Spicy Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

As a compliment to your Thanksgiving recipe collection this pumpkin cookie recipe makes a tasty desert. Ginger and a few other ingredients adds a spicy zip to these cookies.

I don't add too much pepper to these recipes. There is no reason to overpower the taste of a pumpkin recipe. They just taste too good on their own!

If you like the flavor of this pumpkin cookie recipe you will love our pumpkin cheesecake recipe. If you thought the cayenne woke up the flavor in our pumpkin cookie recipe, wait until you taste this. The cheese and habanero powder go hand in hand!

Everyone has a favorite spiced pumpkin pie recipe, but until you've tried it with cayenne you don't know what you're missing. The pumpkin cookie recipe below taught me that when you are spicing up sweets, cayenne fits right in!

This pumpkin cookie recipe and cheesecake and pie recipes are a perfect follow up to any Thanksgiving recipe, so try them at your next big family gathering.

Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
sifted confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. Stir in the pumpkin. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cayenne and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture into the creamed mixture along with the milk. Blend thoroughly but do not over beat.

- Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for about 12 minutes, until set. Cool for a minute; remove to racks and continue to cool. Dust pumpkin cookies with sifted confectioners' sugar.

Now, the pumpkin cookie recipe is for the kids, but for the grownup table during holiday gatherings you have to try this pumpkin cheesecake recipe.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:
CRUST:
2 cups cinnamon-sugar graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
FILLING:
2 8 oz packages Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon habanero
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
TOPPING:
1 pint sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
- Combine cinnamon-sugar crumbs and melted butter; press onto bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan.
- Combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl, mix at medium speed until well blended.
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Reserve 1 cup of cream cheese mixture.
- To the remaining cream cheese mixture add, pumpkin, remaining sugar and spices. Mix well.
- Layer half of pumpkin mixture and half of plain cream cheese mixture over crust; repeat layers.
- Cut through batter with knife several times for a marble effect.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. While cheesecake is baking, prepare topping.
- Mix all topping ingredients in a small bowl, after cheesecake has baked for 40 minutes, remove it from the oven; top cheesecake with sour cream topping mixture and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes.

Orange and Spice Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
3 large eggs
¾ cup packed golden brown sugar
¾ cup whipping cream
¼ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¼ cup sour cream
2½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cayenne
½ teaspoon cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
lightly sweetened whipped cream
fine strips of orange
pie crust

Directions:
- Whisk first 10 ingredients in large bowl until well blended. Pour into pie crust.
- Bake at 325º until filling puffs and begins to split at edges and is just set in center, about 1 hour and 5 minutes.
- Chill pie. Top pie with whipped cream and orange peel strips.

Source: "Bon Appétit, November 1998"

From the pumpkin cookie recipe to cheesecake, any pumpkin recipe can be spiced up a little or a lot. Use your imagination and by all means, fire up your Thanksgiving recipe collection and...
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