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Cinnamon spiced sugar cookies with browned butter frosting…shaped like cute little pumpkins, because it’s basically October and time for all things pumpkin.
Happy Friday everyone!! Hoping you’ve all had a great week. I had an interesting day on Wednesday. I went down to Denver late in the afternoon to fly out to LA to film for Hallmark Home and Family and ended up back at home that same night. Let me explain, we were about to leave the gate when we were told there were mechanical issues and the plane could not fly. Totally not fun, but better known on the ground than in the air!
I made a call to the super nice people at Hallmark to explain the situation and they were so sweet about my travel mishaps. They offered to simply Facetime the interview, and even agreed to reschedule a live interview when I’m in town in mid October. I had such a fun time doing the Facebook interview (it airs this morning, so tune in to Hallmark!), and am feeling just so grateful for all these amazing opportunities.
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Okay, on to these cookies, they are basically fall in a cookie…well, almost. There’s no actual pumpkin in these cookies. One, I have so many pumpkin recipes coming up that I didn’t feel as though these cookies needed to have pumpkin included in the them. Two, I also didn’t want to start in on the pumpkin recipes too early. Personally, I can start to get a little bit of a pumpkin overdose before Thanksgiving is even over, and I’ve decided I’m not letting that happen this year.
So long story short, I’m trying to pace myself with the pumpkin recipes this year. I’m going to try to slowly roll them out…but don’t worry, I have one all set for you guys next week!
ps. I just realized, I already cheated with this pumpkin beer broccoli cheddar soup from earlier this week…
Anyway, I made these cookies, kind of on a whim, last week. Normally I try to have my blog recipes pretty planned out, but sometimes an idea comes to mind that either sounds so good or so fun to create that I just have to do it that very day.
That’s what happened with these cookies. It was kind of a dreary, moody day…and very Halloweeny. I just felt like making something cute and pumpkin shaped was appropriate. I’ve already shared my very favorite sugar cookies with you guys, but then I thought about making more of an autumn style sugar cookie, and these cinnamon spiced sugar cookies immediately came to mind.
Of course, I had to make them in the shape of pumpkins.
Like my favorite sugar cookie recipe, these are extremely easy to make. The only real difference is the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg. Adding cinnamon to a sugar cookie might not sound all that amazing, but trust me it is so good. It’s basically like cinnamon toast, but in a buttery, soft sugar cookie form.
And, as if the cookie alone was not enough, I went ahead and added a browned butter frosting. And then, to really seal the deal, I added the lightest dusting of cinnamon sugar. In full disclosure I added the cinnamon sugar more for a glittery look on my cookies, but I’m not going to lie, it was pretty delicious.
OKAY, now here’s the thing. I am no professional cookie decorator. I may or may not have worked hours (seriously hours) on trying to make these cookies look like cute pumpkins, but the funny thing is, the look of the cookies you see here is not originally what I was going for at all. Nope, I was actually trying to make them look like real pumpkins. But you know what? Turns out that I love how these cookies ended up. I didn’t use any food dye and this simple design only takes minutes to create. It’s natural, rustic, and very me. Yes, kind of loving them.
Also, the frosting…oh my gosh…THE BEST. And yes, that needed to be in all caps. The cookies are truly amazing on their own. They’re soft, sweet, and loaded with cinnamon flavor. But let’s be real, what is a sugar cookie without frosting, you know?
The frosting adds that special final touch, and well, it’s just delicious. The toasted brown butter and extra pinch of cinnamon just screams fall. Meaning you need to make these cookies this weekend and then every weekend from now until December. Oh, and when December hits, turn them into christmas shaped cookies! YES. DO THAT.
Cinnamon Spiced Sugar Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Browned Butter Frosting
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- 1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until evenly combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, beating until combined and the dough forms a ball.2. Generously flour your work surface. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you are using enough flour or your dough will stick. Cut out the cookies into your desired shapes. Carefully transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet and place the sheet in the freezer, freeze until very firm, about 15-20 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 8-12 minutes (for soft cookies) or until just lightly golden brown. Do not over bake. Cool on the baking sheet five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.4. To make the frosting. Add the butter to medium pot. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir often. Remove from the heat and let cool 5 minutes. Whisk in the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons water, the vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth, adding 1 tablespoon of water to think the frosting as needed. If the frosting gets too thin, just add a little more sugar and if it gets too thick, add a splash of water. The frosting should be thin enough to drizzle, but think enough to hold it's shape.5. Frost each cooled cookie. If making pumpkins, I used melted chocolate to draw on the pumpkin "leaves". Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar. Keep cookies covered in an air tight container for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Cookies today…tomorrow we kick off “spooky” cocktail Saturday!
