Corn Cookies

Foxfire13's Note:

This is a Hannah Swensen recipe direct from The Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minnesota to you. These are great to bring to a halloween party. I make them without the nuts when I bring them to gatherings in case anyone has a nut allergy.

• Total Time: 28 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 6 dozen

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks, 1/2 lb)
• 1 egg
• 1 (15 ounce) can mashed pumpkin puree (I use Libby's)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup golden raisin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 cups flour (no need to sift)
• 1 (24 ounce) bag candy corn (for when you take the cookies out of the oven, do not mix into the dough)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
2. Melt the butter. Add the sugar and mix. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and then stir in the egg. Add all of the rest of the ingredients except the flour, mixing after each addition. Add the flour, one cup at a time, and mix it throughly. Let the cookie dough sit for 5 minutes to "rest.".
3. Drop by spoonful on a greased cookie sheet, 12 cookies per standard-size sheet. (If the dough is too sticky, refrigerate it for a few minutes to firm it up.) Flatten the cookies with a greased spatula. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 8-10 minutes.
4. When the cookies come out of the oven, leave them on cookie sheets and immediately press pieces of candy corn on top as a design. Do this right away, so that the candy will stick after the cookies have cooled.
5. Let the cookies cool on sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.