It felt like Christmas morning!

With Christmas around the corner I have started to plan what goodies I will be preparing to eat to give as gifts.  As most of you know we moved last Thanksgiving (2009) into a basement apartment of a BIG house.  The two things missing in this huge basement is a front door and an oven!  When we moved in last year it was supposed to be temporary, since we are trying to move to Alabama.  Unfortunately, since the Army is in control of our move, we are still living here.

I love to bake, so not having an oven for the past year has been tough!  Last year I had to get creative with what goodies I made for Christmas, making things that did not require an oven.  We do have a toaster oven that a small pan will fit in, so we can bake things like corn meal muffins, biscuits, and cookies when needed.


I have been craving a cookie recipe that is much easier to make in a stand mixer.  So, I went into our storage area and dug through our "long term storage" boxes which contain everything you would need in a kitchen if it was equipped with an oven. I won't tell you how many boxes I have, but just know that I.LOVE.TO.BAKE. When I found the right box and saw my best friend Kitchen Aid I did a little happy dance. B was not home so he did not have to witness it.


Here is the recipe that my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer helped me make! Enjoy.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Original recipe from here. 

I don't try very many new recipes without making some adjustments to them and this recipe is no exception. The recipe is below. I have crossed out and made updates so you can have both the original recipe and the one that I corrected improved.

Ingredient:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
  
• 1 1/3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice(or make your own assortment of spices for this). I ADDED THIS TO THE ORIGINAL RECIPE
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened. HELP ME OUT HERE, NEVER USE MARGARINE!
  
• 1 cup packed brown sugar organic brown sugar
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar sucanat
  
• 1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 large egg.
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup raisins 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  

Direction:

PREHEAT oven (or toaster oven to temperature you have figured out works for cookies--250) to 350° F. Lightly grease baking sheets. I use stoneware, so no need to grease.

COMBINE flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl.Beat butter, brown sugar and sucanat in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well. 

Stir in nuts and raisins chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets.

BAKE for 14 to 16 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy these with a hot mug of apple cider!