Spiced Pumpkin Cookie

I have a very diverse group of friends.  With that diverse group, comes creativity and talent.  One particular friend has an immense amount of creativity, talent, craftiness.....and her name is Amy.   Amy and I have been friends since our days in the accounting office at Wegmans, a long long time ago.  She was in college and I was finishing high school.  We shared a lot of laughs, a little bit of trouble, and the friendship has been blossoming ever since.  Amy is My Little Blogspot's featured cookie maker for November. Oh and the plate to cookies are on were a wedding gift from Amy.

One night on the phone, she mentioned she made a batch of pumpkin cookies.  The next several days that started working on me. I love pumpkin!!!  I knew I wanted to do a pumpkin cookie for November, so I asked my dear friend to part with her recipe.

I made a batch for pure research and quality control measures ;)  They came out great. I shared them with friends in Oneonta and the reaction was all positive.  Make them big or small, they are delicious in any size.  Oh, the best part in my opinion is the frosting, do not skip that step :)

Thank you Amy!!!

recipe for cookies

1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 c. canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tbsp. grated orange zest (Amy and I both used orange juice)
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 1/4 c. wheat flour
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. chopped walnuts

Icing

1/2 c. butter
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c. whipping cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 c. powder sugar

For cookies, cream butter and brown sugar in your mixer until fluffy.  Add pumpkin, egg and orange zest, beat until smooth.  Combine flours, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, stir until soft dough forms. Stir in walnuts. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 4 hours.  ( I chilled it overnight right in the mixing bowl, covered in plastic wrap.)

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For icing, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Stirring constantly, add brown sugar, whipping cream, and corn syrup. Cook until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; pour into heat resistant medium bowl. Add powder sugar and beat until smooth. Ice cookies, allow icing to harden. ** Hardens fast, work quickly!! **

Tips:

Substitute 1 tbsp orange juice for orange zest
Finely grind nuts in a food processor for people who don't like large pieces of nuts in their cookies