Seasonal Ingredient Series Kick-Off: Pumpkin Walnut Butterscotch Cookies

Happy October! 

In my opinion, there is no better way to get into the spirit of the season (any season, really) than fiddling around in the kitchen.  Think beautiful summertime salads to Christmas cookies.  Can you see where I'm going with this??

To boost the seasonal vibe in your kitchen, I am going to highlight one seasonal ingredient each month.  I'll work to give you a set of easy recipes using that seasonal ingredient.

Let's kick it off with pumpkin!  (It is October, after all.)

Of course the first recipe has to be a sweet one. :)

Pumpkin Walnut Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 can puréed pumpkin (save the last 1/3 for another recipe!)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350.  In a small bowl combine flour, soda, salt, pie spice and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Add egg and then pumpkin and continue beating until combined.  Slowly add dry mix.  Now, I split my batter and added the walnuts to one half and the butterscotch to the other half.  You can mix both ingredients into the entire batch if you prefer.  Spoon onto greased baking sheet and bake 9-11 minutes, or until browning on bottom edge.  Set on cooling racks until you can't wait any longer!

These still taste great after they are frozen- you can make a large batch and save some for later. 

And share with your child guilt-free because this cookie includes a vegetable. ;)