Bready or Not: Buttery Pumpkin Cookies

It’s October! That means Bready or Not resumes its traditional month of pumpkin recipes, starting with these Buttery Pumpkin Cookies.

These cookies are a dream come true for pumpkin lovers. They are soft and tender, like handheld cake, really.

But of course, the cookies are better with a little extra sweetness. These babies need ICING–a brown sugar icing that comes together quickly on the stovetop.

This is a recipe to make to share: the end result is about 70 tablespoon-sized cookies!

Modified from Fall Baking 2016 from Better Homes & Gardens.

There are more pumpkin recipes to look forward to this month! Here’s the full schedule:
Buttery Pumpkin Cookies (today)
Chocolate Swirl Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin Raisin Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin-Ginger Coffee Cake

Print Recipe

Bready or Not: Buttery Pumpkin Cookies

This recipe makes about 70 frosted cookies, each loaded with pumpkin and spice and topped with a perfect complement of brown sugar icing. Note that the frosting amount should be just adequate to top the cookies, but if a few cookies remain naked, that's no tragedy. They are good by themselves, too!

Course: Dessert

Keyword: cookies, pumpkin

Author: Beth Cato

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 15 oz can pumpkin puree
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

Brown sugar icing

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
• 1/4 cup milk or half & half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Mix in the white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Beat until fluffy, scraping bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla, followed by the pumpkin. Mix in the flour until just combined.
• Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out dough onto the cookie sheet, spacing out to allow for expansion. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until tops are set and edges golden. Cool on wire rack.
• Once cookies are completely cool, make the icing. In a small saucepan, cook the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding more if necessary to reach a spreadable consistency. Use the back of a spoon to spread the icing onto the cookies. If the icing in the pot begins to harden, stir in a few drops of hot water to make it pliable again.
• Store cookies in a sealed container, with waxed paper or parchment between the layers.
• OM NOM NOM!