Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Well, well, well, we meet again. It’s time to pick up again as fall finally has arrived (maybe borderline winter here in Kansas) and it’s finally cool enough for me to actually run my oven. Thus here we are.

I brought these cookies to work today, and haven’t had as much of a response to anything like this in awhile. People freaked, and asked for the recipe, and I thought I’d throw it up on the blog for all to see. This recipe comes from The Cookie Book, written by Rebecca Firth. My dear cousin, sister from another mister, my kindred baking spirit, Leah gifted me this for my last birthday and I have been baking my way through it ever since. It is a wonderful book, and I’d highly, highly recommend picking it up.

These cookies are soft, melt in your mouth, and delightfully spicy. Their delicate pumpkin flavor is charged up by a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. If my coworker’s reactions are any indication, I’d say it’s time to grab a can of pureed pumpkin, get out your sheet pans, and get baking. Enjoy.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 32 Cookies

• 8 tablespoons (115 g) unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup (118 mL) neutral oil

• 1/3 cup (79 mL) pumpkin puree

• 3/4 cup (158 g) dark brown sugar

• 3/4 cup (144 g) granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 3/4 cup (239 g) bread flour

• 1 cup (136 g) all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons (7 g) baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Cookie Coating

• 1/4 cup (48 g) granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 tablespoons (29 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 3 ounces (85 g) cream cheese, room temperature

• 2 1/2 cups (325 g) powdered sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 2 to 3 tablespoons milk, or more to think out frosting

1. Place 8 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. Preferably a light colored pan so you can see the butter change color. Heat the butter over medium heat. Stir, and diligently watch the butter as the milk solids begin to brown. It will begin to smell nutty, and right as it starts to turn amber remove it from the burner and pour it in a large heat-proof bowl. The browning of the butter will take 5-6 minutes. Let the butter cool slightly.

2. Once the butter cools., add the oil, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Once combined, add eggs one at a time incorporating it completely before adding the next egg. The mixture should be fairly thick. Be sure all lumps are whisked out.

3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the bread flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet until just mixed together. Do not over mix. Cover up the dough, and place in the fridge for at least an hour, up to 24 hours to firm up.

4. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Mix together the cookie coating. In a small bowl add granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Whisk together. Once the dough is completely firm and chilled, roll about 1 1/2 tablespoons, or 21 g of dough between your palms to make balls. Roll the balls in the sugar spice mixture and set on the baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches of space between each. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, in the center rack of the oven, for about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a rack to finish cooling.

6. For the frosting, mix together the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until completely smooth. Add milk one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Spread a dollop on each completely cooled cookie using an offset spatula. Enjoy!

Tartine Pumpkin Tea Cake

Hi everyone. I’m comin’ right at you with the most fall item of them all. Pumpkin spice everything. I’m usually not excited by pumpkin breads anymore but this one? Oh boy, this one. It has a plush, moist crumb and an insane amount of cinnamon goodness that makes all of my fall dreams come true. I want to curl up on a slice of this cake and take a sweet little nap. I urge you to not forget the pepitas and sprinkling of sugar on the top of this cake. It’s crunchy, roasted, sweetness really puts this cake (slash bread???) in the front runners of the best pumpkin baked good I’ve had.

I usually go more towards apples and apple cider items in the fall, and avoid the pumpkin spice craze, but when I saw this recipe I knew it was time to give the pumpkin world a moment of my time. This recipe hails from the famous Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, CA. You can find their cookbook here. It really is a staple in any baker’s kitchen.

Happy Fall, everyone.

Tartine Pumpkin Tea Cake

• 1 2/3 (225 g) cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 (7 mL) baking powder

• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda

• 1 tbsp + 2 tsp (25 mL) ground cinnamon

• 2 tsp (10 mL) nutmeg, freshly grated

• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cloves

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp (255 g) pumpkin purée

• 1 cup (250 mL) vegetable oil

• 1 1/3 cup (270 g) granulated sugar

• 3/4 tsp (4 mL) sea salt

• 3 large eggs

• 2 tbsp sugar for topping

• 3 tbsp pepitas for topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan, and line with parchment paper so ends are sticking out over the pan. This will make it easier to remove once baked.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium sized bowl.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin purée, oil, sugar and salt together until well blended.

4. Add eggs one at a time. Mixing completely after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl.

5. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared 9x5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the sugar and pepitas on top.

7. Bake for about an hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit for 20 minutes before removing. Use the sides of the parchment paper to pull the cake out of the pan.