Pumpkin Walnut Cookies

I always love making these cookies around the winter time, to go along with it being Christmas, and Fall, but these taste practically like doughnuts, so they'd be good year-round really. 

Pumpkin Walnut Cookies

Yield: About 5 dozen

Ingredients:

        

         Cookie:

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup cooked pumpkin (or you can substitute canned, but make sure it's pure pumpkin, or else you'll have to omit the: pumpkin pie spice--I typically have pumpkin pie filling so it does work with that too)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsps pumpkin pie spice, or ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 up chopped walnuts

          Frosting: 

          (I typically leave this out and do a dusting of powdered sugar, or nothing.)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon

Walnut pieces, if desired to top (I sometimes use almond slices, or pecans, all depends on what I have on hand.)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350*

Combine butter, brown sugar, and sugar in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed and add in flour, pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until well mixed.

Mix in walnuts by hand. 

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet about 2-inches apart. 

Cook for 8-10 minutes or until set. They may seem to be not cooked, but these are a really soft cookie. You can check they're done by lifting one up and looking at the bottom. You want a medium brown color, sort of like caramel. Softer cookies can be light brown on the bottoms, but know they'll have a really moist texture either way. I like them somewhere in the middle as I like them pretty moist like a cake. 

Let cool while you combine all the frosting ingredients except for the walnut pieces (or almonds, etc., whatever you'll top them with). Beat at low speed until smooth. Frost the cooled cookies however you wish, then garnish with the walnuts, if so desired.

Enjoy! Let me know, in the comments, what you think of them, if you try them out!