Recipe: Pumpkin Cookies With Brown Butter Icing

Posted on | November 19, 2009 | 18 Comments

Just out the oven, Pumpkin Cookies with Brown-Butter Icing. I love this recipe. The cookies are kinda cakey. The brown butter icing is the perfect compliment to the spicyness of the cookie. The recipes suggest piping the cookies onto parchment. I tried it. I thought they were too flat and they lost their cakey texture. I liked the two-spoon-drop cookie method better. Make these cookies for guests as they arrive the night before Thanksgiving. I love pumpkin overload!

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies

for the cookies:
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
2 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the icing:
4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make cookies: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a bowl.

2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat 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 to mixture; mix until combined.

3. Drop cookies onto parchment spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake cookies about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

4. Make icing: Put confectioners’ sugar in bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling, until golden brown. Immediately add butter to confectioners’ sugar. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth.

5. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature for 3 days.

Category: recipes, sweets

Comments

18 Responses to “Recipe: Pumpkin Cookies With Brown Butter Icing”

Abbey
November 19th, 2009 @ 10:36 pm
these looks so so so good!
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Jacqui
November 19th, 2009 @ 10:42 pm
These look divine!!! I made the upside down pear cake two days ago and LOVED it!!! Am thinking it will be the cake at our rehearsal dinner! Can’t wait to try these this weekend!!!
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Katy Elliott
November 19th, 2009 @ 11:03 pm
So glad you loved the pear upside down cake Jacqui. I’m sure you’ll love these cookies too!
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Kathy G
November 20th, 2009 @ 12:29 am
cookies with frosting is my favorite thing…I like to get them hot out of the oven and just stand there spreading the frosting one after another like cheese on crackers….can’t wait to try these!…I bought the pears for the upside down cake but they turned ripe so fast I had to settle for baked caramel pears…not a bad second.
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Brittany Noel
November 20th, 2009 @ 12:42 am
These look so good! Maybe this will be my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner, since I have so much roasted pumpkin/squash in my freezer…
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mopar
November 20th, 2009 @ 1:26 am
Yummy. One of my favorite recipes is a pumpkin cake with brown butter icing (from an old Martha Stewart magazine).
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evencleveland
November 20th, 2009 @ 10:36 am
These have derailed my plans to start eating healthfully this weekend. I think i will start after I make a batch of these …
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Katy Elliott
November 20th, 2009 @ 11:45 am
I had a cookie with coffee this morning. Still moist and delicious.
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Cynthia
November 20th, 2009 @ 1:03 pm
Yumm! I’m printing this out to try later… the look delicious!
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evencleveland
November 20th, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
I made these tonight (substituting regular milk for the evaporated in the frosting) … high holy wow. So good. And I made a half batch, and it still made quite a few.
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Katy Elliott
November 20th, 2009 @ 8:59 pm
Awesome, so glad you liked them!
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rebecca
November 22nd, 2009 @ 11:59 pm
I made these a few weeks ago (after my mom made them and told me how good they were)! I noticed someone commented on the recipe (at marthastewart.com) that they had made them as cupcakes instead. I don’t have a pastry bag so I did that and they were SO GOOD.
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Katy Elliott
November 23rd, 2009 @ 12:13 am
Thanks for the tip Rebecca. You can find the recipe here as well. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pumpkin-cookies-with-brown-butter-icing?comments_page=1&showComments=true&#conversation-container
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Kim
November 23rd, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
Before I read this post, I had made the cupcake version this weekend for my husband’s birthday party! The recipe in the Martha Stewart Cupcakes recipe book incorporates fresh sage in the batter, which adds an subtle, extra dimension to the flavor.
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Kim
November 23rd, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
Whoops…I meant “a subtle….”
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ashley@decorology
November 24th, 2009 @ 1:45 am
oh my… I will have to ask a baking relative to make these for me.

btw – love your blog and I’ve added you to the blogroll over at Decorology
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Leanne
November 24th, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
Ooh these look so tasty! My roommate and I are making these tonight :)
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erin
November 24th, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
these sounds so so good.
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