Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

Before you start

Pumpkin cookies are meant to be soft and cake-like, more like the top of a muffin than a chewy chocolate chip cookie. That texture comes from the purée itself: canned pumpkin is about 90 percent water, so it steams the dough from the inside and keeps it tender. The aim is to control that moisture so the cookies hold a gentle dome instead of baking up wet or gummy.

Two small steps make the difference. Blotting the purée on paper towels removes some water and concentrates flavor, and creaming the butter with both sugars gives the dough enough air to lift. The icing is simply browned butter whisked with powdered sugar and a little milk. Brown the butter until the solids are toasty and smell of hazelnuts, then let it cool slightly so the icing sets with a soft, matte surface rather than sliding off.

Ingredients

• Cookies225 g (scant 1 cup) canned pumpkin purée — not pumpkin pie filling
• 280 g (2⅓ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ⅛ tsp ground cloves
• 115 g (½ cup) unsalted butter — softened
• 150 g (¾ cup packed) light brown sugar
• 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg — room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Brown butter icing60 g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 180 g (1½ cups) powdered sugar — sifted
• 2–3 tbsp milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Spread the pumpkin purée on a double layer of paper towels and blot the top with more towels. After 10 minutes, scrape it into a bowl; it should weigh about 190 to 200 g and look thick and paste-like.
2. Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a bowl.
3. Beat the softened butter with both sugars on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, then the blotted pumpkin. The mixture may look slightly broken; that is normal.
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low just until no streaks of flour remain. The dough will be thick and soft, like a stiff muffin batter.
5. Scoop 35 g mounds, about 3 level tablespoons, onto the sheets 5 cm (2 in) apart. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops are puffed and spring back when touched and the bottoms are lightly golden. The cookies will not spread much.
6. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack. Let them cool completely, about 30 minutes; warm cookies melt the icing.
7. For the icing, melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling, until it foams and the milk solids turn amber brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Pour it into a bowl, solids included, and cool for 5 minutes.
8. Whisk in the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tbsp milk until smooth and spreadable, adding more milk a few drops at a time if needed. Spread about 1 tsp on each cookie and let it set for 20 minutes.

Tips for success

• Weigh the pumpkin after blotting rather than before. Brands differ in moisture, and the blotted weight is what keeps batches consistent.
• If the icing firms up while you work, whisk in a few drops of warm milk or set the bowl over warm water for a moment.
• Use a light pan for browning butter so you can see the color change. The line between nutty and burnt is less than a minute.

Substitutions

Canned pumpkin

Roasted and puréed butternut squash works. Homemade purée is usually wetter, so blot it longer until it reaches the same thick, paste-like texture.

Individual spices

Use 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Blends vary, so the balance will change a little.

Brown butter icing

Use a cream cheese frosting for a tangier topping. Cookies topped with cream cheese frosting need refrigeration.

Variations

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Skip the icing and fold 170 g (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips into the dough.

Maple icing

Replace the milk in the icing with pure maple syrup and add a pinch of salt.

Troubleshooting

Cookies are wet or gummy inside

The purée had too much water or the cookies were underbaked. Blot the pumpkin well and bake until the tops spring back and the bottoms are golden.

Cookies are dry and bready

Too much flour, usually from scooping with the cup. Weigh the flour or spoon it in and level it, and take the cookies out as soon as they spring back.

Icing is grainy or greasy

The butter was too hot when the sugar went in, or it was not whisked long enough. Let the browned butter cool for 5 minutes and whisk until fully smooth.

Storage

Store iced cookies in a single layer or between sheets of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The tops get stickier over time. Freeze uniced cookies for up to 2 months and ice after thawing.

Safety notes

Do not taste the raw dough, which contains raw egg and flour. Contains wheat, egg and milk.