I grew up loving these cookies.  They're a little bit healthy (which is great at this time where we usually tend to over-do the sugar) and allergy free (not gluten).

Pumpkin Cookies


½ c sugar
1 ¼ c canned pumpkin
¼ c shortening
1 Tbsp grated orange rind
2 c unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
½ c raisins
½ c chopped nuts (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place raisins in a heatproof bowl or cup and cover with hot apple cider, grape juice, or water. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, then drain.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, shortening and orange rind.

Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in raisins (and nuts).

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes.

** Note: my husband prefers chocolate chips instead of the raisins.  Try it for a different flavor*

Fall '11 update - I recently made these, omitting the raisins/chocolate chips.  Instead, I dipped half of the [baked] cookie into melted chocolate and let it set up on waxed paper for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.  The combination of the hard shell and the soft cookie was fantastic!