Happy Fall Y'All

In the spirit of fall and the return of my obsession of all things pumpkin (mmmm! Starbucks pumpkin spice latte anyone?)  I am sharing my Spice Cookies and Pumpkin Dip recipe.  This recipe was given to me by one of my fifth grade students last year.   Her mom is an incredible baker and is always sending in bags of goodies for me.  I'm not much of a baker, in fact I despise it most of the time because I hate measuring, but I think these cookies are so good that I asked for the recipe and baked 3 or 4 batches of them over the holidays last year. Hope you guys enjoy!

Cookies
1 1/2 C butter, softened
2 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C molasses
4 C flour
4 t baking soda
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1 t ground cloves
1 t salt
additional sugar

In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Add molasses and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.  Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture.  Chill overnight.  Shape the dough into balls and roll in the additional sugar.  Place schwetty I mean sugared balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 6-7 minutes.  Let cookies cool on a wire rack. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVChao15oDw

Pumpkin Dip
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1 can pumpkin puree or pumpkin pie mix (14-16 oz)
2 C confectioners sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add pumpkin puree and beat well.  Add sugar, cinnamon and ginger.  Beat until smooth.  Serve with cookies.

~Jeni