Soft Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Soft Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies - made September 21, 2014 from Lauren's Latest

I made these for a potluck after church the day after my dad's birthday party. I had baked a lot for the party but held back this batch of cookie dough to bake the morning of the potluck. I knew after my dad's party I would be pretty wiped out and likely not in the mood to bake. Yes, those times do happen but once those 5 minutes have passed, I like to be ready to turn the oven on and get going.

These didn't spread much so you want to flatten the cookie dough into thick discs once you portion them out and before you freeze the dough. The dough itself is a bit soft so I layered them between sheets of wax paper before I froze them.

I admit I overbaked the first batch by a minute or so - see how cakey the picture below looks? It wasn't dry but I prefer my cookies a little more moist. Fortunately the glaze helped. So I underbaked the next batch by a couple of minutes and was happier with the result. This is a cookie you don't want to overbake but you also don't want to underbake too much or else it'll be doughy.

Flavor-wise, this didn't not have a strong pumpkin flavor. If you want to amp up the spices, you could try increasing the pumpkin pie spice or adding cinnamon or nutmeg. I did find it a little bland so don't skip the glaze as that helps sweeten the cookie.

Baked properly, a bit more moist, dense and chewy rather than cakey

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree {canned pumpkin}
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Glaze 
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir butter, oil, pumpkin, sugars, vanilla and eggs together until incorporated and smooth. 
3. Slowly mix in all dry ingredients until completely incorporated. 
4. Scoop onto prepared baking sheet using 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop and flatten to 1/2 inch thick using the bottom of a glass. If the dough is sticking to the glass, press the bottom of the glass in granulated sugar before flattening. Bake 8-9 minutes.
5. While cookies bake, stir all ingredients together for glaze until smooth.
6. Once cookies are finished baking, cool 3 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons glaze over each warm cookie. Let glaze harden 2-3 hours before serving.