Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies

Happy Thanksgiving! Are you as excited to feast the day away as I am? I can't wait to stuff my face with turkey leg, mashed potatoes, and apple pie. :D Anywho...I thought I'd take a break in the Florida action by posting this cute recipe I tried out a couple of weeks ago. These were really fun to decorate...and easy to make too!

The secret to these sugar cookies is the addition of pumpkin pie spice. It gives the sugar cookie the perfect hint of pumpkin flavor. I have a love/hate relationship with making and decorating sugar cookies. Sometimes the dough can be a pain to work with and it usually takes me hours to get to the final product. Once I get it, though, I find that it's worth it. :)

I liked the frosting for these because it wasn't the typical royal frosting. It was more of a thicker frosting that is super easy to spread on with an angled spatula (i used one like this), but it still hardens smooth like royal frosting! I used some food coloring to dye the frosting orange and brown and a simple store-bought can of icing for the green stems.

Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies

Source: Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Ingredients:

Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
16 tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs. light brown sugar
1 large egg
1½ tsp. vanilla extract

Icing:

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon cream
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg and vanilla; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed. Shape into a disk and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator onto a lightly floured surface. Let dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.

With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies, placing on prepared baking sheet. Place baking sheet with cookies on them in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes before baking.

Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes until edges are just ready to turn the slightest bit light brown. Cool on a wire rack before decorating.

To make the icing, in a saucepan over medium heat, heat cream and butter until butter is melted. Stir in the vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Remove from heat, and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth.

The icing sets up very quickly, so when you are decorating if you find that it becomes hard to work with, place in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and it will re-soften and be smooth again. Alternately, you can place the icing in a heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water to keep it smooth.