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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

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Ryan has a really fun group of coworkers, or so it seems from the stories he comes home with. A few months ago, I was invited to join he and his group at happy hour. I was excited for the chance to witness some of the characters I'd heard about in person...that is, until I got to work that day...and ended up having an incredibly frustrating day at work. The type of day that even a stiff drink during happy hour can't fix. The type of day that warrants a sob session once you get into your car. In most cases, I can 'make it til I make it', but this particular day that just wasn't happening. Needless to say, I don't think Ryan's coworkers were too impressed with his wife.

Since then, I've felt bad about their false impression of me. I think his group needs to have another happy hour so I can show them the real me! Until then, I've worked on winning them over with my baking.
I've made them treats several times before but it had been awhile, so I asked Ryan to take requests from a few of his coworkers who recently had birthdays. The dessert of choice? My snickerdoodles. Instead of making the same cookie again, I asked if I could change it up a bit and thankfully, they agreed!

Pumpkin snickerdoodles aren't all that different from the usual recipe. The pumpkin flavor is lightly noticeable and the texture is slightly different, but Ryan's coworkers went just as crazy for these as they did for the others! You know when people, Ryan included, are eating more than 8 cookies in a day that it's one irresistible cookie!
So, until another happy hour is scheduled, I plan to keep wooing his coworkers with sugar and butter ;)

****Today I'm guest posting over on my friend's blog: The Edible Perspective. This is one guest post you DON'T want to miss (it involves popcorn, coconut, chocolate, and caramel! Sneak peek below!)

One Year Ago: Easy Turkey Chili
Two Years Ago: Pumpkin Cake (I recently remade this and it was just as good as I remembered!)


Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
from Recipe Girl

Ingredients:
-2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature (I used unsalted)
-1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
-3/4 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
-1 large egg
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

for the rolling sugar-
-1/2 cup granulated white sugar
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ground ginger
-1/2 tsp allspice

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree, beating well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
2. In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time, just until incorporated.
3. Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
4. Remove dough from fridge and preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray (I did both and parchment worked better!). In a small bowl combine rolling sugar ingredients.
5. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 tbsp) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten cookies by dipping a flat-bottomed glass first in the sugar and then on the dough balls.
6. Bake for 8-12 minutes at 350F, until cookies are slightly firm to the touch (mine were good at about 9 minutes). Allow to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
*Store cookies in an airtight container