1993 - Use Your Gourd

We haven't made Pumpkin Cookies in a few years — I don't know why either because they were soft, flavorful and smelled heavenly when we pulled them from the oven. We use the recipe from "Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker (1975, The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc.) but we alter it. We don't use nuts or raisins, and we substitute 1/4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg for the 1/2 tsp of allspice. Also, we use butter, not shortening. So, we really just use "Joy" as a jumping-off point!

We frosted them with Betty Crocker Creamy Deluxe cream cheese frosting, with 1/2 tsp nutmeg stirred in. These babies were perfect. We needed two sessions for these too and wound up with 15 dozen.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream together:

1 c butter or shortening

1 c granulated sugar

Add and mix well:

1 c cooked pumpkin (1 15-ounce can)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Sift together and add to above mixture:

2 c sifted all-purpose flour

1 tsp double-acting baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

Stir in:

1 c chopped nuts

1 c raisins

Drop cookies onto a well-greased cookie sheet and bake about 15 minutes.

Yield: about 5 dozen