Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies with Maple Frosting

Thanksgiving is just now a few days away and I don’t know about you, but I’ve scrabbling around trying to figure out what to make for a few parties…

We just went to a friend’s Thanksgiving last night and I ended up making apple cobbler and 3-cheese scalloped potatoes (I’ll be sharing both of those recipes soon!). They were so easy to throw together and everyone seemed to love them!

When trying to decide what to make for the holidays you always run through the more “traditional” ideas: stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie… All delicious of course, but if you’re like me, you want all the classic dishes, but also want to add something new each year just to try it!

My mom always makes her famous pumpkin pie (seriously to die for!), and there’s always some kind of apple pie…

But why not make something seasonal yet totally different – like these pumpkin spice spritz cookies with maple frosting!

These cookies are just the thing to bring to your Thanksgiving celebration. They’re the perfect touch of pumpkin with the sweetness and richness of the maple frosting.

After such a filling Thanksgiving meal, sometimes it’s nice to have an option that is small that people can just grab one (or two or three… no judgement here, it’s Thanksgiving!) and fill that sweet tooth without completely overdoing it!

Then maybe you can take a slice of that pie to go and enjoy fully the next day 🙂

The kids will love these too because they look like little autumn leaf sandwiches… Easy to grab as they run past and no clean up!

Host Tip: Place a few of these in clear treat bags with a fall-colored bow and give them as gifts to your guests or even on their plates as a nice favor! 

Ingredients:

For the Spritz Cookies:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 – 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
orange food coloring (optional)

cooking press

For the Maple Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp. unsalted buter, softened
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

For the Spritz Cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl combine butter and sugar, beat with mixer until fully combined and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes).
3. Add egg and vanilla to mixture and continue to mix until combined.  Set aside.
4. In a smaller bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice.
5. Start to slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture until fully incorporated. (Optional: If you want to make the cookies orange like pumpkins you can add your food coloring now and mix until desired shade.)
6. Take the dough and place into the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
7. Fill the cookie press with batter. I don’t know what the different designs you can use with the press are called, but I used the one with three lines right in a row – first and third ones are shorter and the middle is longer (if that helps). You can use anyone you want though.
8. Press the cookies onto an non-greased cookie sheet. (The cookie press can be kind of tricky but once you get it down they turn out great! Also making sure the dough is really cold helps.)
9. Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack after a few minutes and repeat until you’ve used all the dough.

For the Maple Frosting:

1. Using a hand mixer, combine softened cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth.
2. Add maple syrup and vanilla to cream cheese mixture; mix until fully combined.
3. Start to gradually add powdered sugar until fully incorporated and smooth.

Assemble the Cookies: 

1. You can use a pastry bag, I just used a ziplock baggie adding frosting the bag and cutting a small bit of one of the bottom corners of the baggie.
2. Take one cookie and squeeze a little of the frosting onto the bottom side of the cookie and then take another cookie and sandwich them together.
3. Repeat until you have used all the cookies. Enjoy!

Adapted from: Diethood