Pumpkin Spice Cookies -- When the Season Calls for Something Sweet

Liam started sitting unassisted this week. One minute he needed the hand behind him, the next minute he just... didn't. He sat upright in the middle of the living room rug with the expression of someone who has just realized they've had an ability they weren't using. He was delighted. He grabbed his foot. He looked at us for confirmation that this was as significant as it felt. It was. It is.

Sean has been working long hours this week—a job site in Cambridge with a deadline—and the evenings are short and the mornings are early and we're doing the passing-off that working parents do, the handoff at the door where one person goes out as the other comes in and there's a quick debrief about Liam's day and then dinner and then sleep and the week moves forward. It's the right kind of tired. I know the difference now between the tired that's sustainable and the tired that isn't. This week is the right kind.

September cooking. The apple orchard outside Salem that my father used to take us to every fall has been there my whole life and I've been there exactly twice as an adult and I want to go this year, take Liam. He'll be six months in a few weeks. He won't remember it. I want to go anyway, want him there even if the memory is only mine.

Apple cake on Sunday—brown sugar and cinnamon, a cream cheese glaze that was possibly excessive but the season called for it. Sean had two pieces for breakfast. Liam watched from the high chair we've started using, the one that was a shower gift, a rattle on the tray and absolute focus on whatever we were eating.

The apple cake was Sunday’s project, but the season has a way of asking for more than one thing at once — and with Liam in the high chair watching us eat with that extraordinary focused attention of his, I wanted something I could keep making all through fall, something that comes together quickly on a weekday evening when Sean and I are doing the handoff and the hours are short. These pumpkin spice cookies are exactly that: warm and unpretentious, the kind of thing that makes the kitchen smell like the reason you love this time of year.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (for rolling)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat softened butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
4. Add wet ingredients. Beat in the pumpkin puree, eggs, and vanilla extract until fully combined. The mixture may look slightly curdled — that’s fine.
5. Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
6. Prepare rolling sugar. In a small bowl, stir together the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
7. Portion and roll. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoons, roll briefly into balls, then roll each in the cinnamon sugar. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake. Bake for 11–13 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops look just dry. Centers will be soft — they firm up as they cool.
9. Cool. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 118 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 17g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 75mg