I will never not be thrilled with sugar cookies. Plain, sprinkled, iced, rolled, maple-scented, cut out or dropped, they’re perfect in all their forms.
Today’s fall-friendly sugar cookies are spiked with pumpkin and spice for maximum seasonal coziness! They take just minutes to mix and bake, and are finished off with a simple vanilla drizzle that is so much more than the sum of its parts.
So what does one do with two dozen Pumpkin Sugar Cookies?! Eat them, duh. Or share them or submit them to a bake sale (are bake sales still a thing?). I personally like to hoard them all to myself for days on end. Like last week’s Salty Maple Brown Butter Blondies, these sweets just get better and better as time goes on. It’s true! Their high ratio of wet to dry ingredients and the inclusion of moist pumpkin purée mean these stay super soft. It’s the ideal baking situation if your fall has been as wildly busy as mine.
Like I said, i will never not be thrilled with sugar cookies.
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pure pumpkin purée
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
Vanilla Glaze:
2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
3 teaspoons milk of choice
Arrange your oven racks in central positions. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment. Set aside.
Place butter in a medium pot (4 quart) over medium-low heat. Stir frequently until melted, then remove from heat. Stir in sugar, followed by pumpkin purée, egg yolk and vanilla. Whisk in flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Let dough sit for 10 minutes.
Scoop dough in 1 1/2 tablespoon increments (I use a medium cookie scoop). Roll into balls and place at least 2.5 inches apart on prepared pans. Bake cookies 10-11 minutes, or until puffed and no longer raw looking. Cookies will relax as they begin to cool.
Set a cooling rack over a pieces of wax paper or parchment.
Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the pans before removing to a rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze. In a small bowl use a fork to whisk together confectioner’s sugar, salt and milk. If glaze is too thick, add more milk by the 1/2 teaspoon, until desired consistency is reached. If glaze is too thin, add more confectioner’s sugar by the tablespoon until desired consistency is reached.
Load glaze into a small piping bag and snip off the tiniest corner. The glaze will be dry to the touch within 20 minutes and harden after a few hours.
For best pumpkin flavor, let glazed cookies rest for at least 30 minutes (or up to a day) before serving.
Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
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Yep, this is the last thing I have to do before I hit the road today! I mean, it would be super rude of me to leave without telling you about these Pumpkin Pie Thumbprints, now wouldn’t it? They’re teeny, tiny two-bite pumpkin pies nestled in sugar cookies—you *need* to know about these. You need to bake these.
The secret to these thumbprints? 
While pumpkin pie is traditionally finished off with whipped cream, that doesn’t make much sense in a cookie. I went with a simple icing drizzle as the final flourish, and I regret nothing. Aren’t they cute?! Almost as cute as they are delicious—what could be bad about buttery cookies with squidgy pumpkin centers?
Okay, there it is—you know about Pumpkin Pie Thumbprints. That’s one more thing off the list. I guess all there is to do is road trip north. Can’t wait to get to Swan’s and show you what we’re cooking up six miles out to sea.
e2 bakes brooklyn 