Dear reader, I'm in a bit of trouble. The kind of trouble one encounters when in the presence of too many pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Yes, that kind of trouble.
I made these cookies this morning for the girls to take to school. Of course there were some leftover n'er-do-wells lurking in the kitchen when I came home from volunteering in Caroline's class. Did they wolf whistle? Did they cat call?
Worse. It's all a blur to me now and I can't remember who exactly made the first move, but I am telling you--it was an out and out ambush.
What is it with me and cookie attacks? Do I give off a vanilla scent? Do I look like the type of person who enjoys hand-to-mouth combat with baked goods?
Don't answer that question.
....................
An aside: remind me to tell you about volunteering in Caroline's class some day. How I rocket in popularity the moment I enter the room. How I try not to let this go to my head.
"Caroline, it's your mom!" "Caroline's mom is here!" "Hi, Caroline's mom!"
How I grin, letting it go to my head. How Caroline grins, too.
How I get all these cool jobs involving the use of rulers and felt pens, staplers, hole punches, and today...an exacto knife! How using that exacto knife made me the happiest volunteer in all the land. How strangely eager I am to please the teacher. How thrilled I would be if she gave me a gold star. How one of my jobs was to remove the paper jack o' lanterns from the wall and how I knew, without checking, which one was Caroline's (the one with cupid's bow lips and eyelashes).
....................
Back to the matter at hand. As if this morning's run-in was not enough, who should stop by later that day bearing more freshly baked pumpkin cookies? An alleged friend! Only these cookies were covered in some sort of illegal glaze of such exquisite mien that I immediately had to call her up and beg for the recipe.
And now I will enslave/share it with you:
Brown Sugar Icing
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbsp. milk
1 cup powdered sugar
Combine butter, sugar, and milk in saucepan and bring to a boil for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding vanilla and powdered sugar. Icing should be a little thicker than a glaze.
For the record, my friend's cookies did not have any chocolate chips in them, which is as it should be when one is endowing one's cookies with a highly addictive substance.
We've moved past chocolate, dear reader. Way past.
....................
Edited to add: Because so many of you are asking, here is my friend's cookie recipe. It's basically the same as mine, only minus the chocolate chips and the insanity.
Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 cups flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and shortening; add vanilla, egg & pumpkin. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Batter will be sticky. Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes.
....................
Two more things.
1. The stylish lady with the bee stung lips? That's my dear sister, Julianna. The one who sings like an angel. And has great lips.
2. Please be sure to visit Tollipop tomorrow! And do bring your friends! A lovely giveaway is in the works...