Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Icing

These cookies are very soft and cakey and not too sweet (that is, of course, until you drench them in luscious cinnamon icing - then it's game on). As a matter of fact, I think it's the cinnamon icing that really makes these for me. I love cinnamon so much that I even took it one step further and sprinkled more on top (see photos below). According to homeremediesweb.com, eating the leftover cinnamon icing directly with a spoon should have left me way smarter and healthier than I was before I made these...but in reality, I just felt woozy (and kind of disgusted with myself).

PUMPKIN COOKIES WITH CINNAMON ICING

Yield: about 5 dozen

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

7 ½ oz. solid pack pumpkin (half a 15-oz. can)

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Cinnamon Icing:

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup milk, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.        Preheat oven to 375º F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.        In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the pumpkin, eggs and milk.

3.        Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, allspice and cloves; gradually add to creamed mixture.

4.        Drop by tablespoonfuls (1 inch apart) onto prepared baking sheets (lightly pat down any rough edges if you want smoother looking cookies). Bake for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

5.        In a medium bowl, combine all the icing ingredients; whisk until smooth. If icing is too thick to drizzle, thin with more milk, one tablespoon at a time, to a pourable consistency. Drizzle icing over the cookies (coating either the whole cookie or just part of it). Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.

6.        Store in the refrigerator.

 

adapted from Denise Smith at allrecipes.com.

creaming the butter and sugar

adding the pumpkin, egg and milk

mixing in the flour/spice mixture

pumpkin cookie dough

The dough is a little sticky, so it's a kind of rough around
the edges when you first drop it on to the sheet pan.

If you want your cookies to have a smoother look,
you can pat down the rough edges on the dough
before baking (this is a purely cosmetic decision).

baked

baked, close up

cinnamon icing

drizzling cinnamon icing

 I used a fork, but if you want to be more precise,
you can use a squeeze bottle or whatever else works.

Yes, I should have done this on a rack so the icing would drip
off the cookies. But I didn't feel like digging the rack out of my
cabinet and so I paid for it later when I had to individually lift
each cookie off the sheet pan, carefully trying not to ruin the icing.
Let this be a lesson to the lazy.

pouring icing on with a spatula

cookie enrobed with icing

I like the look of drizzling better, and
not just because I'm lazy and it's easier
(although after the rack thing, I can
understand why you'd think that).

sprinkled with cinnamon

sprinkled with cinnamon, close up

.