Pumpkin Face Cookies

These are delicious and healthy cookies, so delicious in fact, that we had special cookie cutters made to reduce the work of cutting out the faces because there was no question that we would continue to make them forever no matter how much work. When we had a catering business, we would make them each year as a freebie gift to special clients. In recent years, I have begun to make them for Rosh Hashanah using a large apple cookie cutter with a small apple cutout in the top layer. I substitute thick applesauce for the pumpkin. I also have made dreidels for Chanukah with Hebrew letter cutouts. Even though they freeze beautifully, you don't want to be eating jack o'lantern cookies in December.

I am a great fan of rolling out dough of any kind on a floured, fabric-covered board designed for that purpose with a floured, stockinette-covered rolling pin. A number of years ago, my friend Larry, having watched me struggling with stretching dryer-shrunk fabric onto a special frame, bought me a much simpler version of this setup on QVC. It is the best way, as far as I am concerned, to keep excessive amounts of flour out of your dough and not have anything stick.

• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark depending on your taste)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup light molasses (if you pre-spray the measuring cup with non-stick spray, it will pour out without a wasteful mess)
• 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I always use Ceresota or Heckers)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 recipe Pumpkin Filling

In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses, scraping down sides as necessary. Place oats in food processor container and process until finely chopped. Add flour, baking soda and salt and process briefly to mix. Stir into creamed mixture. Wrap with plastic wrap, flattening into a thick disc. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour and up to a few days.

On a floured surface, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shape. (It is better to err on the side of making the bottom layer a little thinner and the upper, cutout layer a little thicker for easy handling.) Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Top with pumpkin filling. (This cookie is all about the filling so be generous.) Cut out more shapes and cut faces, or apples, or letters or whatever other cutouts you would like into that. Align on top of the filling and gently press around the edges or flute them with the back of a floured fork.

Bake at 375°F for approximately 12 minutes in a regular oven or 7 minutes in a convection oven. Makes approximately 18 3-inch round cookies.

Pumpkin Filling

• 1 cup canned pumpkin (I used to cook up my own, but it is never as thick or flavorful as the canned, trust me.)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Cook and stir occasionally in a small saucepan over medium heat until bubbly. Cool before using.