Especially for BANC

Happy Friday!!!  I'm happy but anxious about the weekend.  The hubs is going hunting and is leaving tomorrow morning.  No biggie with that whole thing other than the fact that he won't be back until late afternoon on Tuesday.  That means I will have the boys all to myself the whole weekend and two week day mornings.  It gets pretty hectic without him around.  I love my boys, but they can be a hand full!  Let's cross our fingers that I can get Nate engrossed in some good projects and Mason will cooperate and take naps like he usually does.

Today, to the delight of my friend Bethany, I am bringing you an awesome awesome cookie recipe.  There's a little story with this one.  This is one of my favorite family recipes, but I don't like to make it very often because it makes a LOT of cookies.  When I do make it, I usually take a bunch to work because if they're at home, I *will* eat them.  ALL of them.  By myself.  LOL  When Bethany and I worked together, she would beg me to make them.  She's even had her dad ask me for them!  And you don't know how many times she's asked me for the recipe after she stopped working with me.  And I've given it to her.  A couple times.  We've even traded goodies (me: cookies, her: homemade salsa).  Now, since she can't seem to hold on to this prized recipe, I'm sharing it with everybody.  And so she'll quit bugging me.

Pumpkin Cookies
2 cups sugar
2 cups shortening
1 16 oz can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups raisins
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In large mixing bowl, cream together sugar and shortening.  Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.  Gradually add to creamed mixture.  Mix well.  Stir in raisins and nuts.  Drop from rounded teaspoon on to greased cookie sheet about 2" apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet to cool.  Once cool, frost with vanilla or cream cheese frosting.  Makes approximately 96 cookies.

NOTES:  You read that right.  96 cookies!  When the recipe says large bowl read: VERY large bowl.  My mom makes these using vanilla frosting because she doesn't like cream cheese, but I prefer it with cream cheese frosting.  These cookies are especially good because they're more cake-like and not super sweet.

These cookies almost didn't happen.  A couple times.  First, I had my hubs look in the cabinet to see if we had Crisco - we did.  I get home from the grocery store, go to grab the Crisco and wouldn't you know it.  The Crisco was rancid.  *sigh*  I threw Nate in the car and on to the store we went to pick up Crisco.

Crisis averted.  I go to get everything together for the recipe and wait!  There's not near enough sugar. *sigh*  I thought I had a partial bag of sugar in the pantry.  Nope.  Luckily, the hubs took pity on me (because I was a little more than irritated because that would've been trip #3 to the grocery store in the same day), loaded the boys in the car and went to the store to get sugar.  As he was leaving, the hubs said: I better get something good out of this!  Well...he did.  COOKIES!

This is what the hubs calls an action shot.  Yep.  Those are my hands frosting a cookie.  It took forever to finish all those cookies.  I think I finally finished the whole batch by 9:00.  On a school night.

All frosted and ready to go!  The office got quite a few of these, and they were all gone by the end of the day.  We still have some at home and I'm eating through them slowly.

OK, B!  I don't wanna hear that you can't find the recipe because now it's here for everybody to see on the internets.  Go get the ingredients and make a batch - you won't be sorry!