I know I’m playing into every stereotype of young women in my demographic here, but I love pumpkin. One of the best parts of the onset of Fall (or full-on winter, if you live in Minnesota…) is that it’s once again time for making all sorts of pumpkin-themed treats. And they don’t all have to be sweets, either; I’ve been recently enamored of this delicious garlic-rosemary pumpkin hummus which is a good alternative to your typical pumpkin bar or pie.
But, of course, pumpkin-related sweets are also delicious, and it’s fun to experiment with alternatives to the classics here too. While searching recently for creative ways to use up the extra pumpkin that didn’t go into my hummus, I discovered this lovely idea for adding pumpkin to a recipe that’s a classic in my family: molasses sugar cookies.
I’ve written about this recipe before, about my grandma’s discovery of it and its progression to becoming a family classic. My mom recently sent me the cookbook my grandma wrote, so I’ve been enjoying paging through it and rediscovering some favorites, including this one. Each recipe has a little anecdote to go with it; the molasses sugar cookie recipe says simply, “favorite of the track team, high school and college.” This recipe has proven to be a favorite in my world, too; it’s my go-to for potlucks when I don’t have a lot of time but want to impress people.
Grandma’s Cookbook
I used the recipe linked above for inspiration in adding pumpkin to the traditional cookie, but used my grandma’s molasses sugar cookie recipe as the base. The result was an extremely light, puffy, sweet cookie – friends agreed that it was more like pumpkin bread shaped like cookies than like an actual cookie. But they were delicious and disappeared quickly!
The original
Classic molasses sugar cookies – chewy, with that rich molasses taste
The Reinterpretation
Pumpkin molasses sugar cookies – lighter, puffier, more pumpkin-y, still delicious
Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves (ground)
Instructions:
1. Cream together shortening and brown sugar until smooth.
2. Add egg, pumpkin, and molasses, beating well.
Wet ingredients
3. Mix together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture.
Completed dough
4. Cover dough and chill for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.
Ready for chilling
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Shape dough into balls and roll in extra sugar.
Always the best part
7. Place balls on cookie sheet and squish slightly with a fork. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until they no longer look wet in the center and are slightly browned around the edges.
Step one…
Step two…
Ready for baking
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire racks. Enjoy!
My Grandmother's Pantry 