Sugar and spice.

Like my friend and fellow food blogger Anna, who has been posting a spectacular string of pumpkin-themed recipes since early fall, I associate the holidays with pumpkin. I made these over Thanksgiving when I stayed with Nick's family, but they may make a guest reappearance in the office this month. Now is the season when I get into a bit of a baking frenzy (I've been training all year), so friends, coworkers, and family: look out for some baked delights over the next few weeks. Faithful blog followers, I'll try to capture the recipes and photos here as well.

These cakey, poofy cookies balance a buttery-sweet icing with sharp spices highlighted by ginger. For those of you thinking of sending baked goods this season, these travel very well because they're so cakey and poofy. (Just make sure the icing has time to set before packaging.)

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Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
(by Martha Stewart)


2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 1/4 t coarse salt
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 1/4 t ground ginger
3/4 t ground nutmeg
3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 c packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
3/4 c evaporated milk
1 t pure vanilla extract


4 c confectioners' sugar, sifted
10 T (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 c plus 1 T evaporated milk
2 t pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.
Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806; I found that taking a gallon Ziploc bag and cutting off the corner worked just fine too and made for easy clean-up). Pipe 1 1/2" rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1" apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

Make icing: Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes (don't be afraid - I don't think I browned my butter quite long enough, as it lacked a tiny bit of the nutty flavor I was going for, but do keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn). Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie.