The Last of Fall: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I feel like I've beaten a dead horse when I talk about how much I love fall, so I'll keep this short. Yesterday, Salt Lake was 70 degrees and sunny and looked something like this:

Today was the first snow of the season that stuck. I had to brush my car off several times, I wore leggings under my jeans, and busted out the tiny dog sweater that Lola hates so much. Usually I greet winter begrudgingly, feeling myself well up with anger when I see expensively decorated fake Christmas trees in the lobby at work and screaming "NOOOO!" at the radio when I hear Christmas songs before Thanksgiving. But this year's Fall was so gloriously wonderful and longer than normal, I think, that I will choose to accept the snow.

So, I send fall off with this recipe for soft and chewy pumpkin snickerdoodles, which taste like fall and happiness and all things wonderful. And even if the snow doesn't melt for a long while, there are glorious things in the word such as canned pumpkin so that you can have fall flavors long into the winter.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

makes about 3 dozen

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour

1/4 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream together butter and sugar. Scrape down bowl. Add pumpkin puree. Stir together remaining ingredients (except the cinnamon sugar) and add to mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Refrigerate 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Scoop dough by the tablespoon and roll into a ball. Roll in cinnamon sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake about 12 minutes, until cookies are set but still soft. Cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.