Pumpkin Spice Cookies: Heirloom Pumpkins, Squash and Gourds

Pumpkin Spice Cookies: Heirloom Pumpkins, Squash and Gourds

I was really looking forward to making Pumpkin Spice Cookies to celebrate all things fall. For my fall theme cookie decorating, I got a Squash and Gourd cookie cutter. One of my favorite things about this season is my love of pumpkins especially the funky bumpy heirloom ones. For this recipe, I substituted brown sugar for light brown sugar since I wanted the cookies to have a lighter brown shade. The cookies are so lovely and you can see the spices in the dough. They are so fragrant from the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and all-spice, and the texture is chewy and full of a robust but not overwhelming pumpkin spice flavor. I hope you try this recipe. See recipe and directions below. 

Yield: 4 1/2 Dozen Cookies (Depending on cutter size)

Heirloom Pumpkins, Squash and Gourds 

Heirloom Pumpkins and Gourds

Ingredients
5 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1 cup Lightly Packed Light Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ginger

1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon All-Spice

1 teaspoon Coarse Salt

1/4 cup Libby's Pure Pumpkin Puree

2 cups (4 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened

2 Large Eggs

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Heirloom Pumpkins

Heirloom Pumpkins

Directions
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all-spice and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugars in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix.

Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for 10 seconds.

Add pumpkin puree, eggs, and vanilla extract, and mix until incorporated; about 1 minute.

Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5 seconds.

Heirloom Luminary Pumpkins

Heirloom Luminary Pumpkin

With the mixer off add the flour mixture, cover the mixer with a kitchen towel, and turn the mixer to low speed and incorporate.

The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Form disk shape and cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-3 hours or overnight. I chilled the dough for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Pumpkin spice dough getting ready to chill in the fridge

Use two sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.

Cut out shapes.

Place onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 15 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Bake 8-13 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 13 minutes.

Do the stems and wait 1 hour

Do outline in center, wait 1 hour and then fill it

Pretty White Luminary Heirloom Pumpkin done

Oven temps vary so check the cookies at the 8 minute mark.

Make sure cookie sheets cool in between baking. I place them in the freezer for a few minutes and then place cut-out dough on cold cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 20 minutes.

This is important. Do not use hot cookie sheets or the cookies will spread and lose their shape.

Outline each side and the center wait 1 hour and fill it

White Luminary Heirloom Pumpkins done 

Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies with cookie spatula to cooling racks to complete cooling, about 1 hour.

Decorate once the cookies are cool to the touch.

Large Batch Royal Icing
Ingredients
8 Egg Whites

8 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

12 cups Powdered/Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla Extract

Do the same with the Blue-Green Heirloom Pumpkins

I love the Blue-Green color

Directions
In a large bowl, sift the powdered sugar; set aside.

Separate the yolks and add the egg whites in a bowl.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice.

Transfer to a stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment and mix on high for 1-2 minutes.

Add the vanilla extract and mix for 5-10 seconds.

With the mixer off add the sifted powdered sugar, cover the mixer with a kitchen towel, and turn the mixer to low speed and beat until smooth.

The consistency using this recipe is thick and great for borders and detail work.

If you need a both a border and flood-like consistency keep reading below.

Orange Squash

Orange Squash all done

If you only need flood consistency icing, just add 1/2 teaspoon of water and mix for 5-10 seconds, and repeat until you reach the right consistency. Be careful that your icing does not become too runny or you may have to start over.

I found the best way to make royal icing is to first separate the icing in plastic containers with lids according to the different colors I need. I save the containers when I order a pint of soup from Chinese takeout. These containers are great for icing. You can also use Tupperware.

Keep the containers or Tupperware covered until you are ready to color. Royal Icing hardens fast.

I used Wilton, and Chefmaster Soft Gel Paste Food Color in various colors.

I used 1 drop of Wilton Ivory for the White Luminary Heirloom Pumpkin.

I used Wilton Juniper Green for the Green Heirloom Pumpkin. Use 1-2 drops at a time until you reach the desired color. I had a picture in my head since I had seen this heirloom pumpkin color over the weekend at my local Stop & Shop.

I used 3 drops of Chefmaster Orange and 1/2 drop of Chefmaster Red for the Orange Heirloom Pumpkin.

To make the Blue-Green Heirloom Pumpkins, I used 2 drops of Wilton Royal Blue, 1/2 drop of Wilton Golden Yellow and 1/2 drop of Wilton Orange.

For the Gourds, I used Wilton Golden Yellow. Use 1-2 drops at a time until you reach the desired color.

Doing the Orange Heirloom Pumpkins

Heirloom Pumpkins all done and need to dry

I needed border icing for each color, so I transferred the Ivory, Juniper Green, Blue-Green and Orange colors into my Sweet SugarBelle Icing Bottles.

Then with the remainder of the icing, I use a spritz bottle with water. I spritzed just one or two times in the container and combined with a small spatula. This works for me and I get the flood consistency I need. I then transferred the flood icing into my icing bottles.

By doing it this way, you also have the same color for both the border and flood consistency.

See the pics on how to make heirloom pumpkins and the tutorial link below from Sweet SugarBelle.

You need to let each section dry for about 1 hour before filling in the rest of the color on the heirloom pumpkins.

Gourds have to dry and then add drops all around

I use a cookie stick to reach edges, and the tip to pop any air bubbles. I also use paint brushes to reach the edges.

Be careful not to add too much icing or you will have overflow.

I let the cookies dry overnight.

Please keep in mind if you are baking and it is humid, you may need more time for the cookies to dry.

As a guide on making the pumpkins, I used Sweet Sugarbelle's The Great Pumpkin Cookie Makeover:
http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2012/09/the-great-pumpkin-cookie-makeover/

For the Pumpkin Spice Cut-Out Recipe visit Sweetopia:
http://sweetopia.net/2016/08/recipe-pumpkin-spice-cut-out-cookies/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys