This cookie recipe card is so worn and stained that it’s very difficult to read the ingredients and directions, but I’ll do my best. Grandma kept this recipe in her ‘Favorites’ envelope. The original handwriting is not hers, and there are no clues on the card to tell us who wrote the recipe initially. Several items on the card are traced over in a darker pen in Grandma’s handwriting.
Pumpkin Cookies
1 C shortening
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C pumpkin
1 egg
2 1/2 C flour
1 t powder
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
1/2 c nuts
1 C raisins or 1 C chocolate chips (1 pkg)Cream shortening & sugar. Add egg. Add dry ingredients & pumpkin alternately, beating until smooth. Fold in nuts & raisins. Drop by spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. [And here, Grandma has traced in dark pen the ‘350°’ and right under this has added ‘400°’ so some experimenting with the oven temperature may be needed.]
Hmmm…I seem to have ALL these ingredients in my kitchen right now. I think a batch of cookies might be the order of the day–who wouldn’t want a warm pumpkin cookie on a winter day?
I made a batch of these cookies this week–I used butter instead of shortening (I don’t have any shortening in the house). I had a bag of Trader Joe’s sweet/spicy pecans in the cupboard, and a handful of chocolate chips so some cookies were topped with 6-8 chocolate chips and others with 2-3 pecans. The cookies spread out a lot while baking, they are moist and cake-like. At 350 degrees and 10 minutes, they were nowhere near done so I increased the temp to 375 and checked them every 2 minutes until they were golden on the bottom. I cooled them on the cookie sheets for a few minutes. Very tasty, nice spices and pumpkin flavor.