Monday, November 29, 2010

Pumpkin Nut Cookies!


The winner of week three of the Christmas Cookie Contest is Joy Isley for her Pumpkin Nut Cookies!






First, a few updates about the contest. Please keep sending recipes! There's an ingredient that hasn't shown up yet. I'm quite surprised. Hints: writers eat this a lot; it's mentioned in today's recipe; and Lynn in Texas guessed it correctly last week.

I had company over Thanksgiving and they asked where the ?? cookies were. Another famous Christmas cookie that hasn't shown up among the recipes submitted.

So, please keep submitting. Send your recipes to Krista at KristaDavis dot com. And if you haven't won yet, don't despair. All previously submitted recipes are still in the running.

Dave's lacy pecan cookies didn't last long enough to tell you how well they keep. However, I popped the Raggedy Anne cookies into a freezer bag and froze them last week. Not only were they wonderful when served over Thanksgiving, one of my guests said they're just as good straight from the freezer!

And now to this week's winner. Here's Joy's recipe ~


PUMPKIN NUT COOKIES

For as long as I can remember, my family has always baked these cookies for the holidays.

1/4 C sugar
1/2 C shortening
1 egg beaten
1/2 C pumpkin (canned pumpkin)
1 C all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
a pinch of ginger
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C nuts, chopped

Cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and pumpkin and mix well.

In another bowl, sift together flour, spices, baking powder and salt. Stir dry ingredients into moist mixture. When blended, add raisins and nuts

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

I have substituted the raisins for a few chocolate chips or candied fruits. I have also put a fine powdered sugar glaze on them and added lemon zest on top.


Krista's take ~



This is a nice easy drop cookie recipe. On our scale of one to three, I'd have to put it at a one. Another Nina Reid Norwood cookie that's easy to make. The dough beats nicely to a thick consistency.



The recipe says to drop by teaspoons. I tried patting them down a little to make them more uniform, but gave up. The dough is sticky and the nuts and raisins just give them unique shapes.



The afternoon sun peeked in to give the baked cookies a golden glow. They're actually sort of pumpkin colored.



Joy mentioned making a sugar glaze for them. I mixed 1/3 cup powdered sugar with 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice and drizzled it over them. While the glaze was still wet, I sprinkled them with a few sugar sprinkles (just sugar in bigger chunks).

These cookies are soft when you bite into them, a nice switch from crunchy textures. In addition, the cookies are not overly sweet. If you have a family member or friend whose first comment is always "oh, it's too sweet!" then this is the cookie for her!



Congratulations, Joy!

10 comments:

  1. I'm curious about that ingredient that hasn't shown up yet! I have an idea or two, but I'll be interested to find out what it is!

    I love soft cookies...and am looking forward to trying these!

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  2. It's a mystery, Elizabeth! Actually, the real mystery is why no recipes with this ingredient have shown up in my mailbox. ; )

    ~ Krista

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  3. I have a feeling that Christmas cookies tend to not overuse that particular ingredient. For instance, here we make gingerbread, spritz, kolacky, Italian cookies (sometimes... they're a lot of work!), and sugar cookies. If it's the ingredient I'm thinking of... it's not in that group, is it? Maybe there's so much of that flavor in other treats that we unconsciously avoid it in cookies?

    Mysterious!

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  4. Julie, I suspect that you're right. On the other hand, I haven't received a single gingerbread or spritz recipe, either!

    ~ Krista

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  5. Congrats to Joy! I really enjoy pumpkin as an ingredient and these cookies look delicious, like soft little pumpkin cakes. Krista, I like your idea of adding the glaze and the lemon zest, too. Send over a plate of them please. I have a pot of coffee on now. :) As for the mystery ingredient, I have a guess, too. I'll wait to see if I'm correct...

    ~ Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  6. These do look good & easy, and I have all the ingredients on hand to try them out. Congrats, Joy and thanks Krista for the glazing tips!

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  7. Sending cookies right now, Cleo! I think you put it very well -- soft little pumpkin cakes!

    They are easy, Avery!

    Lynn, I like the glaze on top. It adds a little zing!

    ~ Krista

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  8. Oh, yum. I used to haunt a coffee shop where I'd buy a pumpkin cookie with my latte. Sadly, it has
    since closed. Thanks for bringing back a fave memory. Congrats to Joy! As for the ingredient, I'm mulling it over...

    Jenn (who is using her Hub's acct)

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  9. Jenn, I thought we had a new reader! Maybe these cookies will make up for the loss.

    ~ Krista

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