Pumpkin Cookies

Thanksgiving is near and we are talking about pumpkins today. In particular, baking/cooking with pumpkins.

I do love a good pumpkin pie with whipped cream, but we thought we’d try something a little different...pumpkin cookies with brown butter icing. In our search for things to bake with pumpkin, we found some other dishes/creations that you can use pumpkin in that I never would have thought of trying so you can give them a try if you’re adventurous.

Try Pumpkin chili, curry, superfood bars, risotto, oatmeal topping, tiramisu, pizza, brownies, ricotta stuffed shells, custard, salads, roasted onions, waffles, pancakes, stuffing, stir fry, pudding, ice cream pie, lasagna, relish, glaze for ham, margarita, bruschetta, dip, meatballs, grits, cornbread, chowder, Alfredo, fries, ravioli, burgers, hummus, grilled cheese, salsa, and spaghetti!

http://www.edsmith.com/en/recipes/?search=pumpkin

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/thanksgiving/photos/30-unique-ways-with-pumpkin/#!whole-pumpkin-pie-soup-recipe

http://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g619/our-best-pumpkin-recipes-1008/?slide=57

Back to the cookies, I got distracted by things you can make with pumpkin, Nicole has made these before, so we are using the recipe that she has used in the past while adding in our own little touches. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

You will need:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 cup plus 1 tbsp. evaporated milk, plus more if needed
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups icing sugar, sifted

How to:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. 

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Cream 12 Tbsp. of the butter and the brown sugar on medium speed in until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, 3/4 cup evaporated milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix until combined. 

So for this next step, we just used spoons to place the batter on the trays, but you can use a pastry bag to pipe the batter into 1 1/2-inch rounds. Using the pastry bag will get you a more precise nice looking cookie, but if you don’t care what they look like you can use the spoons and you’ll get a unique looking cookie.

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.

To make the icing, put the icing sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt the remaining 10 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until golden brown.

As soon as it’s brown, immediately add the butter to icing sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add remaining 5 Tbsp. evaporated milk and remaining 2 tsp. vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread the icing evenly on the cookies. If the icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk.