Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Look at them in all their glory!

A leftover pumpkin project turned wonderful. I would hate to waste such a precious ingredient as pumpkin so, it needed a purpose in people's tummies which turned out to be the Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. I looked through many recipes before settling on this one. I was thinking something sort of pumpkin-cheesecakey-bar- but there was not enough cream cheese for that venture (however, I did find an awesome looking recipe on Epicurious for a later time). I wanted something that would appeal to the masses, something simple yet with a special twist. I turned to the Libby's Pumpkin website recipe section and these cookies stuck out; the ingredients were items I had on hand and simple enough to turn out before I had to leave for work. The general consensus is overwhelming success; I was requested to bring more cookies into work tomorrow because they finished all the ones I brought tonight. The cookies are soft but not overly so, as they tend to be in cookies that contain pumpkin. They are not overly sweet and have the perfect spicy cinnamon bite. The pecans and raisins are hinted throughout adding to the textural appeal of the cookie. Next time, I would use thicker cut oats (my quick oats were smaller than normal) for an even heartier texture and add more pecans (or walnuts as the original recipe stated) since I only had about a half cup.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
adapted from verybestbaking.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick or old fashioned oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup (or more) chopped pecans (or any nut of choice)
3/4 cup raisins

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in nuts and raisins. Drop in large rounded tablespoons onto baking sheet.

Bake 14 minutes or until cookies are lightly brown and centers are set. Cool 2 minutes of baking sheet and then move to wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Yield - about 24-30 large cookies (48 cookie according to original).

This week, I also recieved my Baker's Catalogue from King Arthur Flour.


There are way too many thing I want; What an amazing catalogue. They just make every image so visually appealing and the addition of recipes inside is nice as well. I must go write a detailed Christmas list!