Pecan Pumpkin Cookies

Pecan Pumpkin Cookies are prepared with molasses, real pumpkin puree, lots of pumpkin spice flavour, white chocolate chips, and chopped pecans. Topped with a sweet glaze, they are delectably moist and flavourful. If you’re looking for a cookie that tastes like fall, look no further!

The combination of molasses with white chocolate chips and a sugary glaze is bound to make for a sweet and indulgent cookie flavour combination. Pair those things with my homemade pumpkin spice and canned pumpkin puree, these cookies are simply divine! Pecan Pumpkin Cookies are perfect for fall when we all crave that soothing, warming taste of spice!

Now, Dear Reader, I need you to understand something before you whip out your flour and pumpkin spice.  These cookies are very sweet and are most certainly an indulgence.  That’s probably why it’s best to make them only once per year and keep the guilt at a low minimum.  The sugar, the white chocolate, and the molasses all add to the sweetness of this cookie.  But, they’re so delicious and worth the calories at least once.

My daughter loves these cookies!  In fact, I used to make them when she was in high school and pack them in her school lunch bag.  One morning when I went to the kitchen to make my coffee and noticed a visible decline in the amount of cookies left in the cookie jar.  She was very quick to admit that she had a “snack” after we had gone to bed.  What can I say, she was a teenager!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature and quite soft.
• Sugar
• Pumpkin Puree – Most of us buy this in a can, but you can make it yourself.  It is peeled and cooked pumpkin that has been pureed without the addition of any other ingredients.
• Molasses – When baking, the best molasses to fancy molasses.  Stay away from dark or blackstrap molasses unless instructed otherwise.  Fancy molasses is light molasses. 
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Pumpkin Spice Blend – You can buy this or, if you have a spice rack at home, you can make it very easily. Here’s a very easy recipe that I use every year.
• Salt
• Baking Soda
• White Chocolate Chips
• Pecans
• Confectioner’s Sugar
• Milk

HOW TO MAKE PECAN PUMPKIN COOKIES

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a Silpat liner. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, and molasses together. Add the flour, pumpkin spice, salt, and baking soda. Blend into the wet mixture.

Next, fold in the white chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Using a 2-tablespoon scoop, scoop the cookie dough and set it in mounds onto the prepared baking sheet. Leave two inches of space between each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to continue cooling.

Once the cookies are fully cooled, they are ready to enjoy. However, adding a light glaze increases the flavour. Whisk the confectioner’s sugar with the milk until silky smooth. Transfer the glaze to a resealable sandwich bag and cut a small tip from one lower corner. Hover the bag over the cookies and squeeze gently in a back-and-forth motion to glaze the tops of the cookies. Allow the glaze to firm up before storing the cookies in a cookie jar.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MOLASSES!

There are basically three types of molasses – light, dark, and blackstrap. If you boil cane sugar once, you will get light molasses. If you boil it twice, you’ll get dark molasses. So, boiling it three times must mean that you’ll get blackstrap molasses. Remember, the darker the molasses (blackstrap) the less sweet and more bitter it is.

Never use blackstrap molasses in a recipe unless instructed to do so by the author of the recipe. You can use light or dark without changing the taste drastically. There are also sulphured and unsulphured molasses. The difference between the two is that the sulphured molasses has been chemically treated with preservatives.

If you buy molasses to make these cookies and have lots left over, there’s plenty you can do with it. One of my favourite sources of recipe inspiration is Taste of Home. Here’s a list of 33 Amazing Molasses Recipes!

CAN I USE TREACLE INSTEAD?

Yes. In essence, treacle is the British version of molasses. It comes in two forms: light treacle or golden syrup, which is very similar to light molasses. Black treacle is similar to blackstrap molasses but is lighter in colour and not as bitter. I use unsulphured fancy molasses and black treacle interchangeably.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Pecan Pumpkin Cookies, you certainly can! Once the glaze has hardened, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer-friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in! You can freeze these cookies for up to three months.