I made these adorable cookies today and was not disappointed! They look and taste wonderful, really. I will add a couple comments. The frosting did not come out to look like the picture. It tasted good but there was no direction as to how thick it should be so I had to add a bit of heavy cream to achieve what the picture looked like. I would definitely made these again but I wonder what went wrong with the frosting?? I also cooked them for 14 minutes.
I made these adorable cookies today and was not disappointed! They look and taste wonderful, really. I will add a couple comments. The frosting did not come out to look like the picture. It tasted good but there was no direction as to how thick it should be so I had to add a bit of heavy cream to achieve what the picture looked like. I would definitely made these again but I wonder what went wrong with the frosting??
Hey Sandy! Thrilled you loved the cookies so much!
So nothing went wrong with the frosting, it’s just a matter of needing to thin it a bit, which you did! Frosting can need more or less powdered sugar depending on your climate and how dry the air is. Sometimes you just need more liquid and other times a little more powered sugar. The frosting should be spreadable, similar to peanut butter. Hope this helps! Thank you again!
Hey Tieghan,
These look lovely and made me smile when I saw the little cinnamon pumpkins. They remind me of French toast snickerdoodles.
I’m glad you were able to do your interview, although your flight was canceled! I’m looking forward to seeing it and for the pumpkin recipes (and fall baked goods ☺️).
Stay warm!
I am so happy you like these! Thank you Kristin!
These are the most gorgeous pictures!! They are so cute, and I love how there is no food dye. Yum!
Thank you Jenna!
These are so cute!! And that frosting sounds amazing. Have a great weekend!
Thank you Natasha!
Does the frosting get hard over time? Are you able to eventually stack the frosted cookies without smudging them?
Hey Tamra! This frosting does not get hard, so sadly it does smudge, but they taste great!
Hi Tamra,
I had the same question. My frosting was actually very thick so I added quick a bit of half and half but left it once it resembled a frosting. I left them out for and hour or two and the frosting hardened just enough to be able to stack. So I would recommend keeping the frosting thicker if you want it to harden :).
Oops ! That should be a ? HA!
Will you be able to put up a link to the Hallmark interview. I would love see it.
Sure thing! It is below! 🙂
http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/home-and-family/videos/dutch-baby-home-family
Mmm…these look great! I love the idea of tweaking your favourite sugar cookie recipe for fall! Plus, browned butter frosting sounds AMAZING! 🙂
Thank you Ruthy!!
These are so cute!! Definitely want to make them this weekend. Do you know where you got your pumpkin cookie cutter from? Thanks!!
Hey Stephanie! I believe target, but here is a good one below!
http://rstyle.me/n/csvd8eb9wzf
Target has them for $2.99 I have two closings today for real estate and I’m making these for my buyers.
Made these. Tried to melt chocolate….and it didnt work so well. =(
Hi Beth, let me know if you have questions about the chocolate. Thanks so much!
Are these as soft as your cream cheese sugar cookies? Everyone loved those so much!!
They are pretty soft, but you could also add cinnamon to the cream cheese cookies too. That would be great! 🙂
I have seen similar recipes, but I have to say that this one calls my attention because it’s only cinnamon, I sometimes find people use pumpkin too much, so this is perfect!
I am glad you’re liking these! Thank you Jenny!
Looks like perfection to me Tieghan! Can’t wait to make these!!
Thank you Kathy! I hope you love these!
These are so cute! And I imagine really tasty too.
Thank you Alice!
My son went crazy as soon as he saw these and now he wants to bake them!!! They’re really cute!
https://bloglairdutemps.blogspot.pt
Awh that is so cute! I hope you two have a fun time baking these Ruth ? Thank you!
soooo good!!!!