TULALIP, WA. – I’ve tested two other recipes and this was by far the better and easier one. This recipe is from chef-in-training.com and I added more spices to give the cookies more of a pumpkin pie taste. The cookies are soft and have a pumpkin taste that isn’t overwhelming. I would suggest using at least cinnamon and nutmeg; the clove, ginger and allspice are optional.

I made the mistake of using pumpkin pie filling the first time, please don’t try that. Pumpkin pie filling has added spices, sodium, and sugar which make it delicious for pie but incompatible for cookies. Use either homemade or canned pumpkin puree; if you can’t tell from the label that it contains only pumpkin look at the ingredients on the back and it should list pumpkin only.

Some may be thinking, why shortening, why not butter? Since the recipe calls for pumpkin this adds quite a bit of extra water and in order to remove the excess moisture the cookies need to be baked longer at a higher temperature which butter just can’t do. There are other recipes that call for butter but they produce soggy cookies and if you cook them any longer or at a higher temp they will burn. You can use butter instead of shortening but to avoid the excess moisture try adding oatmeal, or pre-boil the pumpkin and cool before adding. Also, do not just add more flour and hope it will counteract the moisture; this will make little puff balls that will be dense and cake like.

Original recipe on www.chef-in-training.com