Vegan Viands #5: Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Glaze

Today is Superbowl Sunday. We're not doing anything major (as we both have to work tomorrow), but we do have a friend over to watch the game with us. Although we've been to many really awesome Superbowl parties, this quiet night is a great way to end a relaxing weekend. Plus, a quiet Superbowl means that I don't have to plan all sorts of snacky party foods. However, even though I didn't make a ton of snacky party foods, no Superbowl would be complete without at least one fun food.

Here's why this fun food emerged today, even though the flavor profile is completely "fall." We've been trying to use foods that we have in our cupboards/pantry. Thus, last night I made a soup called Autumn Harvest Pumpkin Lentil Soup, a pre-made mix that we got at our favorite apple picking spot, Way Fruit Farm. The soup calls for 1 cup of pumpkin puree, but that left almost half of a can of pumpkin puree remaining after dinner. I couldn't let it go to waste, but since we didn't have any more soup, the next most obvious application was cookies! Plus, these cookies are freaking ah.may.zing. I saw them somewhere more than a year ago, but I can't for the life of me remember where. There are many similar recipes on the internet, but most of them call for eggs.

Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Glaze
Ingredients
3/4 c. "butter"
2/3 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. white sugar
2 T. applesauce
1/2 c. pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 c. powdered sugar
3 T. maple syrup
1/2 T. water

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Cream butter and sugars together. This will not cream quite like a normal cookie dough, so don't panic.
2. Add applesauce, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Cream again.
3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt, mix well to combine.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on size of cookies) until golden on the outside edges.
5. When cookies are cool to the touch, whisk together maple syrup, water, and powdered sugar. Let sit for a few minutes, then whisk again. Use the whisk to drizzle the glaze on the cookies.

Helpful Hints

• These cookies are sticky when you plate them. I highly recommend that you layer parchment or wax paper when you plate them or put them away. Even if they are only on the plate for 30 minutes (and they'll go faster than that when you share them), they are still sticky. 
• Normally my oven cooks mostly evenly, but these cookies are particular. Thus, I make sure to rotate the pan halfway through each batch. 
• If you'd rather not use the whisk to spread the glaze, you can also use a small frosting bag or a zip-top baggie and cut off a corner. This would likely be a bit more controlled than my whisk method. 
• The dough for these cookies tends to be a bit heavier and wetter than normal cookie dough. Mine looks like this:

The post "Vegan Viands #5: Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Glaze" originally appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.