Pumpkin Cookies

Last night, we had my family over for dinner and dessert. Dinner and dessert for 8 people meant making a lot of food. And I couldn't just make one dessert, of course. I had to make two.

I knew right off the bat that I wanted to make Apple Spice Cookie Bars again. You know, just because they're that fabulous and I needed an excuse to have them again. For the second dessert, though, I had many ideas. Another apple something? Chocolate?

The decision came down to two things: what is seasonal, and what is easy. Between making the cookie bars, making the meat sauce, assembling the lasagna (2 pans of it!), preparing the garlic bread, and cleaning the house, I knew we weren't going to have a whole lot of extra time. These pumpkin cookies were the perfect solution.

I originally saw these over at Delicious Melicious, but the recipe came from allrecipes.com. They came out really wonderfully. They are sweet and spicy, with the perfect pumpkin flavor. The consistency is soft and cake-like. Sure to be a hit with any pumpkin-loving family. :)

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup (8 tbsp.) butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tbsp. milk
- 1 tbsp. melted butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.