Easy Pumpkin Spice Cookies (Cake Mix)

4Susan's Note:

In a hurry? Cake mix and canned pumpkin - that's it! Amazingly simple and they taste wonderful -honestly they're great! Moist and chewy inside, slightly crispy outside. There are other cake mix cookie recipes on Zarr and they're all very good, but this one is my family's favorite. Beginner and experienced chefs can all appreciate the ease of this recipe, plus they sell quickly at bake sales, and children love them.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 36

Yield: 36.0 cookies

• 1 (18 1/4 ounce) box spice cake mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin (the small can)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) or 1 cup chopped pecans (optional) or 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1 cup cream cheese frosting (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray cookie sheets lightly with vegetable spray (Pam).
3. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and pumpkin with a fork or mixer until well blended; stir in nuts or raisins, if desired.
4. Drop by large rounded spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet; they don't flatten out much so however you place them on the sheet is pretty much how they'll look after baking.
5. Bake for 8 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.
6. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for up to 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Frost, if desired.
8. How many cookies you get depends on how large you make them of course - just increase your baking time if making larger cookies (it's truly difficult to burn these, but they will get crispier & less moist); Mine, made with a medium size cookie scoop, take 13-15 minutes to bake and yield about 3 dozen.

Reviews

[kathy the sometime cook]

One other tip....dip a dampened glass bottom in sugar and flatten the tops a bit...gives a nice "crinkle" look to the finished cookie. Other wise, they pretty much look like they did before you baked them..however misshappen that might have been!

[Mrs. Kristy]

I thought these turned out wonderful and we super easy. I did add 3/4 cup of water to the recipe though and thought it made them better. The walnuts were a great addition. They do do turn out kind of sloppy looking, but I think that makes them look like they were "made with love" Will use this recipe again for sure!

[Chef #1149930]

These came out really dense for spice cake based cookies. My great aunt used to make this with browned butter frosting (definitely my favorite way to top these). I am cooking at altitude as well, which may have changed the texture. I made them last year with just the spice cake box recipe and raisins and they came out more like I remember. So the user's tip with the eggs and water would be my recommendation if you are used the texture of the old time "cake-like" cookies. The ones I remember are so fluffy and light, more like little unstructured cupcakes. I will be going back to my old recipe...but this version is very fast and bridges the cookie vs. cake consistency. Either way they need an icing IMO. Give the browned butter a try, it's awesome. I guess the ideal texture depends on individual preference.