Apparently, it’s a big deal when Starbucks comes out with their Pumpkin Latte in the fall.  Personally, I’m more excited about the Salted Caramel Mocha or the Eggnog that comes later, but I usually have one or two of the pumpkin before the season is over.  They’re good, just not something I wait eagerly for at the end of summer.

When I started seeing the ads this year, it occurred to me that the pumpkin/coffee combination would make an excellent cookie.  To add another to my string of recent cake mix based recipes, I started with a spice cake mix and ended up with something I could eat a plate of.

Pumpkin Latte Cookies

18.25 ounce box spice cake mix

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee, ground fine

15 oz canned pumpkin

10 oz cinnamon or vanilla chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking pan with cooking spray.  Combine the cake mix, spices and espresso powder.  Add the pumpkin and mix well.  Stir in the chips.  Drop by spoonsful onto the pan, then flatten slightly with the back of a greased spoon.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  They don’t spread much during baking.  Cool completely.  These stay pretty sticky, so be aware of that when storing.

The coffee flavor is fairly subtle, so if you want it stronger you’ll want to increase the espresso powder.  Just don’t make the mistake my husband did and eat a whole bunch of them then try to fall asleep.