Pumpkin Spice Cookies with a Salted Caramel Frosting

It’s hard to believe summer is over and a crisp, warm fall is upon us. With that said, as sad as I am to see the days getting shorter and the air cooling off, I’m happy because it’s given me a bit of incentive to get back into the kitchen. Because it’s fall, it’s time to start playing with all the traditional spices that come with fall – cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, nutmeg, rich vanilla…. the list could go on and on. When I stumbled upon this recipe last night, I knew I had to make them: Pumpkin Spice Cookies with a Salted Caramel Frosting. These little guys are awesome, almost like a hybrid between a soft and chewy gingerbread cookie and a pumpkin pie. Let’s get to the recipe so you can give them a try yourself.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with a Salted Caramel Frosting

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour

Salted Caramel Frosting

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon mexican vanilla (if you don’t have, add more regular vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars for roughly 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla and mix well. Stir in pumpkin. Next up, add in your dry ingredients: baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt and flour.  Using a small cookie/ice cream scope, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 6 minutes, rotate the cookie sheet and bake for another 6 minutes.

For the Salted Caramel Frosting,  grab a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool then stir in confectioner’s sugar.  Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

These little cookies are nice and small (depending on how big your cookie scoop is) and are just perfect for the fall. Give them a try and let me know what you think! The original recipe was adapted from Let’s Dish Recipes.

Happy Fall BS’ers!

Carlene