Libby's Pumpkin Cookie

This one of my (many) favorite cookies my mom made when we were growing up.  We frosted them with buttercream frosting, decorated them with m&m's and candy corn and put them in the freezer to keep them fresh.  (They are excellent straight from the freezer, by the way.)  These days I often make them as a drop cookie and don't frost them because they are very good plain as well.  They are a soft and cakey type of cookie.  We just had our family from Kentucky here for a visit and had a great time together.  There were many requests for the recipe, so here it is!  Enjoy!  Since I have a big family, we make the amounts is parenthesis; it's a huge batch.

4 cups flour (7 cups)
2 cups old fashioned oats (3 1/2 cups)
2 tsp. baking soda (3 1/2 tsp.)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (3 1/2 tsp.)
1 tsp. salt (1 3/4 tsp.)
1 1/2 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 cups plus 1/8 cup)
2 cups packed brown sugar (3 1/2 cups)
1 cup sugar (1 3/4 cups)
1 egg (2 eggs)
1 tsp. vanilla (1 3/4 tsp.)
16 oz. can pure pumpkin (29 oz. can)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 3/4 cups or more :)

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon & salt; set aside.  Cream butter, gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla; mix well.  Alternate additions of dry ingredients & pumpkin, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in chocolate chips.

For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup of dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Spread into a pumpkin shape using a thin metal spatula.  Add a bit more to from a stem.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cookies are firm and lightly browned around the edges.  Remove from cookie sheets, cool on racks.  Once cool, decorate with icing and add candies to make pumpkin faces.  Makes 32 large cookies.

For drop cookies, use a 1 T. or 2 T. scoop to place on greased sheet.  1 Tbsp. size take about 16 minutes to bake and 2 Tbsp. size take about 18 minutes to bake.  They'll spread when they bake so allow room for them to grow.

Vanilla Butter Frosting:  Combine 1/3 cup softened butter with 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla and up to 2 Tbsp. milk to get a spreadable consistency.  Once iced and decorated, you can set them on a clean cookie sheet and pan freeze them so they won't stick when you store them in the freezer.  Add a sheet of waxed paper between layers for add insurance.

Orange Jello Fluff

I first tasted this refreshing dessert at my friend Dianne's.  Over the years I've collected several recipes that are very similar, so this recipe we use now is a combination of all three.  We just made this for our nephew's birthday party and it got great reviews.

3 small boxes of orange jello
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup crushed ice
11 oz. can mandarine oranges
1 small Cool Whip, thawed

Dissolve jello in boiling water. Pour mandarine oranges and juice from the can into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add cold water until the level reaches 2 cups. Stir into jello mixture. Add 1/2 cup crushed ice and stir until melted. Pour into a 13x9 pan and chill in the frig until the jello is soft set. Remove the jello from the frig and scrape into a large bowl. Add the cool whip and use an electric mixer to combine the two. Pour it back into a clean 13x9 dish and chill until set (overnight would be best). Cut into squares with a sharp knife and serve with a mini spatula.
Instead of a 13x9 pan, you could pour jello into a bundt pan or jello mold coated lightly with non-stick spray.