Every year about this time I get into a crazy baking spree! And anything made with pumpkin is of course on the top of my list for favorite things to bake with. Now I can't take credit for these delightful treats. I came across these online and knew I just had to try them. I am just sharing my experience making them with more detail.

 

PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES WITH A CARAMEL FROSTING 

 

Ingredients:

For the Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

For the Frosting:
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream together your butter and sugars.
3. Add eggs and vanilla - mix well. Then stir in pumpkin.
4. In a medium bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt and flour. 5. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
6. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. (I used a non-stick metal sheet)

Bake for 10-12 minutes. We live at a high altitude and baking times can sometimes be off. But with this recipe I found this time worked just perfect.


*If you are like me and have small children helping we just used one large bowl to mix everything. Saves on dishes.
 

Frosting Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar over medium heat.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
3. Cool then stir in confectioner's sugar.  Spread frosting over cooled cookies.(We accidentally added the confectioners sugar right after removing from the stove. It still tasted and spread well.)
 

Notes/ Tips:

I did use some of the tips they suggested. These cookies hold their shape quite well so after removing the cookies from the oven I flattened them with the bottom of a drinking glass. Just give them a light press while they are still hot or they will crack. This makes them easier to spread frosting on and to keep to the frosting from dripping off. These are not entirely a cookie but rather a delightful little  cake. Moist and fluffy. I made mine smaller as I prefer bite sizes. Ours made about 2 1/2 dozen cookies or so.

The frosting is a wonderful caramel almost maple like flavor.  It spreads easily and shapes nicely on the cookies as it settles. Don't let this frosting sit too long in the open though. It does thicken. After cookies have sat out a while they can be easily put in a plastic container. I put a sheet of parchment paper between each layer to keep them nicer. These were a huge win with my family!

Photos By: Heather Gwinn

Take Care & Enjoy,