Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

As is my tradition, on the first Friday of October, I repost what is probably my favorite cookie recipe of all my recipes – these Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting.

Why repost? Well, I assume many people didn’t see them the first time, or maybe did but have forgotten about them. I assume that’s the case because they didn’t make them. Once you make them, I promise you will NOT forget them. Honestly, they’re not tough to make and they are absolutely outstanding.

As I’ve said before, I can’t stress how freakin’ amazing these things are. Please, please try them!!!!

Here’s the deal with these. A local bakery near my house used to make these amazing pumpkin cookies. Like, incredible. They were huge – pretty much the size of a big piece of cake with a heap of cinnamon buttercream on top. I loved them. They were pretty cheap, too (especially given the price of the cakes they had there), and they were my treat after a bad day, or a busy week, or just because, you know, I wanted one.

One day I go in and there weren’t any in the display. Not a big deal because sometimes they sold out, and sometimes they had a couple in the back. So I asked the cashier if they had any and was told “no, they stopped making them”. And I kind of didn’t believe him, because – why?!?! So I went back a few times, talked to a bunch of different people behind the counter and eventually I made peace with the fact that they really did stop making them. Still have no idea why.

So, next step, I set out to learn to make them myself. I don’t make mine nearly as big as they did, but damn if they’re not just as good. These are always a HUGE hit whenever I make them – trust me, people LIVE for these.

Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Cookies

2 ½ c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
½ t ground nutmeg
½ t salt
1 ½ c sugar
½ c butter
1 c pumpkin
1 large egg
2 t vanilla

Frosting

1 stick plus 1 T butter (softened, room temperature-ish)
3 c powdered sugar
3 T milk
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t vanilla

Directions

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl and just put that to the side. We’ll get back to that.

Next, beat the sugar and butter in a separate bowl until well blended. Follow that by beating in the pumpkin, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Now go get that other bowl, with all the flour and stuff in it. Gradually beat in the flour mixture and drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets

Heat oven to 350 and bake for 15 – 18 minutes until edges are firm. Basically, I just check the bottoms and when they start to get a little brown (not burnt), they’re done. Cool on baking sheets for a couple minutes to let them finish cooking outside the oven, then move them to wire rack to cool.

Note – you can also add chocolate chips or nuts to the mixture… I don’t but that doesn’t mean you can’t. You do you.

You can make these ahead of time and put them in an airtight bag to keep them fresh – they last for a couple weeks and it’s easier to store than after they’re frosted. If you don’t wait until they’re totally cooled though they’ll stick together. But you’re going to frost them so big freakin’ deal if they do.

Beat butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and beat again until fluffy. Then add the cinnamon and mix well. Put the frosting into either a frosting bag or a Ziploc-type bag and snip the end off of it. That’s what I do because it is a huge pain in the butt to clean a frosting bag and, honestly, haven’t you already done enough? Frost after the cookies have cooled completely.