Pumpkin Spice Shortbread Cookie
An-nyeong! It's officially FALL, and you know what that means. It's a PSL season!
I hate to admit that I am that basic girl who gets excited about everything pumpkin. (Please tell me I am not the only one.) I was at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago, I legit spent 30 minutes, touching, reading, and FELLING all pumpkin-related products. While everyone at the store could not get out of the store faster enough, I enjoyed every single second of my pumpkin treasure hunt at Trader Joe's. I came back 5 cans of pumpkin puree after, and I was SO EXCITED to cook all things pumpkin.
I am not much a baker, but one thing I love and know how to make is a shortbread cookie. There is nothing more perfect than enjoying crumbly, buttery shortbread cookies with a cup of freshly-brewed coffee. I even entered a cookie competition with my shortbread cookies! Even though I didn't win, I was one vote short to be the audience favorite. The point is I LOVE SHORTBREAD COOKIES. I love them as much as Oprah loves her bread.
I wanted to incorporate my love of baking shortbread cookies and all things pumpkin by coming up with a pumpkin spice shortbread cookie recipe. It has everything you love about fall: pumpkin, maple syrup, and pumpkin spice. And of course, LOTS OF BUTTER. And, It's so simple to make! This recipe is one of those dump-all-ingredients-into-the-food-processor recipes. I mean HOW EASY IS THAT? *please say it in Ina Garten tone*
The cookie also has a maple-pumpkin spice glaze to turn up the volume with extra flavors. I mean HOW BAD CAN THAT BE. *also please say it in Ina Garten tone*
Are you ready to FALL in love with this season (sorry I had to) with this shortbread? Let's get it started. If you have any questions about making this cookie, feel free to reach out to me via email or DM on Instagram ;)
Prep time: 10 minutes l Cook Time: 40 minutes l Total Time: 50 minutes l Serving: 20 pieces
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE SHORT BREAD COOKIE BATTER
2 cups of AP (All-Purpose) Flour
1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp + 1 pinch of salt
2 tbsp of pumpkin spice
1 tbsp of maple syrup
2 sticks of cold unsalted butter
FOR MAPLE GLAZE
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
2 tsp of pumpkin spice
2 tsp of maple syrup
1/4 tsp of salt
2 tsp of milk
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 Degrees F.
Scoop pumpkin puree onto a very clean dish towel or a couple of layers of paper towels. Fold towels over the puree and press down firmly, squeezing as much moisture out as possible. Flip the puree onto a dry spot and repeat once or twice more until you don't see too much moisture from the towels. It's an important step to make the shortbread cookie flakey. Once it's done, the puree should feel moist, but not wet or watery.
In a food processor, combine all-purpose flour, squeezed pumpkin puree from the previous step, sugar, salt, pumpkin spice and maple syrup. Pulse it until all ingredients are mixed.
Cut the butter into 1-inch sized cubes and add it to the food processor. Pulse it until the mixture comes together as a dough; do not overmix it.
Take the dough out of the food processor and place the dough on a parchment paper. Even out the dough and form the rectangular shape. To shape it, using a small square casserole dish will help. Chill the dough in the fridge at least 30 minutes. Make sure to chill the dough since it's very buttery! If you bake the dough without chilling, the cookies will lose its shape because of high-fat content in the batter.
After chilling the dough, bake the shortbread cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 30-35 minutes, or until the surface becomes golden brown. The backed dough will be very soft and fragile.
Take the cookies out of the oven and cut the edges (Save those edges for snacking!). This ensures that all the cookies are rectangular. While the cookies are still hot, cut the cookies into individual portion sizes. It should be enough to have 20 pieces by cutting horizontally 4 times and vertically 5 times.
Let the cut-out cookies set in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up. They should be firm and cool to handle.
While waiting for cookies to chill, make the glaze. In a separate bowl, combine powdered sugar, pumpkin spice, maple syrup, salt and milk and whisk all the ingredients. It should be runny enough, but not too runny or liquidy. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk and if it's too runny, add more powdered sugar to reach the right consistency.
Dip the cutout cookies into the glaze and place them back to the parchment paper. Let the glaze drip around the edges and let it dry for 5 minutes.
Now, EAT YOUR FEELINGS!