Pumpkin Rocks with Cream Cheese Frosting
Author: Nancy Baggett
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (5 ounces) dark seedless raisins
  • 3 cups all-purpose unbleached white flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoons each ground cloves and nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Scant ½ teaspoon salt
  • ⅔ cup (10⅔ tablespoons) unsalted butter, slightly softened
  • 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup corn oil or other flavorless vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup light molasses
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin (not seasoned pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Frosting (Optional)
  • 1 3-ounce package cream cheese, slightly softened
  • 2 ½ cups unsifted powdered sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Lightly grease several large baking sheets, or spray with nonstick spray.
  3. In a small bowl, cover raisins with hot water.
  4. Let stand 10 minutes; drain thoroughly.
  5. In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, soda, and salt.
  6. In a large mixer bowl with mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until very well blended and fluffy.
  7. On low speed, beat in the oil, molasses, pumpkin, and vanilla until smoothly incorporated.
  8. Beat or stir in the flour mixture, then raisins until evenly incorporated.
  9. Drop dough into golf ball-sized mounds, spacing about 2½ inches apart on the baking sheets.
  10. Bake one pan at a time in upper third of the oven until cookies are lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges, 13 to 15 minutes.
  11. Let stand just until firmed up slightly.
  12. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks; let stand until thoroughly cooled.
  13. To prepare for icing, set racks of cookies over sheets of wax paper.
  14. For frosting: In a mixer bowl with mixer on low, then medium speed, beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until well blended and very smooth.
  15. Beat in orange juice until smoothly incorporated. If frosting is very stiff, add enough water to thin it to a spreadable but still firm consistency; if too thin, add more powdered sugar.
  16. Using a table knife or small, thin-bladed spatula, swirl about a teaspoon of frosting over center of each cookie top.
  17. Let stand until frosting sets, at least 1 hour.
  18. Store, airtight, with wax paper between the layers.
  19. The cookies may be frozen, airtight, for up to a month.
Recipe by KitchenLane at http://kitchenlane.com/2013/10/a-fine-pumpkin-cookie-plus-some-very.html