Macheesmo

This post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes, Inc. Check out their full line of products including the Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil I used for this Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookie recipe. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for more great recipes!

Any long time Macheesmo reader knows I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I can’t help but try my hand at a few cookies throughout the fall holidays. These Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookies started as a simple sugar cookie that I iced with bright orange icing. I found those to be pretty one dimensional, so I got the idea to actually fill the cookies with a quick pumpkin pie filling! WOWZA.

The results are a cookie that takes a little more patience, for sure, but it’s hands down one of the best cookies I’ve made. The pumpkin flavor is excellent and the thin layer of pumpkin pie filling in a cookie keeps the cookie perfectly moist, even if it sits for a few days.

I still like to add a layer of royal icing to the cookies just for appearance and to really give the cookies a pumpkin pie look. If you wanted to simplify the cookies though, you
could leave off the royal icing and just do the pumpkin pie filling and whipped cream. That would be a step easier and equally delicious!

Dive in to making some fun festive fall cookies this week! These would be great to have at a Halloween party or just to bring into the office for a fun afternoon pick-me-up!

Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookies

by Nick

Serves:

18 cookies

Prep Time:

30 mins

Cook Time:

30 mins

Inactive Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 30 mins

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Print Recipe

These sugar cookies have a hidden layer of pumpkin pie filling that keeps them moist and makes them oh so delicious. Worth the work!

Ingredients

3/4 cup Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar + extra for shaping

½ cup canned pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Whipped cream, for topping

Pumpkin Filling:

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

¼ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Cinnamon Royal Icing:

2 tablespoons meringue powder

3 tablespoons water

3 cups confectioners sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Orange food coloring gel

Show Directions

For Cookies:
1) In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, cream together Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil and sugars until the mixture is light and slightly fluffy. Then mix in pumpkin and vanilla and mix to combine.
2) In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Slowly add that to mixing bowl until just mixed together. Try not to overwork dough.
3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make cookies by rolling a heaping tablespoon-sized ball of dough in your hands and then rolling it in sugar. Place it on a baking sheet and press down on the dough ball with a ¼ cup measuring cup to flatten it. Repeat with all the cookies. Don’t crowd the cookies on the baking sheet. I shoot for 8 cookies per sheet.
TIP: If your measuring cup is sticking to the dough, dip it in sugar.
4) Bake flattened cookies for 5 minutes. Then, remove them and use the measuring cup to make a divot in each cookie for the filling. You can press down firmly on the cookies at this point. Return to the shaped cookies to the oven for another 6-7 minutes to finish cooking.
5) When cookies come out of the oven, let cookies cool before filling and frosting them.

For pumpkin filling:
1) Whisk together pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices until smooth.
2) Once your cookies are cool, either spoon the filling into the cookies or pipe them in with a flat piping tip.

For the Cinnamon Icing:

1) In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or by hand), whisk together meringue powder and water until there are no lumps. Then, whisk in the cinnamon and powdered sugar in 1 cup batches.
2) The icing should turn smooth and flat after about 10 seconds if you drizzle some on itself.  Add water to the icing in very small increments (by the drop or with a spray bottle) until you get the right consistency for it. Add orange color after the consistency is right.
3) Pipe the icing on the cooled and filled cookies to cover the filling. Then, dot with whipped cream before serving.
Cookies keep well in the fridge for a few days, but leave off the whipped cream until right before serving.

Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookies

Believe it or not, there is no typo here. There aren’t any eggs in this cookie dough. The pumpkin works great as a binder and keeps the cookies moist. No egg needed!

I used a stand mixer to beat everything together really well, but you could use a hand mixer to cream the ingredients together as well.

Portion out your cookies and roll them in sugar before placing them on a sheet pan. Then use a measuring cup to flatten them.

TIP: Dip the bottom of the measuring cup in sugar as well and it won’t stick to the cookies.

Bake these cookies for five minutes and they will puff up some and spread out slightly.

Importantly, remove them from the oven and use the same measuring cup to press down on them a second time. This will make an indentation for your pumpkin pie filling!

Then you can finish baking the cookies and they will bake through with indentation in place!

Meanwhile, make your royal icing! I’m getting better at royal icing. You can check out my meme cookies post for more details on the icing.

And whipped cream obviously!

Now for assembly! Once your cookies are completely cool, fill them with a thin layer of pumpkin pie filling.

Honestly, they would be good just like that with some whipped cream, but you can frost them with a thin layer of royal icing if you want to finish off the look.

These pumpkin pie sugar cookies not only look great, but they are seriously some of the best cookies I’ve made. Huge hit with everyone that tried one!

The filling is just enough to keep the cookies moist and adds a nice element that isn’t too sweet. It’s a little extra work, sure, but definitely worth it!