Pumpkin Spice Bread & Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

In the spirit of my favorite season, Fall, and a need to use the can of pureed pumpkin in the pantry, I went on a search for a new pumpkin recipe. I somehow ended up on Martha Stewart's site (I don't usually attempt Martha's recipes, as I find them too time-intensive and requiring a lot of obscure ingredients and complicated techniques), but I instantly wanted to try her recipe for Ginger Pumpkin Bread. I ended up tweaking the recipe a bit, and it became much more like a pumpkin pie bread than Martha's ginger-heavy original.

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 (15 oz. can) pumpkin puree

3 large eggs

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/8 tsp. cloves

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Grease one loaf pan (I have found the Pam Baking spray to work very well) and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.

4. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, butter and eggs.

5. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until just combined (do not overmix).

6. Bake approximately 1 hour, 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

8. Once loaf is removed from pan and further cooled, drizzle with Martha's sugar glaze (see below)

Sugar Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp. water

1. Slowly add water to powdered sugar and mix quickly. Stop adding water when glaze reaches desired consistency.

The pumpkin spice bread is a new favorite, for sure, but the following recipe is a go-to favorite that I've now made a couple of years in a row. It uses pumpkin, so it's perfect for Fall, and it's a delicious cake-like cookie that always gets good reviews.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. each nutmeg, ginger and allspice

1/2 tsp. cloves

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 (3 oz) package Jell-O butterscotch pudding mix

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

1 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (15 oz) bag butterscotch chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, salt and pudding mix.

3. Add pumpkin, vegetable oil, eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix until well-combined. (If using a stand mixer, beat on medium speed).

4. Stir in butterscotch chips.

5. Drop by full tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack or parchment paper to cool.