Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I just had my last weekend class for the semester, and boy is my mind exhausted. Spending 8+ hours with very smart people, making sure to be on top of your game, is always a challenge, and always tiring. I loved it though! I guess I'm just a big nerd, but I love group learning:)

Since it was Halloween weekend, and we were all stuck in class with each other, we were encouraged to bring in treats to share. I brought these cookies and a gallon of apple cider. The cookies, which my partner whipped up with a recipe I found while I set up the outdoor Halloween decorations in hopes of terrifying the local kids, came out FREAKING AWESOME!! Thank you Mindy;) I absolutely loved em, as did everyone else who tried em! These would be the perfect cookies to bring for Thanksgiving.

To get the icing to coat the tops just right, you need to wait for the cookies to completely cool first. I know that this may be difficult to do, especially with the scent of warm cookies in the air, and your mouth watering, but trust me... these actually are better chilled. Once cooled and drizzled, I'd advise layering the iced cookies between parchment paper to keep it all sticking together.

Mindy smartly decided to add walnuts to my recipe, but feel free to omit them if you wish. However, they do give these cookies a nice chunky character. Either way, I'm sure you'll dig these!

Here's a recipe for the Gluten Free flour baking mix I whipped up.

Gluten Free Flour Mix

• 3 cups white rice flour
  
• 1 cup potato flour
  
• ½ cup tapioca flour
  
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
  

Cookie Ingredients

• 5 cups Gluten Free Flour (I made my own, but feel free to use any brand you choose)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup softened butter
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups walnut chunks

Glaze Ingredients

• 4 cups confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar)
• 6 tblsp milk
• 2 tblsp melted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together a cup of softened butter and the sugar.
4. Add the pumpkin , eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat until creamy (either with an electric mixer, or some serious arm power).
5. Incorporate the dry flour mixture into the wet pumpkin mixture and then stir in the walnuts.
6. Drop by spoonfuls onto a non-stick baking sheet, slightly flattening them as you go, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are lightly toasted.
7. Remove from oven and let each batch cool completely on a cooling rack before drizzling with the icing. To make the icing, simply whip together all the ingredients until nice and creamy. Use a fork to drizzle.
8. Wait till the icing dries and layer cookies between parchment paper sheets in a large bowl or pan.
9. This recipe makes a TON of cookies, so be prepared to share. Enjoy!!