Frosted Pecan Pumpkin Spice Cookies
A customer favorite at my bakery, these soft and pillowy pumpkin spice cookies are filled with pecans and topped with frosting. It doesn't get any better than this for a cozy fall cookie!
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
Dough
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 113 grams cane sugar
- 113 grams dark brown sugar (packed)
- 1 large egg
- 113 grams pumpkin puree
- 340 grams all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 127 grams pecan halves
Frosting
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 284 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and dark brown sugar. Mix on low until there are no butter chunks. Add the egg and pumpkin puree and mix just slightly, enough to break the yolks.
- In a separate bowl, add the dry ingredients: flour, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, vanilla bean, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together.
- Add to the butter mixture and mix on low until almost combined, you’ll see bits of flour. Add the pecans and mix on low until fully combined.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 24 balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten them so they are disks that are about 2 ¼-inch in diameter.
- Bake for 11 minutes or until set and dry. Let cool completely on the cookie sheet.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, and milk. Mix on low until combined and then speed mixer up to high and mix for 1 to 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Using a butter knife, frost each cookie.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Notes
Tips
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Make sure you are using soft butter. If you need to soften butter in the microwave, only do 10 seconds per stick at a time. You may have to do multiple intervals of 10 seconds, but going longer can melt portions of the butter, which isn't good.
- My favorite canned pumpkin is Farmer's Market. If you are going to pick one ingredient to splurge on or buy for a recipe - always choose the star. For example, the star in this recipe is pumpkin as it's the most prevalent flavor. So, you want the best one to shine through.
- Gluten Free: Replace the all purpose flour with 354 grams (2 ¼ cups plus 1 teaspoon) gluten free flour blend.
- If your cookie dough seems sticky, just pop the bowl in the fridge for 5 to 15 minutes until it's easier to work with. It should be easily rollable with your hands.
- If you want to use cream cheese frosting instead, make Easy Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before frosting them. I know this is so hard! But, if you frost cookies when they are warm the frosting will melt, and you don't want that!
- The best way to store these cookies is in an airtight container so they retain their soft and chewy texture.
- My trick for this is to frost all the cookies, leave them on the cookie sheet and pop the whole cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours. This will allow the frosting to harden. Then, you can store them in tupperware or ziploc bags and place a piece of parchment paper in between each one to prevent sticking.
- Store in the fridge for up a week or cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- High Altitude — Bake at 375°F for 8 minutes or until set and dry.
Nutrition
Calories: 243kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 137mgPotassium: 61mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 983IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg
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