Not-For-Breakfast Pumpkin Cookies

Photo redo--yay!

And here are the old ones with the old post. Yeah, they're a little scary. Let's make them smaller so we don't have to think about it as much. 

I realize that on Saturday night some people go dancing, or on dates, or out to a movie with their friends. Lame. I mean, why would you do that when you could spend the evening in your kitchen doing a Sunday Sneak Peak and making smile-y faces on your pumpkin cookies.

Wheeeee!!! Or as my mother used to say, "They're coming to take me away. Hee Hee." Thanks, Mom, you're my inspiration.

Anyway, with my husband working and my children in bed, there was naught to do, but create pumpkin-y goodness. Actually, there was plenty to do, like dishes and showering, but I--being intelligent--chose the cookies.

These cookies, as stated above, are not for breakfast. They have, no whole grains, plenty of sugar and butter and frosting, which I think would by itself pretty much automatically disqualify them.

However, they do contain pumpkin and without the frosting aren't too far off my sugar standards for breakfast cookies. And there may be some mothers out there--not that I would know any--who may have neglected to buy cold cereal today (treason! neglect! hearsy!) and who may or may not--I couldn't tell you for sure since I can't stress enough that I don't personally know such a mother--be planning on feeding her kids one or two plain ones for breakfast and who feels they are surely better than Poptarts and possibly even better than pancakes with as much syrup as my her children put on their pancakes, and possibly even better than the Chex cereal which some children feel compelled to sprinkle (dump) with at least 1/4 C sugar (and though I may be known for small exaggerations in my life--this one is not). Hopefully no one calls CPS on such a mother.

And as one final note, I wanted to try a few variations of these. I tried them plain, with frosting, with chocolate chips, with chocolate chips and frosting, and with frosting dotted with chocolate chips. Should people like me be allowed to walk the streets. Certainly not. They were all good. I liked the ones with frosting best. The plain were great too. Those with chocolate chips will be the crowd pleaser in my house and those with chocolate chips and frosting were a bit over the top, but we are not a family to complain about such things. The ones with the chocolate chips on the frosting--I didn't like the texture of the chip on top, but with a little orange food coloring (or bit of pumpkin) in your frosting, they'd make the cutest jack-o-lantern cookies.

Pumpkin Cookies
Loosely adapted from my friend Emilee's recipe
Makes 15 large cookies
Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes
Cost: $1.35
butter: .50, sugar: .10, pumpkin: .50, egg: .10. flour: .10, other stuff: .05

1/2 C butter
1/2 C white sugar
1 C pumpkin puree
1 small egg
1/2 t vanilla
1 C flour (white whole wheat also works very well; I might even like it better)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon

For the frosting:
Cost: $.70
butter: .20, milk: .05, brown sugar: .10, powdered sugar: .35

3 T butter
1/4 C milk
1/2 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry to wet.

Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes.

For frosting:
While cookies cooking, combing butter, milk, and brown sugar in large saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes. Take off heat and COOL. Be sure not to add powdered sugar until mixture is COOL. Frost and serve.

Note: If you keep these around for more than a day, you should refrigerate them. Otherwise, the frosting will start to bleed (get drippy).

PRINTABLE RECIPE