These pumpkin spice cookies are like gingerbread in cookie form. Soft & chewy with plenty of molasses, pumpkin & spice that bring the taste and aroma of fall right into your home.
It’s time for another Creative Cookie Exchange and this month the theme was pumpkin. It’s a great theme for this time of year and, for those of us that love pumpkin, a special treat. I must confess, I have never made a pumpkin cookie before. I have made pumpkin bars, pumpkin caramel rolls, pumpkin pie and pumpkin caramel popcorn but never a pumpkin cookie. How could that be when I love pumpkin so much? I’m not sure but I am about to amend that omission.
These pumpkin spice cookies, that I adapted from a recipe I found on Two Peas & Their Pod, looked like the answer to my cookie quest. I adapted the spices, but not much else, and they came out delicious. They remind me of gingerbread in cookie form with a little pumpkin pie flavor tossed in.
They are a soft cookie, so don’t be surprised when they stay that way. I thought, from the original recipe name, gingersnap cookies, that they would be crisp – not so! I think the hubs and his work crew would have preferred them that way but I liked them just the way they were. Oh, by the way, the cookies get more delicious the longer they are stored. So don’t be surprised when everyone likes them even better the second or third day.
Hope you enjoy these cookies as well as all the pumpkin goodness shared by our Creative Cookie Exchange below.
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-1/3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl of electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add pumpkin, molasses, egg and vanilla and beat well.
- In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix until well combined.
- Place in plastic wrap and chill dough in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. I made mine the day before and it worked out very well.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Place a small amount of sugar in a bowl.
- Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, form dough into balls. Roll them in sugar and place on prepared cookie sheets, spacing about 2" apart.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies have slightly cracked looking tops. Cook longer for a crisper cookie.
- Remove from oven and place on wire racks. Let cool 5 minutes then remove cookies and set on wire racks to cool completely.
Total time does not include 1 hour of chill time.
Make your own pumpkin pie spice! Mix together 3 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon ginger and 3/8 teaspoon ground cloves.
The theme this month is Pumpkin! It is only October–you can’t possibly be tired of this glorious symbol of the fall harvest yet! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.
You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes–be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!
Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of our bloggers have made this month:
- Mexican Chocolate Pepita Shortbread Cookies by Magnolia Days
- Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies by Food Lust People Love
- Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies by A Shaggy Dough Story
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Stay at Home Mama
- Pumpkin Date Cookies by Upstate Ramblings
- Pumpkin Drop Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks by The Spiced Life
- Pumpkin Oatmeal with White Chocolate M&Ms by Our Good Life
- Pumpkin, Oats and Sunflower Seeds Cookies by ISingCakes & More
- Pumpkin Spice Cookies by 2Cookin’ Mamas
- Pumpkin Spice Cut Out Cookies by A Baker’s House
- Pumpkin Thumbprints by Flours & Frostings
8 Comments
Robin @ A Shaggy Dough Story
10/21/2015 at 6:30 amI always love a cookie that’s rolled in sugar for that little extra crunch. These are lovely!
Linda Warren
10/21/2015 at 2:41 pmThanks Robin! I love that extra crunch too! 🙂
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories
10/20/2015 at 10:39 pmThese look like ginger cookies taken to a whole new level! I can almost smell them!! Yum!
Linda Warren
10/21/2015 at 2:39 pmWish I could share them with you Karen! And the smell – no need for candles when you’re baking these cookies. 🙂
terristeffes
10/20/2015 at 10:18 amSeriously, the cookie of the day. I think these sound perfect for my Christmas Cookie Exchange! Thank you!
Linda Warren
10/20/2015 at 2:15 pmThanks! I bet it would be terrific for Christmastime with the seasonal flavors of gingerbread and pumpkin.
Renee Dobbs
10/20/2015 at 6:55 amNice to see molasses in your cookies. It’s something I need to bake with more often.
Linda Warren
10/20/2015 at 2:17 pmI know what you mean! Molasses is so flavorful but I tend to just get it out for gingerbread. Now I know. 🙂