Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies
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One of my sister’s and my favorite Christmas cookies is a molasses crinkle cookie and when I saw this recipe for pumpkin gingersnap cookies, I knew I had to make these for her. I have no idea when or how it started, but my sister and I started calling each other pumpkin. I know there’s a story behind, but I just can’t remember it, and we occasionally get each other silly pumpkin-themed things like pumpkin towels and pumpkin trivets. We also both really love baked pumpkin treats and combining a pumpkin cookie with the essence of one of our favorite holidays cookies, this I had to try!
Luckily a trip to Philadelphia was already in store, so I didn’t have to wait long before I could make these cookies for my sister. The night Joseph and I arrived, we headed out to an awesome happy hour at FARMiCiA with my sister and brother-in-law. Massachusetts law forbids happy hour specials on alcohol (terrible, horrible law!), so I was pretty psyched about these half-off cocktails. There was no question that both my sister and I were going to get the pumpkin cocktail, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. The drink was even topped off with little pumpkin sprinkles which made the drink very pretty, but were somewhat alarming when they came through the straw.
After another cocktail or two (because come on, half off cocktails!?) we walked back to their place for dinner. Dinner was entirely un-pumpkin related but super tasty because we made pizza with my favorite pepperoni from Vermont Smoke and Cure (we made up for it the next night by having pumpkin beer with butternut squash soup) and then we followed dinner with not one but two kinds of pumpkin cookies (second recipe coming soon!).
The pumpkin gingersnaps are everything I was hoping for and more. They texture of the pumpkin gingersnap is better than our traditional molasses crinkles because they stay perfectly soft all on their own whereas the molasses crinkles become rock hard in less than 24 hours if you don’t store a piece of bread with them (the moisture from the bread transfers to the cookies rendering a rock hard piece of bread and soft cookies). The pumpkin flavor is subtle, but it’s definitely there and the molasses gives it a nice complexity while the spices meld everything together into the perfect autumnal cookie.
Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (½ cup) of butter, at room temperature
- 7 ounces (1 cup) granulated sugar, plus 3½ ounces (½ cup) for rolling the cookies
- ½ cup of canned pumpkin
- 2 ¼ ounces (¼ cup) of molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 11 2/3 ounces (2 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth (3-5 minutes). Add the pumpkin, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract, mix until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour, preferably closer to 2-3 hours (the dough will be easier to roll into balls the colder and harder it is). The dough can be chilled for 2-3 days.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Place sugar in a small bowl. Roll tablespoon-sized balls of dough in sugar until well coated and place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until cookies look cracked and set at the edges. The cookies will still be soft. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a 2-3 minutes after removing them from the oven, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.