Fall is approaching! Add a bit of warmth to your home with the sweet aroma of pumpkin baked goodness.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

I like to double this recipe and then that gives me the excuse to use more chocolate and butterscotch chips so I often just throw in the whole small bag of chip. My daughter shared this recipe with me.

Gather these ingredients :

• 1-1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

What to do:

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars.
2. Beat in the pumpkin, egg and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon.
4. Gradually add to creamed mixture.
5. Stir in chocolate and butterscotch chips.
6. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove to wire racks to cool. (If you don’t have a wire cooling rack, put some paper towels on the counter and cut the cookies on them to cool.
Yield 5 or 6 dozen.

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

My niece, Laura shared her family favorite recipe by putting it in our family cookbook.

Gather these ingredients :

• 1 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups pumpkin (pack solid into measuring cup)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups flour
• ¼ tsp. salt

What to do:

1. In a large bowl mix the oil and eggs. (I always use a hand mixer, but if you don’t have one then use a whisk to beat the eggs, then the oil)
2. In a separate bowl put all the dry ingredients and stir them to distribute the spices and baking soda and baking powder.
3. Add the pumpkin to the oil and eggs and continue mixing.
4. Gradually add the dry ingredients.

Pour onto a greased cookie sheet cake pan and bake for 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Watch it in the oven from about 20 minutes as oven heat temperatures can vary a bit.

This is so good you want it to be perfect from the first time you make it, and from then on you will have repeated requests for it.

While it is cooling you can make the frosting.

Gather these ingredients :

• 3 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature) – do not used softened or whipped cream cheese
• 1/3 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon cream (milk optional, depending on thickness)

What to do:

1. In a mixing bowl mix the cream cheese and butter.
2. Gradually add some of the powdered sugar and continue mixing
3. Add in the vanilla and continue mixing and then add some more powdered sugar
4. Add part of the cream or milk and mix
5. Continue adding powdered sugar alternately with the cream and beat until it is a nice spreading consistency.
6. Spread over the cooked cake, and then cut into bars to serve.

This is a great time of the year for pumpkin recipes because you can either harvest the pumpkin you grew and cook it to make the puree, or just use canned pumpkin from the store. Enjoy these seasonal favorites.