Brown Butter Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
These brown butter pumpkin sugar cookies are a soft pumpkin sugar cookie with a little extra flavor from the brown butter, topped with a cinnamon brown sugar frosting that tastes like heaven. They're the perfect Fall cookie!
Ingredients
Brown Butter Sugar Cookies:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) brown butter solidified
- ½ cup (109 g) coconut oil any vegetable oil will work
- ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup (135 g) pumpkin puree, not pie filling
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) cream of tartar
- ¼ tsp (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 4 cups (530 g) all-purpose flour
Brown Sugar Frosting:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- ½ cup (110 g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (61 g) milk
- 3-4 cups (360 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) cinnamon
Instructions
To make cookies:
- Start by browning the butter. You'll take ½ cup of butter and melt in a medium saucepan, and then continue to cook past the point of boiling. You will do this over medium heat, past the point of the butter foaming, until it turns a nice golden brown, and has a nutty smell. Make sure you are stirring and watching it, because it will turn from perfectly brown to burnt fairly quickly. Once finished browning, pour into a bowl and put back in the fridge to solidify again. You will want it to become a soft solid again to start the cookie dough. This should take about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place browned butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, mix until smooth on low speed, about 30 seconds each egg. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together salt, cream of tartar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and flour. Add flour mixture to bowl and mix on low, being careful not to overmix. I usually like to stop mixing when I still have flour remnants around the bowl.
- Scoop the dough into large balls. I like to use a ¼ cup cookie scoop.
- Place 8 cookie balls on your baking sheet. Flatten cookie balls with a glass until they are about ½ inch thick. I like to spray the bottom of my glass with cooking spray and dip in sugar before flattening. Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes. You're looking for a light golden brown outside rim. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
To make frosting:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar together and let come to a boil.
- Pour mixture into a medium bowl and add milk, powdered sugar and cinnamon. Whisk together until smooth. Frost cookies with a good helping of frosting!
Notes
These cookies are more of a cake like cookie, not a traditional crispy on the outside type of cookie.
For some reason I prefer these cookies to be chilled before eating. It is not necessary to chill them, but might be worth a try for you to see if that's how you prefer them too! Just place them in an airtight container after the frosting has set and they should keep fresh in there for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for longer.
It is best for butter, eggs and milk to be at room temperature before starting to mix.
If you would rather use a regular buttercream frosting you can omit the brown sugar and add a little vanilla to the recipe.
I have given both cups and grams as measurements. Grams will be more precise, especially when measuring flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, no problem! Just lightly spoon flour into your measuring cup to insure its not packed in there. Light and fluffy is the key.
Nutrition
Calories: 460kcalCarbohydrates: 69gProtein: 4gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 205mgPotassium: 86mgFiber: 1gSugar: 44gVitamin A: 1587IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 26mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!