Seasonal Pumpkin Spiced Cookies

Laura Adlington, 2020 finalist of The Great British Bake Off, shares her delicious recipe for pumpkin spiced cookies with cream cheese frosting.

These gorgeous melt in the mouth cookies are incredibly simple to make and packed full of flavour. They’re great to make with kids (and a fantastic way to make use of any pumpkins you’ve bought or picked). 

As an alternative to real pumpkin, you can buy tinned pumpkin puree or butternut squash works just as well and you really can’t tell the difference.

Ingredients  

For the cookies 

• 230g butter 
• 200g caster sugar  
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (plus extra for dusting) 
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg 
• Pinch of salt 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 egg 
• 250g plain flour  
• 240g  pumpkin purée  

For the cream cheese frosting 

• 190g cream cheese 
• 80g unsalted butter 
• 280g icing sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

STEP ONE

Pre-heat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. Carve four large chunks out of your pumpkin, approx. 20 x 10cm in size. Keeping the skin on, spread a generous amount of butter over them and then wrap the pieces in foil and place them on a baking tray. Bake for an hour or until soft.  

STEP TWO

Once cooked, spoon out the flesh and leave to one side to cool. 

STEP THREE

To make the cookies, add the butter and sugar to a large bowl. Use an electric hand whisk to mix them together until light and soft. Next, add the egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract, and mix until combined. 

STEP FOUR

Sieve in the flour, bicarbonate, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gently fold the mixture until there are no more pockets of flour.

STEP FIVE

Place the mixture onto 2/3 lined baking trays using one heaped tbsp for each cookie. Press each one down gently with your finger to flatten them.

STEP SIX

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden. While the cookies are in the oven, make the frosting by combining the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl using a hand whisk. Sieve in the icing sugar in two stages before adding the vanilla extract. Pop it in the fridge to firm up.

STEP SEVEN

Once the cookies are completely cool and the frosting has been chilling for at least half an hour, it’s time to put the two together. Spoon a generous dollop of frosting onto each cookie and spread it across the cookie with the back of the spoon or a pallet knife.

STEP EIGHT

Finish by sieving a small amount of cinnamon onto each cookie. These pumpkin cookies are best eaten the same day and need to be kept in an airtight container.

Read more seasonal recipes on our blog or follow us on Instagram @cotswoldco.