Sweet Tooth
Deep. W i d e.
I didn't find another recipe on here when I did a quick search. This one is my favorite. They're good without the icing, too. [See my notes at the end.]
PUMPKIN COOKIES WITH BROWN-BUTTER ICING
For the cookies:
2 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ¼ tsp. coarse salt
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 ¼ tsp. ground ginger
¾ tsp. ground nutmeg
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ c. packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ c. (14 oz.) canned solid pack pumpkin
¾ cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
For the icing:
4 c. confectioners sugar, sifted
10 tbsp. (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter
¼ cup plus 1 tbsp. evaporated milk, plus more if needed
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375°. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.
Transfer 1 ½ cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 ½ inch rounds onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.
Make icing: Put confectioners sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 tsp. icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.
(yield 6 dozen)
My notes: I didnt have ground ginger. My cinnamon spilled into the flour. Still, they tasted wonderful. Rather than piping cookies, using a small ice cream-like cookie scoop worked fine, although some cookies were more oval than round. Cookies spread out very little. I did not rotate the sheets, but they turned out evenly. I also put my cookies on parchment paper, but then eased the parchment paper off onto the cooling rack with the cookies still on them so that the icing would be easier to clean up, not knowing how loose it would be. The icing was a somewhat interesting to make, with the melted butter. A tub of cream cheese icing would also probably work nicely in a pinch, although the cookies didnt even need icing to be yummy.
(Originally from: Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies 2005)
PUMPKIN COOKIES WITH BROWN-BUTTER ICING
For the cookies:
2 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ¼ tsp. coarse salt
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 ¼ tsp. ground ginger
¾ tsp. ground nutmeg
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ c. packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ c. (14 oz.) canned solid pack pumpkin
¾ cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
For the icing:
4 c. confectioners sugar, sifted
10 tbsp. (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter
¼ cup plus 1 tbsp. evaporated milk, plus more if needed
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375°. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.
Transfer 1 ½ cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 ½ inch rounds onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.
Make icing: Put confectioners sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 tsp. icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.
(yield 6 dozen)
My notes: I didnt have ground ginger. My cinnamon spilled into the flour. Still, they tasted wonderful. Rather than piping cookies, using a small ice cream-like cookie scoop worked fine, although some cookies were more oval than round. Cookies spread out very little. I did not rotate the sheets, but they turned out evenly. I also put my cookies on parchment paper, but then eased the parchment paper off onto the cooling rack with the cookies still on them so that the icing would be easier to clean up, not knowing how loose it would be. The icing was a somewhat interesting to make, with the melted butter. A tub of cream cheese icing would also probably work nicely in a pinch, although the cookies didnt even need icing to be yummy.
(Originally from: Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies 2005)
