Ingredients
Candied Pumpkin Seeds
- 6 TBSP Butter unsalted
- 4 TBSP Sugar white
- 3 TBSP Light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 2 cup Raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Cookie Dough
- 2-3/4 cups (330 g) All purpose flour
- 1 tsp (4 g) Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 4 oz (room temperature) Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup (1 stick room temperature) Butter unsalted
- 1/2 cup (106 g) Light brown sugar
- 1/2 (99 g) Sugar white
- 1 cup Pumpkin puree
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp Ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Candied pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin Icing
- 1-1/2 cup Powdered sugar
- 1 TBSP Pumpkin puree
- 1/4 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- 1 TBSP Milk
- 2 TBSP (room temperature) Crisco shortening
- 2 TBSP (room temperature) Butter unsalted
Directions
Pumpkin cookies are one of the most beloved fall cookies. You put pumpkin cookies into Google search, and you will get about 271,000,000 results. My thought is they are pretty popular. I decided I wanted a complete pumpkin taste for my cookies.
Pumpkin Puree
I started with Libby’s 100% pumpkin puree for the flavor of my cookie. Libby’s 100% pumpkin puree is not pumpkin pie filling, just the pumpkin. There is a difference between the two. My recipe adds the spices where the pie filling already has some spices incorporated in the mixture. I like to add my own spice combination to my pumpkin cookie, that is why I purchase the 100% pumpkin puree.
Candied Pumpkin Seeds
Decisions, decisions: do I add nuts? I thought no way, I wanted pumpkin seeds. I tossed and turned over whether I wanted roasted or candied for my cookies. There are many recipes for candied pumpkin seeds and here are a few;
I couldn’t find the exact flavor for my candied pumpkin seeds, so I took bits and pieces from a couple of recipes to make my own. Feel free to use mine or one of your own. You might also decide to use roasted pumpkin seeds for some texture in your cookies. You can’t go wrong with pumpkin seeds; as long as you don’t use raw, they need some baking time before you add them to your cookie batter.
A couple of pumpkin recipes:
Pumpkin & Spice With Everything Nice Snickerdoodle Cookies
Tools I use:
My Weight KD-8000
OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop, Small
KitchenAid 4.5 Stand Mixer
Steps
1 Done | Candied Pumpkin SeedsUsing a bowl that is microwave safe and big enough to hold all the ingredients, melt the butter in a microwave. Add the sugars to the melted butter and mix till the sugar has dissolved. You may need to heat this mixture a little in the microwave to get the sugars dissolved. Add the nutmeg, cinnamon, and raw pumpkin seeds and mix till pumpkin seeds are all coated. Scoop out onto a cookie sheet pan and bake for 15- 20 minutes at 350°. I put them into a bowl and then back onto a cookie sheet pan lined with parchment paper and let them cool. You can always heat them with a microwave for warm candied pumpkin seeds to snack on. |
2 Done | Cookie DoughWeigh or measure the sugars into a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, weigh or measure the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon then run a whisk through to blend. In a handheld or stand mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese till light and fluffy — about 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed. Add the sugars and beat for another couple of minutes. |
3 Done | Add the egg, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree, mix till blended. Turn the mixer down to low and gradually add the flour mixture to the bowl. After the flour is incorporated, add the candied pumpkin seeds and blend for about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl loosely and refrigerate for 30 minutes. |
4 Done | Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie pans with parchment paper and set aside. You can use either a small or medium cookie scoop, arrange 12 on a pan and bake for 12-14 minutes. You may need to add a minute if using a medium cookie scoop since they will be thicker. Leave cookies on the pan after taking them out of the oven for a minute or two. Then move them to a cooling rack. |
5 Done | Pumpkin IcingAdd powdered sugar, pumpkin spice, pumpkin puree, milk, Crisco Shortening, butter, into a mixer bowl and blend till smooth. Add the icing to cooled cookies. I added a couple of candied pumpkin seeds on the top just for decoration. |
