Happy election day! Have you voted yet? If you haven’t, before you read any more of this or do anything else, please go out and vote! I think this picture one of my friends posted on Facebook says it well:

After a cold rainy weekend, we have been having beautiful sunshine here in Indiana yesterday and today, and I am trying to soak up every golden ray! It’s still cold enough to layer up with comfy sweaters, boots and scarves–my favorite fall fashion staples. I remember when I lived in California, I always wished it would get cold enough to layer up in autumn clothing. Now my cozy knitted goods are getting plenty of use, that’s for sure!

I’m loving Pumpkin Week so far and have a delicious recipe to share with you today: pumpkin oatmeal cookies! I tweaked these cookies to use up some leftover Halloween candy after I was inspired by this post on the Bon Appetit website that recommends topping oatmeal cookies with candy corn before baking. However, I think these cookies would be perfectly delicious without the candy corn, too, or with chocolate chips, nuts, or even dried cranberries. This is a good base recipe to experiment with!

pumpkin oatmeal cookies

– 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
– 1/4 cup brown sugar
– 2 eggs
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 1/4 cup pumpkin
– 3/4 cup oats
– 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
– 1/2 tsp baking soda
– 1/2 tsp baking powder
– 1/4 tsp salt
– 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
– butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, candy corn, or desired toppings!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Stir in the pumpkin.

3. In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Batter will be thick!

5. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the baking sheet. If desired, add chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or candy corn toppings.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown.

These are perfect served warm from the oven with a big glass of milk! 🙂 Do you know of any good recipes for using up leftover candy corn or other Halloween candy? I’d love if you would share them in the comments section.

Have a wonderful day! And please, get out to the polls and vote!!

-Dallas