Soft and Tender Pumpkin Spice Lofthouse Cookies

Happy Pumpkin Everything season people. Yep you guessed it, it’s the first day of Fall. Man this summer flew by. Thankfully this summer in the ‘burgh wasn’t too bad weather-wise. We didn’t have too bad of a rainy summer though it was hotter/more humid than the norm. Global warming? Perhaps. “Lor you’re just getting old.” Most definitely. LOL

So did you do anything fun this summer? This was the first summer in a long time we didn’t; not even a vacation. This house remodel has taken every single spare minute of our life. All I know is that in our next house, where ever that may be I’m not remodeling/painting/stripping/installing/plastering/grouting/anything-that-involves-me-going-to-HomeDepot ever again in my life! HELL TO THE NO! LOL I know way more about home remodeling than any woman (yes I just pulled the girl card) ever should. And the worse part, we are nowhere near done. UGH… Wanna come help install hardwood flooring? I’ll feed you!

And since it’s pumpkin everything season I’ll be sure to make you a batch of these Soft and Tender Pumpkin Spice Lofthouse Cookies! Seriously this “type” of cookie is one of my favorites! It’s so soft and tender that they practically melt in your mouth. And OMG the pumpkiny-flavor is soooooo good!

On my personal facebook wall I would see, as early as late August/first week of September the “Pumpkin this and Pumpkin that” posts. Friends ‘succumbing’ to the pumpkin mania. Don’t get me wrong. I love pumpkin flavors but not in summer. Okay sure I’ll eat pumpkin stuff year round (as pumpkin pie is great anytime FYI!) but I just can’t get into the hype that early. It’s kind of like when you go into the store in July and see it’s completely decked out in Halloween decorations. WTH people! Let me enjoy my summer and Labor day before you start forcing me to buy Reese’s pumpkins (which are so addictive) or my pumpkin spice chai tea. Too soon! Too soon peeps!

Now this cookie, I made it in the summer. Wait, what? LOL Yes, in the summer. Often bloggers, food magazines and food shows will create their recipes months in advance that way they are up to date with the time/season. It’s pretty much impossible (or perhaps really, really hard is a better way to describe it here) to post things ‘live’ to the times. Creating a recipe is simple to be honest. For me I come up with the concept in my head and jot down approximate measurements in my tablet. When I go to make the recipe I then measure as I go, taste, adjust, cook/bake, taste and assess. At that point I then decide what needs fixed or if nothing does, make the recipe again a few more times to ensure that it comes out perfect each and every time. It’s called Repeatable Quality folks. So that in itself can take a day or so.

Next comes the photo shoot. That, for me, takes a few hours as it’s not snap 5 perfect pictures and I’m done. HA! I swear half of my shots look like I’m running while taking the shot or am being shaken. I do not have a steady hand at all. Thank GOD for my tripod! Then we move into the uploading, editing the photos and then the selection process. That, for me, is what takes the longest. Figure a day to 2 days. And last we have the blog post. I’m blessed in that part I guess as I can just type, bs/chat in here. I think you get my writing style by now as I simply type how I talk. Kind of like if you were sitting at my kitchen table with me and we were 2 old friends just chatting about stuff. We’d laugh, joke, eat, share and just connect. That’s how I write. To show you guys that I’m real, hopefully relatable and well, family.

So yeah I’d say about 1/2 of my posts are done ahead of time. I leave the rest to real-time. This way I get to keep you guys up to date on my life, what’s going on in TKW world and whatever else I feel like chatting about. LOL Today though I want to chat a bit more about this whole pumpkin phenom and these cookies. Full disclosure Mr. Fantabulous doesn’t like these cookies. Well I should restate that, he doesn’t like the pumpkin ones; he loves the chocolate and sugar versions. What can I say, the man’s weird. He’s not a pumpkin fan though he likes pumpkin pie. And by likes I mean he’ll eat a single slice and that’s about it. He prefers pecan pie. To each their own (which translates into more for moi!)

As you can see I totally went all Halloween-ish on you for the decorations however you could totally go with more traditional Fall-type things. Or be a rebel and go nekkid…er I mean no sprinkles. But then I’m pretty sure not liking/wanting sprinkles is against the law. I read that in some cookbook bible somewhere. haha! These cookies are super soft and light but they have weight and texture. Wha? I know that’s kind of hard to understand if you’ve never had one but trust me. As soon as you make your first batch and bite in, you’ll understand. The texture is almost like poundcake-ish but when you bite it, it just melts in your mouth. And since you frost them, you don’t have to be precise with how they look. So what if a few are oddly shaped. Aren’t we all? LOL Just slap some frosting on the oddly shaped ones and no one will care. And by oddly shaped ones I mean the cookies; not oddly shaped people. Well okay you can if you’re into that but make sure they are cool with it. *wink*

So with that, now that it’s officially Pumpkin Everthing Season go make these and enjoy!

Soft and Tender Pumpkin Spice Lofthouse Cookies

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5 from 2 reviews

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• Author: The Kitchen Whisperer

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 2 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoon butter, unsalted and very soft (not melted)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 XL egg, room temp
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 2 tablespoon pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice bakery emulsion (or 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pumpkin Spice Frosting

• 8 tablespoon butter, unsalted and room temp
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 3 – 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ powder
• 3 tablespoon heavy cream or milk

Topping

• Pumpkin Sprinkles

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Instructions

Cookies

1. In a large bowl sift together the flour, corn starch, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add in the butter and sugar beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. ~3 minutes.
3. Next add in the egg.
4. Add in the pumpkin spice bakery emulsion, pumpkin puree and sour cream and beat on low just until combined.
5. Stop the mixer and add in the flour mixture.
6. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix. The dough will be soft but not mushy. You want it almost moldable.
7. Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover and chill for at least 2 hours though overnight is best.

Bake

1. Preheat the oven to 350F, rack in the middle.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
3. Using a small cookie scoop, make a ball about 1” round.
4. Place the ball on the cookie sheet 1 1/2” apart.
5. Slightly flatten the cookie.
6. Bake 9-11 minutes or until the cookies are set but soft.
7. Remove from the oven and place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack for 1 minute.
8. After a minute remove the cookies from the pan and place directly on the rack.
9. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1. Using a hand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
2. Add in the pumpkin puree and mix until blended.
3. In a medium bowl sift together the confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.
4. Add the sugar mixture to the butter and very slowly mix to incorporate.
5. Add in the heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.
6. Frost the cooled cookies with the frosting then dip in sprinkles.
7. Allow the frosting to harden before storing in an air tight container.

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