin pie, but the kids insisted on baking cookies instead! I came up with these old fashioned soft pumpkin cookies, and they just loved them!
My inspiration for these cookies was my grandmother. She passed away last year, and I often think of her when I am baking. She was the most amazing baker, and what I loved most about her baked goods was how simple, yet flavorful they were. She was all about baking soft, very plain looking cookies that tasted wonderful. I love cookies that are not overly fancy or sweet, and these old fashioned soft pumpkin cookies really fit that bill. They have just a subtle pumpkin flavor that’s perfect for fall!
Old fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 stick of softened butter
- 1 cup fresh pureed pumpkin
- 1 large egg
- 2.5 cups all purpose flour
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a stand mixer, cream 1 stick of softened butter, 1 cup of granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar in a large mixer bowl until well blended.
- Add the pumpkin and egg, and beat on high speed for approximately 3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, combine 2.5 cups flour, 3 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, and 1/2 tsp. coarse salt.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture until combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop cookies onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake cookies at 350 degrees F. for 15-18 min., until golden brown around the edges.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a minute, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Store cookies in an airtight container. This recipe makes approximately 28 cookies.
