Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Do you ever have the craving to make some super cute cut-out cookies, but you don’t want to go the sugar cookie route? Well that’s how I was feeling, and I wanted to make some tasty fall-inspired cookies of course, so that’s where the pumpkin spice comes in!

A couple of weeks ago, Aaron, my brother Michael and I took a trip to our lake house in Frankfort, and the Crystal Lake Alpaca Farm was celebrating “National Alpaca Farm Day”. What’s that you might ask? Well it was a day to celebrate these adorable animals and support the farm for all that they do in caring and raising Alpacas. After visiting with the animals and browsing the boutique, on the way out my brother said “I’m surprised you didn’t get the Alpaca cookie cutters” to which I replied “WHAT ALPACA COOKIE CUTTERS?!” of course. 😉 Needless to say we went back in, and my brother kindly bought me the Alpaca cookie cutters.

And that’s the story of how the pumpkin spice cookies met the Alpaca cookie cutters and lived happily ever after, hehe.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup pure cane sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prep 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a floured pastry board or floured counter prepared as well.
2. In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder and pumpkin spice together and whisk to combine.
3. In a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth, then add both sugars and mix until well-combined, light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg, vanilla, pumpkin puree and beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
5. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix together until dough starts to form and pulls away from the side of the mixer.
6. Divide the dough into two sections for ease and gently kneed together. Place each dough ball in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the dough, roll the dough out onto your floured surface, and use cookie cutters of your choice to create your cookies. Place each cookie on the parchment lined cookie sheets.
7. Bake for 8 minutes, or slightly longer for larger cookies.

If you’re going to dress your cookies in royal icing as I did, this is a great recipe that I always stick with!

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-4 cups powdered sugar
• Gel food colorings

1. Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then add the vanilla and powdered sugar. I recommend adding the powdered sugar to taste, for a less-sugary taste you can get by with 2 cups vs. 4. I always view this as a personal preference so go with what works for you!
2. Depending on how many colors you’re mixing up, separate the icing into separate bowls first, then add your gel food coloring to achieve your desired colors.

I shared these cute and tasty little treats with our dear friends, and brought them into the art studio to share with my pottery pals – they were a hit! Have fun in the kitchen with your favorite cookie cutters, and enjoy!

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