Frosted Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
These soft and chewy pumpkin sugar cookies are bursting with cozy fall spices and topped with a rich, nutty brown butter maple frosting. They’re perfect for autumn baking and make a beautiful addition to any fall dessert table!
Equipment
- sauce pan for browning butter
- mixing bowls
- Electric or stand mixer
- Whisk
- rubber spatula
- piping bag with a plain round tip (or no tip) optional
Ingredients
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 - 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice adjust to your tastes
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 egg yolk omit the white to balance moisture from the pumpkin
- 1 Tbsp sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp vanilla
Brown Butter Maple Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter browned and chilled again until solid
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1-2 Tbsp milk or heavy cream optional, to adjust texture
Instructions
Brown Butter for Frosting
- Slice up your butter and melt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Keep stirring the butter throughout this browning process.
- You’ll see the butter start to foam and froth. Eventually, the foam will die down a bit and you’ll see brown flecks floating in the bottom of your pan if you move the foam to the side.
- When you see those brown flecks in the bottom and note a nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat immediately. Browned butter can burn pretty easily.
- Put your browned butter in a heat safe container and chill it until it’s solid again and you can use it for the maple frosting. You can put it in the fridge if you like to speed up the process.
Make Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice)
- In a separate bowl, cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy.
- Mix in pumpkin, egg yolk, sour cream, and vanilla until combined.
- Slowly add in dry ingredients until just incorporated.
- Chill your dough 30-45 minutes in the fridge before baking
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper while your dough chills.
- Scoop about 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie (I like using a cookie scoop for consistency) and space them a couple inches apart.
- Gently press down on the tops of your cookie dough scoops to flatten them slightly.
- Bake for 10–14 minutes or until the edges are set and the tops look just dry. Let them cool completely on the baking sheet, where they’ll firm up a bit more.
Make Brown Butter Maple Frosting and Decorate
- Once your browned butter is cooled and solidified again, you can use it to make your frosting. You don’t want butter that’s completely solid, more like softened butter. Use a rubber spatula to scoop out all of those flavorful browned butter flecks from the container you put your butter in.
- Beat your browned butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup and just enough milk to get a smooth, spreadable consistency.
- Once your cookies are completely cool, spread a generous layer of frosting on top. You can get fancy with a piping bag with a plain round tip or keep it casual with a butter knife.
- If you're feeling extra festive, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or crushed pecans.