COOKIES POLICY

Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

These cookies are always a great treat, just the thing to reward your little helpers. We think that they’re best eaten after an afternoon of polytunnel gardening. Make a brew, find your favourite chair, put your feet up and enjoy the fruits of your labour…

Ingredients

600gm plain flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon. ground cloves
4 teaspoon cinnamon (divided)
1 teaspoon salt
170gm butter, softened
450gm unrefined sugar (plus 4 tablespoons for topping)
2 eggs
450gm pumpkin flesh
100gm pecans, finely chopped (optional)
250gm raisins (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200oC. Cut your pumpkin into sections – like you would a water melon – the smaller pieces are easier to work with and take less time to cook. Remove all the seeds. Slice or chop the pumpkin sections evenly. Lay the slices/chunks on a non-stick or lightly oiled roasting tin, pour over a little olive or vegetable oil or dot with butter. Depending on the size of your slices/chunks they will be ready from 30 minutes to an hour – test the flesh for softness. Allow to cool. Once cooled remove skin.
2. Leave the oven on. Lightly grease a baking tray (or use parchment).
3. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt, and just 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Then set aside.
4. Cream the butter (work it into a smooth paste) and then slowly add the unrefined sugar until blended. Continue beating while adding the eggs and pumpkin flesh.
5. Add the dry spice mixture to the mix and beat until blended.
6. Stir in pecans and raisins by hand or on a very low setting.
7. Make the cookies on the cookie sheet using spoons – leaving about 5cm/2 inches between each scone. Flatten the scone with the back of the spoon.
8. Combine 3 tablespoons of cinnamon with 4 tablespoons of unrefined sugar. Sprinkle this mix on top of the cookies.
9. Bake 8 – 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
10. Treat yourself to the first taste. Take a picture and tell us about your favourite cookies on our facebook page.

Tips

Make an extra batch, once thoroughly cooled, pop them in the freezer. Cookies quickly thaw and you’ll have a delicious home-made treat on hand in minutes. Or you could just hide the extra batch in a drawer, for your eyes only…