Recipe: Pumpkin White Chocolate-Butterscotch Cookies

This past weekend I set up a booth at the Eastern Cabarrus Historial Society Museum's Fall Festival in my hometown of Mt. Pleasant, NC. Aside from all my Verabelle wares, I also sold some of my favorite homemade baked goods. This brought back my summer days selling cheesecakes, caramels, pies, cookies, and endless carrot cakes at the farmer's market one year between college semesters. (That was the second best job ever, next to this one!)

Paul and I spent the day before the festival at my parents' house, using their giant double-oven kitchen getting everything ready. I made lots of fall goodies to share with my Mt. Pleasantians: cherry-chocolate-pistachio cookies, pumpkin white chocolate-butterscotch cookies, 5 flavors of truffles, gingerbread bars, and I couldn't have a bake sale without my famous carrot cake, so I made huge carrot cake muffins. I thought I'd share the recipe for the pumpkin cookies, a rather unusual and delicious treat!

Pumpkin White Chocolate-Butterscotch Cookies

from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster (my favorite cookbook)

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 c. butterscotch chips

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2/3 c. granulated sugar

2/3 c. packed brown sugar

1 large egg

2/3 c. cooked canned pumpkin puree or fresh mashed pumpkin

1 c. old-fashioned rolled oats

8 oz. white chocolate, cut into 1/4" chunks, or 1 1/2 c. white 
chocolate chips

1 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or grease lightly.

Place flour and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse to distribute the baking soda evenly. Add the butterscotch chips and process until the chips are ground, with some of the slightly larger bits remaining. Turn the flour and butterscotch chips out into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl from time to time, until fluffy. Add the eggs and pumpkin puree and stir to combine.

Pour the butter-pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Add the oats, white chocolate chunks, and walnuts and stir until the ingredients are combined and no flour is visible. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes or overnight.

Use a 1/4 cup measure or ice cream scoop to drop the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between the cookies.

Bake the cookies on a center rack in the oven for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through for even baking, until they're light golden brown and no longer doughy looking. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for 10 to 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack or clean surface to cool completely.

Enjoy!