I love classic sugar cookies, and around this time of year I love to add some spice to the classic! These sugar and spice cookies do have pumpkin in them to keep them moist and light, however I would not say they taste like pumpkin at all. It simply in there for a filler, and it actually adds some great fiber into the cookies as well! The warm spices are perfect to bring as gifts, or a tasty treat to perk you up during the day!
For Cookies
- 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
For Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Food coloring
- 1 squeeze of orange juice
- Pinch of cinnamon
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.
In a kitchenaid mixer (click for link) with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium high speed until fluffy about 2-3 minutes.
Blend in pumpkin puree, beat in egg and then add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients on low speed just until combined. Cover and chill dough for an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
To make the cookies, roll out dough to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick, and cut out with your favorite cookie cutters. I chose to do pumpkins since it’s almost Halloween, but use whatever you have around! Set the cookies about an inch apart. They won’t spread or puff up too much, so it’s fine if they are a bit close together.
Bake the cookies for 5-7 minutes until they are cooked and tender. Let cool completely on the baking sheet so that you can ice them.
For Icing, start off with ingredients above and then adjust to your desired consistency. If you want it thicker, ad more sugar, and if you want to thin it out a bit, add more orange juice. I’ve found the best way to ice these cookies is with a small spoon. Spoon a small amount of icing on to the cookie and spread it out with the back of the spoon. Let iced cookies sit for at least an hour so the icing dries, and enjoy!