Pumpkin Drop Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks-3 Ways!: #CreativeCookieExchange

Pumpkin Drop Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks are delicious and versatile–they can be a wholesome treat to wake up to, an afternoon-pick me up, or, frosted, a decadent after dinner dessert. Either way they are wonderful–and can you believe how long it has taken Creative Cookie Exchange to get around to featuring pumpkin!? Keep reading to see more pumpkin goodies!

So I made these pumpkin drop cookies, reveled in the abundance of natural light (yes it is that time of year, I am losing my light and it is driving me insane), took loads of pictures, and then took a bite. They were not at all bad, but honestly they tasted kinda healthy. Like hey if you want a breakfast cookie I’ve got you covered! But I didn’t want a breakfast cookie. And I happened to have a bowl of leftover Whipped Cream Buttercream from some cupcakes I made for Sammy’s birthday.

Holy wow. Amazing. Frosted, the pumpkin drop cookies reminded me of pumpkin pie. Sammy, who has been begging me for pumpkin pie for a year now, got a big beaming smile on her face when she tried one (and for once I have no pictures).  However this presented me with a conundrum. You see I had been planning to bake off the rest of the dough (I made a double batch) for the teachers for conferences when we (the parents) provide dinner and dessert. And I did not think the Whipped Cream Buttercream would transfer that well or stack well. In short, they would not transport (I didn’t rhyme on purpose but now I am chanting it over and over in my head).

By this time I had whipped back out my photography equipment, taken pictures of frosted pumpkin drop cookies, and decided hey might as well go for a third time with a glaze. But the milk, alas, was gone. So for this third incarnation I went with more of an afternoon pick-me-up theme, ergo the coffee. The iced version is very good I am relieved to say. Not quite as amazing as the frosted ones, but much easier to take to school!

The original plan was to put roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) into these cookies, but I was all out (or, let’s be honest, they were buried somewhere deep in a freezer). So I went with pistachios. If you are going for more of the healthy vibe, leave them in. But honestly if you are going for more of a dessert vibe, I would vote just increasing the white chocolate chunks. Or try the pepitas and let me know how they are!

Some of you, I am sure, will be tempted to add milk or dark chocolate. Just please do not tell me. I know many people love that combination, but I am not one! I cannot think of a single fruit or vegetable I like with dark/milk chocolate unless you count dried chile pepper powders. I am also appalled by raspberries with chocolate. My husband would call this a flaw, but he doesn’t eat hard boiled eggs or any eggs with a runny yolk so we are probably even.

Keep reading down below for more pumpkin cookies! And for the Whipped Cream Buttercream Frosting please check out this Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcake post and see what I made for Sammy’s birthday!

5 from 1 vote

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Pumpkin Drop Cookies with Pistachios and White Chocolate Chunks-3 Ways!

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

This recipe needs to chill for 30 minutes, so plan accordingly (that 30 minutes is not included in the recipe time). If you want to top the cookies with whipped buttercream, here is a link to the recipe.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Author: TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 1 cup (2 sticks, 226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (I use canned pumpkin)
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups (192 g) white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup (63 g) AP flour
• 1/2 t fine sea salt
• heaping 1/2 t ground allspice
• scant 1/2 t Ceylon cinnamon
• 2.3 oz (65 g) chopped white chocolate (please use real white chocolate!!)
• 4.2 oz (119 g, 1 scant cup) roasted and salted pistachios (if you prefer, leave out the nuts and add 4.6 oz more of white chocolate)

For the glaze:

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 2 T heavy whipped cream
• water

Instructions

1. Beat the butter on medium speed with an electric mixer (hand or stand) until creamy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat in the sugar, once again on medium speed, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
2. Beat in the pumpkin puree. Do not worry if the mixture looks a little curdled (and this could be because my kitchen was exceptionally cold). Beat until completely incorporated, scraping the bowl as needed.
3. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder and spices.
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture--add it is in several additions, more still if you have doubled the recipe. Mix on slow, scraping the bowl in between additions.
6. When the flour is nearly but not quite completely incorporated, add the chopped white chocolate and pistachios (if using).
7. Mix until completely incorporated but be careful not to over mix. Press plastic wrap over the dough and chill for 30 minutes.
8. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. I used my larger cookie scoop, 2-3 tablespoons of dough per cookie, and baked 6 to a sheet. You can bake more at once if you make them smaller.
9. For smaller cookies, start checking at 12 minutes; start checking large cookies at 16 minutes. The cookies are done when they browning at the edges and set and dry looking in the middle.
10. Let cool on the cookie sheets.
11. If you choose to frost your cookies, wait until the cookies have cooled completely before piling frosting on each cookie.
12. if you choose to glaze the cookies, start by whisking 2 tablespoons of heavy cream into the powdered sugar. If it is humid where you are, this might be enough, but it is quite dry here now, so I added water by the teaspoon until I had a thick white glaze that would pour easily off of a spoon. Drizzle over the COOLED cookies and let set completely before storing.

The theme this month is Pumpkin! It is only October–you can’t possibly be tired of this glorious symbol of the fall harvest yet! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes–be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of our bloggers have made this month:

• Mexican Chocolate Pepita Shortbread Cookies by Magnolia Days
• Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies by Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Stay at Home Mama
• Pumpkin Date Cookies by Upstate Ramblings
• Pumpkin Drop Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks by The Spiced Life
• Pumpkin Oatmeal with White Chocolate M&Ms by Our Good Life
• Pumpkin, Oats and Sunflower Seeds Cookies by ISingCakes & More
• Pumpkin Spice Cookies by 2Cookin’ Mamas
• Pumpkin Spice Cut Out Cookies by A Baker’s House
• Pumpkin Thumbprints by Flours & Frostings

And for the collage lovers….