More Cheese More Chocolate

The most important lesson that my mom has taught me in my 27 years is that cheese sauce or chocolate sauce can make any food better, hence the name of this blog.  The second most important lesson is that you should never skimp on frosting.  When in doubt, make extra.

Remember when I made cupcakes a week or so ago?  Well, skimp on frosting I did not.  I ended up with at least twice as much as I needed, so after all of the cupcakes had been decorated, I was left with a giant container of cinnamon cream cheese frosting.  Enter half a can of pumpkin purée remaining from when I made pumpkin knots and a quick search through a few cookbooks, and before long I was pulling a few dozen pumpkin walnut cookies out of the oven and smothering them with frosting.  And I still have leftover frosting.  Maybe I took my mom’s advice a little too far.

Pumpkin Walnut Cookies

Slightly adapted from More From Magnolia

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup canned pumpkin purée

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

Powdered sugar (5-10 cups?)

Note: This recipe should make plenty of frosting for a single batch of the cookies.  I’m pretty sure I made twice this amount for the cupcakes and the cookies, but I’m not positive. If you don’t want to end up with loads of extra frosting, you might want to halve the recipe and just make more if needed.  Another option is switching to Nutella if you run out of frosting (see lesson #1 above, even though it’s technically not chocolate sauce).

For the cookies:

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer.  Add the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla, and beat until combined.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.  Add them to the wet ingredients, and mix well.  Stir in the walnuts.

3. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto ungreased cookie sheets or cookie sheets covered with parchment paper.  Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.  Cool on cookie sheets for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer until smooth.  Add the vanilla and cinnamon and beat well.  Gradually add the powdered sugar until it reaches a consistency that’s easily spreadable but not too runny.  Frost the cookies once they’ve cooled completely, and store any leftover frosting in the fridge.

Pumpkin walnut cookie + warm apple cider

There’s still time to vote for More Cheese More Chocolate or any other favorite blogs of yours for Project Food Blog.  Voting is open until Thursday.  Thanks for your help!