pumpkin cookies

The pumpkin cookies that you see in this post are a result of an experiment. Near the apartment where Da and I live are a block of Housing & Development Board flats. At the bottom of one of the flats is a shop that sells fruits, vegetables, frozen chicken, etc. As I was browsing the stalls in the shop, I saw pre-packed thick slices of pumpkin. Pumpkin is not a very popular item in Singapore although I have cooked spiced pumpkin soup before and it makes a lovely thick soup.

I bought one of the slices of pumpkin without really having any thought as to what I would do with it. It was only when I got home that I rummaged through our larder and refrigerator. I decided to be adventurous and bake pumpkin cookies.

I have never baked pumpkin cookies before and as such, I did not have a ready recipe at hand. Knowing that my family prefers crunchy cookies to chewy cookies, I improvised one of my favourite crunchy cookie recipes that I often use to bake cookies during Chinese New Year and voila! Crunchy pumpkin cookies... piping hot from the oven. To give the cookies more "crunch", I added chopped almonds.

It was an interesting experiment, to say the least. The cookies came out fine and were crunchy and aromatic. This is the beauty of cooking/baking - do not be afraid to experiment and improvise.

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
125g butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cooked pumpkin (mashed)
1/2 cup chopped almonds

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Sift the plain flour, corn flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and castor sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with each addition.

5. Add the vanilla essence, mashed pumpkin and chopped almonds and mix well.

6. Fold in the flour mixture and mix until blended.

7. Drop by teaspoonful onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.

8. Bake at 22 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

9. Let the cookies cool thoroughly before storing them in an air-tight container.