Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

A few weeks ago, our Relief Society presidency announced that they were going to pass around a sheet which would give us the chance to ask for someone's recipe. Someone asked that for this month I give up my pumpkin cookie recipe. I thought I'd post it here as well, just in case you're dying for it. This recipe originally came from my friend, Julie Chambers, and of course I had to tweak it a little bit.

Frosted Pumpkin Cookies (revised)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cream together the sugar and shortening about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin and mix well. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375°F.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter (one stick)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 T milk
Beat the butter until it is creamy, then add the remaining ingredients. Spread cooled cookies with frosting.

The original recipe as given to me made over eight dozen cookies! So I did the math for you and cut the recipe in half, and the frosting recipe in fourths.
I gave a plate of these cookies away and the recipient stated that the "cream cheese frosting was divine." The only problem with that statement was that the frosting wasn't cream cheese frosting, but that got me thinking that she was right, that cream cheese frosting would be divine. Here's that option if you'd like it.


Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick butter, softened slightly
4 oz. cream cheese (I used light, again)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar (I sifted, but you don't have to)
1 T heavy whipping cream (or milk)
Beat the butter and cream cheese for five minutes. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until well combined. Add the whipping cream (in its liquid state, not whipped) and beat for one minute longer.