Many of the delicious foods I associate with fall have one thing in common… fall spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice add that special fall touch to pies, cakes and breads. In addition to the wonderful flavor… spiced baked goods smell oh so good!
These Pumpkin Spice Cutout Cookies are a delicious variation of traditional roll-out sugar cookies, and are just perfect for fall!
I’ve made these cookies both with and without pumpkin, and they are delicious both ways! The first few times I made them without the pumpkin puree (see “notes” in recipe below) because I usually don’t like to open a whole can of pumpkin and just use a small amount. Without the pumpkin, the recipe produces a delicious spiced cookie. But I’ll have to say, I recently made the recipe with the addition of the pumpkin and I loved the cookies even more!
These cookies will remain fresh and delicious at least 5-7 days. Keep undecorated cookies sealed in an airtight container. Layer decorated cookies (after they’ve dried 8-12 hours) between waxed paper or parchment paper in an airtight container, or wrapped in cellophane bags (for gift giving).
When your cookies are baked and cooled, and you’re ready to decorate, make up a batch of Royal Icing.
Along with the royal icing recipe is a basic decorating tutorial, if you’ve never decorated cookies before.
Happy fall baking!
Pumpkin Spice Cutout Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated if possible
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar light or dark
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract best quality available
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
Instructions
- In a large bowl bowl, add flour, baking powder and spices. Stir with whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add both sugars and beat until fully combined and fluffy.
- Add egg, vanilla pumpkin and beat to combine.
- Scrap down the sides of your bowl with a spatula.
- While the mixer is running on low, add the flour mixture, slowly.
- Mix until all of the flour is incorporated, and the mixture begins to ball up and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Dump out the dough onto a clean work surface, kneed in any extra bits of flour or dough, and divide the dough into two large balls. Place balls of dough in a plastic bag (or plastic wrap) flatten dough into large disks and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- When the dough has chilled, roll out onto lightly floured surface and cut out desired shapes.
- Bake cookies in a pre-heated, 350*F oven, on ungreased baking sheets 9-11 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
I roll out to about 1/4” thick so I have to bake about 20 min. Other than that, I’d make these over regular sugar cookies any day! Last year I used a maple flavored icing. Not sure how I’m decorating them this year yet, icing or frosted?!
I have made these cookies over and over and they turn out awesome every time.
Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing
Any chance you have the ingredients by weight vs volume? Especialky for the flour
I found these cookies to be a bit bland. They are very good texture wise, but I think they could use a bit more flavor. Perhaps adding a pinch of salt? I did not use icing so that too would be best. I will definitely make these again!
Hi. I’m sorry to comment on such and old post but I just made tried this recipe out last night… sooo good!!
I was wondering if by chance you would know if the pumpkin puree shorten the shelf life of the cookies. I am nervous about offering these cookies to my customers as I have to get started a week early. I see your post states they are good for one week in airtight container. I need them to be good for at least two weeks in heat sealed bags. I may have to omit the pumpkin puree if they truly only last for one week. Any insights would be much appreciated.
Thank you so much for sharing such a delicious recipe.
I made these today, without the pumpkin because it was a spur of the moment bake and canned pumpkin isn’t readily available here in Australia. They’re really yummy, thank you so much! I made pumpkins mostly, a few bats and brooms too, and decorated them with melted white chocolate. The local kids are loving them, and my parents think they’re tasty too!
Can someone explain how to ice the pumpkin cookies to get the lines like that? Do you ice one section at a time and let it dry before doing the next section?
Yes, exactly as you suspected, fill in one section at a time and let that set up a bit (about 30 minutes) before adding a connecting section. Here’s a post that has a couple helpful photos –> https://www.glorioustreats.com/double-decker-fall-decorated-cookies/
Also, I am currently making this exact recipe today in my kitchen too! Happy fall baking!
I made these cookies last fall and they were great with and without icing! I just finished making my pumpkin purée and can’t wait to make these cookies again tomorrow 🙂 Thanks for the recipe! <3
I made a mistake when I first made these. I only put in one stick of butter but the came out just fine. After making them a second time with the proper amount of butter I have decided that I like it with half the butter for these reasons:
Better texture (crunchy)
Easier to roll out and easier to reuse the scraps without re-chilling
Half the fat!