Pumpkin Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies... glazed or filled.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies... can be glazed or filled. 

NOTE: I will be taking a break from blogging, and will be back sometime in December. Until then, I wish you all a most wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones... Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful to God for His abundant mercy and grace upon us... and His faithfulness.

For the past couple of years I've posted a series of cookies that I usually make for our local church youth retreat. The series usually contained about 8 or so posts...  and it was all about cookies or some other type of dessert. In any case, if you've been following for that long, you might be familiar with the yearly cookie or dessert posts on this site. This year I didn't bake as many new recipes as I have in the past, rather I used some of the recipes I've posted over the years... recipes that are tried and true for me:). 

However, I did manage to bake a couple of new recipes... 2 to be exact. And they are a keeper. I only managed to take complete photos of one of the cookies. So I think I'll have to re-bake the other cookie to post here another time... only because my husband LOVED that cookie. And anything that my husband loves, I try to post  here:). Anyway, I'll share the recipe for the cookie I did manage to photograph. It's a wonderful cookie... perfect for this time of year, especially around Thanksgiving time.

Pumpkin cookies have always been on my list to make. I've bookmarked plenty of recipes in the last few years, but just never got the chance to try any of them. Interestingly, this recipe caught my eye just a week or so ago a month ago... and I wanted to try it asap! Kind of forgot all about the the other bookmarked recipes, and proceeded to make the one I'm posting today. I loved everything about the recipe, including the interesting addition of the oatmeal. The oatmeal gives the cookie that hearty texture, making it a bit more wholesome. Though in reality, I would love to substitute some of the oatmeal  with chopped nuts next time... just because it's always nice to have another variation of the cookie.

If you've ever made the famous Libby's Pumpkin Roll, and love it, well these cookies are the mess free version. Mess free, because there's no rolling or slicing involved. I just find them much easier to make and bake... even easier using a cookie scoop. Oh, and there's no towel involved:). 

If you don't care for the cream cheese frosting, you can always leave the cookies plain. Or if you want, you can drizzle them with a bit of maple icing for a more festive look. Actually, the cookies from the original recipe weren't made into sandwich cookies, but rather left plain or drizzled with icing. 

Sandwich cookies are always more fun:), so I decided to make mine as sandwich cookies... and filled them with  a cream cheese frosting, reminiscent of "whoopie pies". But feel free to try another filling besides the cream cheese frosting. I love nutella and pumpkin together, so that might be another option. Of course, you can also use a marshmallow type of frosting as well. 

If you are looking for a new pumpkin related dessert that's simple to make... and delicious, you might want to give these cookies a try. They are moist, hearty, pumpkin-y and look pretty. The surface of the cookie, over time, tends to get a bit moist, so the cookies are easier to store individually in cupcake liners(if filled). This way they don't stick to one another. You can also place a small piece of parchment paper between the cookies, if you want, especially if you don't fill them. Hope you enjoy...    

Note: I made my cookies smaller, however you can always make them bigger and bake them for longer. 

Tip:  If you don't want the oatmeal to be too "rough looking", opt to quickly pulse them in the food processor to cut them up a bit. The oatmeal does give the otherwise soft cakey cookie a slight "rough" texture. 

You will need: adapted from CHOW

Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 -1 tsp ground ginger, to taste

1/2 tsp fine salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ex-large egg, at room temperature

2 tsps vanilla extract

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée(1 3/4 cups)

For the glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

3 TBS milk or water, plus more as needed

2 TBS maple syrup

pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg, optional

Cream Cheese Frosting: You can easily double this if you want to make all the cookies sandwich

3-4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, room temp (I tend to skip this... and use 4 oz cream cheese instead)

2 cups powdered sugar (taste and adjust amount to your liking, I try to use less sugar)

1 tsp vanilla (or less of almond extract... can add a bit of grated orange/lemon zest)

a pinch of salt

Directions: 

• Heat the oven to 350°F
• Arrange the racks to divide the oven into thirds. 
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg to fully combine and aerate. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer( fitted with a paddle attachment), add butter and sugars . Beat on medium speed until lightened in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes. You will need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

3. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until incorporated on medium speed, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed.

4. On low speed, add 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the pumpkin and mix until just incorporated. Repeat with the second half of the flour mixture and pumpkin.

5. Using a 1 1/2 TBS cookie scoop, place 12 dough rounds on one cookie sheet and 12 more on the second cookie sheet, making sure to space the dough about 2 inches apart. Place the remaining dough in the refrigerator. NOTE: Feel free to bake one sheet at a time instead of two.  

6. Place both sheets in the oven one on top rack one on the bottom....  and bake for about 8 minutes. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back and continue baking until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and around the edges, about 8 more minutes or as needed per your oven.

7. Let cookies cool on the sheets for 3-5 minutes( they are soft at this point) and using a flat spatula, transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely. 

8. Let the baking sheets cool to room temperature, before repeating with the remaining dough. I like to re-use the same parchment paper.  Keep the parchment papers for glazing cookies later... that is, if you are planning on glazing them 

9. Glaze cookies... and/or fill them with frosting. The cookies freeze well, glazed or filled. 

For the glaze:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until evenly combined. (You may need to add more milk by the 1/2 teaspoon if the glaze is too thick to drizzle.)

2. Place all of the cooled cookies on the reserved parchment sheets, then dip a fork in the glaze... or use a small spoon to  drizzle glaze over the cookies in a zigzag pattern. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the glaze has set. You can then fill them with frosting.

For the Frosting: You can always make a nutella frosting for variation.

1. Beat cream cheese, butter vanilla and salt until light and fluffy. Add sugar gradually until smooth. You can easily add some citrus zest, or other spices, if you like.

2. Add frosting in a pipe bag fitted with small plain tip.... or use a sandwich bag and snip off a small corner. Pipe frosting on one cookie and sandwich with another cookie. Because the cookies can be quite moist, I like to place them in cupcake liners.