Shauna’s got mad cake and cookie skills. Check out her picture below – that’s Shauna setting up the wedding cake and sweets that she made for a friend’s big day. When I asked my friends whether they were interested in doing a Virtual Cookie Exchange, I will admit that I had already pegged Shauna as a sucker for this request. And she did not disappoint. I can’t wait to force the Hippie Husband to whip up a batch of these cookies for me. Shauna describes her path to this cookie:
The longest relationship I’ve ever had probably belongs to the one with my hairdresser, whom I lovingly refer to as “Hairdresser Heidi” since my best friend’s name is also Heidi. I’ve gone to her since my sophomore year in college, so about 13-14 years now. You don’t trust just anyone with your hair, so I’m keeping her as long as I can afford her. We’ve swapped stories about love, life, family, movies, laughs, food, and running – we’ve even run a half marathon together (ok, not together as she is considerably faster than me!).
One of the things I love most about us is our shared love for sweets. So when she casually mentioned a favorite fall cookie, I was intrigued – and then when I heard pumpkin was involved, I knew this would be a treat I would LOVE. And I was right.
She makes hers with chocolate chips – for whatever reason, I’ve always thought chocolate and pumpkin together was a little odd, so opted to use white chips instead. And as amazing as cream cheese icing is, believe it or not, these cookies are pretty damn tasty without it – so if you want to save yourself a few calories, that’s where you can knock off a few.
That being said, these cookies have both pumpkin AND oatmeal in them . . . so I feel like they must be healthy . . . right??
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Method:
- Combine flour, oatmeal, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Alternate adding pumpkin and dry ingredients to butter mixture. Add chocolate chips.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (or edges are brown). Can be frosted with cream cheese frosting (see recipe below).
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Method:
- Mix well
About Shauna:
I am an RN for a Birthing Center (aka Baby Factory) in central Illinois. I love baking 
primarily because I love eating the results. It started with the basics – cookies, muffins, etc. – but then I took a Cake Decorating class with my best friend about 3 years ago and found I loved that as well. Coincidentally, it was about that time that I started running. Now, I’m not saying it was because of the increased calories from cake and icing, but I did run my first half marathon earlier this year and am now registered for 2 more, so . . . you do the math :). I also love baking to give the goodies out to friends – because if I’m gonna gain weight from all this deliciousness, I’m taking everyone else down with me!
Other interests outside of baking and running off the outcomes include scrapbooking, a new found interest in crocheting, trashy tv, and finding a good bargain.
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