Good evening everyone! Most of us have our wiggle bums under-foot whenever we’re trying to move about the house (sometimes making things more difficult) and in a way they participate in our evening rituals. Lily follows me to the laundry closet, watches each item go in the washer, and then scoots sideways once I turn around to exit with the empty basket. She trails behind the vacuum as I push and pull it around the coffee table and then lays on the freshly cleaned spots with a toy. Lily also sits closely in the kitchen while I move between the sink and the stove. She doesn’t beg for people food, so I do not feel like I’m being cornered by a vulture, but rather that she just wants to be a part of the activity. Hence, tonight begins an exciting new feature on wiggle bum – Cooking with Lily!
I love anything with pumpkin in it. I tried my hand at mini pumpkin bread last Fall and enjoyed passing the wrapped loaves out to friends. Today, Lily and I tried something new and we’d like to share the recipe with you. This recipe originally included some ingredients for a drizzle to put over the cookies while they cool, but I prefer not to have any icing on my cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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I find it helpful to bring all of my ingredients out and then stage my work area. You’ll need 2 mixing bowls, multiple sized measuring cups/spoons incase they don’t fit into your ingredient container, spatula, cookie sheets, and cooling racks.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and let’s get started!
SHORTCUT: This first step is where you can choose the shortcut if you’d like – replace the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves with 3 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice (see below). That’s what I did.
First we will combine the dry ingredients in the larger mixing bowl. This includes the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In a smaller mixing bowl, unwrap the softened stick of butter and add the white sugar. The original recipe states that these two ingredients should be whipped until creamy in mixer. I prefer to use my hands to work it together. I also do not own a mixer.
Once it is well mixed, the sugar will be evenly distributed and the heat from your hands will soften the butter further. There will be less air in your final product if you do not use a mixer, and the mixture will be a more corse and flaky mix like this.
Next, add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar. Blend all of these wet ingredients in the small bowl thoroughly with your hands or a spatula.
Pour the wet ingredients into the large mixing bowl and fold slowly with the spatula into the dry ingredients. The batter will become quite thick and somewhat hard to stir. Don’t give up! 
BONUS: Give some of the extra pumpkin to your wiggle bum as a healthy treat! It’s great for their digestive system and has a lot of Vitamins (special dietary needs should be kept in mind of course if your wiggle bum has them). I suggest no more than 1/8 cup if it is their first taste.
Resist eating the batter…only because it is so much better to have the first taste as the finished cookie! But if you do, your secret will be safe with me.
Drop tablespoon sized cookies onto the un-greased cookie sheets about a cookie’s length apart. Flatten them slightly to give them a more cookie shape. This batch made about 28 cookies.
And now….we wait 15 -18 minutes for the cookies to bake! This is the hardest part for Lily.
Remove the cookies from the cookie sheets right away and place them on the cooling rack.
Enjoy!
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