Perfect Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Halloween costumes, jack-o’-lanterns and amateur haunted houses may be the harbingers of fall in many places, but nothing marks the turning of the season quite like autumnal cuisine. It’s everywhere you look: pumpkin beer, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin pie, the possibilities for cooking with pumpkin as a dominant flavor seem almost limitless. If you’re trying to cook up a seasonal surprise for your friends and family this year, then there’s no need for you to spend too much time scouring  for that perfect recipe. These perfect pumpkin oatmeal cookies are simple to make, require very little prep time and will be absolutely loved by students taking online culinary courses. Perfect for a chilly autumn day, these cookies are sure to be a mainstay in your kitchen for years to come!

Here’s what you’ll need:
-1 cup of butter
-1 cup of white sugar
-1 cup of brown sugar
-2 cups of flour
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 cup dried cranberries (optional)
-2 eggs
-3 cups of cooking oats
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 can (12 oz.) pure pumpkin mix
-1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

-Soften the butter briefly in the microwave, if necessary. Once the butter is soft and malleable, mix it together with both the brown sugar and the white sugar in a large mixing bowl. Next, crack open both of the eggs and beat them into the mixture.

-Once these items are mixed together smoothly, add in the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt, flour, cinnamon and cooking oats. Stir until you’ve achieved an even consistency, and then add in the 12 ounces of pumpkin mix. This should thicken the recipe considerably, so make sure that you’re taking the necessary time to stir the mix evenly.{evenly or until it is even?}

-Add the cranberries at this point if you’re using them for the recipe. Stir them in smoothly.

-Allow the dough to sit in the refrigerator for at least one hour. This will help all the individual ingredients thicken.

-Remove the dough from the fridge and preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a cookie sheet and make balls of dough the size of half dollars. Place the cookies on the cookie sheet or baking rack and cook for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Enjoy!

(Recipe from www.allrecipes.com)