Favorite Pumpkin Dessert Recipes
The holidays are my favorite time of year partially due to the large number of opportunities to cook and bake. Ok, I lied. Its largely to do with the many, many excuses I get to be in the kitchen. I know a lot of people are either chefs or bakers and the two usually don’t overlap. But I’d say, I’m both. I love to cook AND bake.
Since its fall, one of the best ingredients to use is pumpkin! I’ve compiled my 3 favorite pumpkin dessert recipes here. I’ve made all 3 of these and they are too die for and really not that hard to follow. If you’re searching for a dessert to bring to your next get-together, look no further.
MRS. FIELDS PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
¾ cup salted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 cup pumpkin (canned or freshly cooked)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
½ cup walnuts, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300° F.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well with awire whisk and set aside.
In a large bowl, blend sugars. Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer set at medium speed to forma grainy paste. Scrape sides of bowl then, add egg, pumpkin and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add the flour mixture, raisins and walnuts. Blend at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.
Drop rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 1 ½ inches apart. Bake 22-24 minutes until cookies are slightly brown along edges. Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool surface.
PUMPKIN MAPLE CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. imitation maple syrup extract
¼ cup pumpkin purée
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
For the cinnamon cream cheese frosting:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups powdered sugar
cinnamon sugar, for decoration
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl/stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, and then stir in vanilla, maple, pumpkin and vegetable oil. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk.
Divide batter among cupcake tins, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on wire rack.
For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in vanilla and cinnamon. Add confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth.
Pipe onto cupcakes with your favorite tip and serve! Optional: for decoration, I sprinkled the tops with cinnamons sugar.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles
Ingredients:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. freshly-ground ground nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Filling Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon-sugar coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Dash of allspice
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.
In a Kitchenaid mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium high speed until fluffy about 2-3 minutes.
Blend in pumpkin puree, beat in egg and then add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients on low speed just until combined. Cover and chill dough for an hour.
To make the cream cheese filling, blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. Chill for an hour.
Preheat oven to 350° and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and spices for the coating and set aside.
To make the cookies, take a tablespoon of the cookie batter. Flatten it like a pancake and place a teaspoon of the cream cheese in center. Form another tablespoon of the cookie batter into a flat pancake shape and place on top of the cream cheese. Pinch the edges together sealing in the cream cheese and roll into a ball. Roll in the cinnamon sugar coating and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
Repeat until the dough is gone and flatten the cookie dough balls with a heavy bottomed glass or measuring cup.
Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until the tops start to crack. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!
Find the original recipes for each dessert here, here and here, respectively.
I don't think I could tell you which of these is my favorite because they are all so good. So do yourselves a favor and try them all. Your stomach will love you and probably your friends' stomachs too.
Happy Baking!
Yours Truly // Shannon