Our Softest Ever Pumpkin Cookie Recipe + a Vanilla Icing Recipe So Easy Your Kids Can Make It

This post is sponsored by McCormick® but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Every year, Adam and I always tend to do more baking around this time of year. 

Whether it be for a party or a homemade gift, our pantry is always stocked full of plenty of flour, sugar, spices, and gift boxes for a spur of the moment recipe. Brownies, cakes, pies, cupcakes, and cookies of all kinds are enjoyed this time of year in our house and at the office. But one flavor we find ourselves craving all season long is pumpkin, and this pumpkin cookie recipe is incredibly soft and a delight that everyone can enjoy. Pair it with the easiest vanilla cookie icing recipe ever, and you've got a hit on your hands! Save these recipes to enjoy for the rest of the year and be sure to save this post for later!

Pumpkin Cookie Recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup of brown sugar (packed)
• 3/4 cup of butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup of canned 100% pure pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 cups of unbleached baking all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of McCormick® Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions: 

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and pumpkin together. Crack an egg into the bowl and mix enough so that the egg is mixed in, but do not over mix the egg mixture. 
3. Stir in the flour in small batches until all of the flour has been added, and then add in all of the other remaining ingredients. 
4. Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to scoop cookies onto the baking sheet--you should aim to keep your cookies no larger than 2" and give them at least 2" in-between cookies. 
5. Bake the cookies in the oven at 350 degrees (F) for 10-12 minutes, or until they are slightly browned and cooked through. You can use a toothpick or a fork and insert it into the center of the cookie--as you pull it out, the toothpick or fork should be clean. This indicates the cookie is ready to come out of the oven. Allow the cookies to sit untouched for an additional 2-3 minutes on the hot baking sheet and they will continue to bake from the inside outwards. 
6. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool to room temperature before enjoying. 

Easy Vanilla Cookie Icing Recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 5 tablespoons of butter (softened) 
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 3 tablespoons of whole milk

Directions: 

1. In a tall mixing bowl (we recommend this to try to prevent powdered sugar from getting all over your clothing later on), beat the butter until it's creamy. 
2. Add in the McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract and the powdered sugar and mix well. 
3. Slowly add in the whole milk and stir. Do this until you reach the texture you want, and if you want to change the texture you can either add more sugar to thicken it or add more milk to liquefy it. For cookie icing, we recommend it be thick enough to somewhat stick to a spoon (i.e. this recipe works well for us and we just repeat the recipe until we have enough cookie icing we want to cover all of our cookies). 
4. Use either a tablespoon or a teaspoon to cover your cookies with this icing. For an added flavor profile, sprinkle a little bit of McCormick® Ground Cinnamon on top of this cookie icing for some depth in flavor and a little bit of warmth to counteract the sweetness. It's perfection!

McCormick® spices, extracts, and herbs are a pantry staple in our house all year long but they are especially necessary for us to have on hand throughout the fall and winter. With all of the baking, cooking, and entertaining we time from now until the end of the year, we always make sure to stock up on all of the McCormick® ingredients we need at Walmart along with everything else on our grocery list. 

These iced pumpkin cookies are soft, sweet, and have just the right bite to them when you sprinkle them with cinnamon. Of course, that is completely optional but that's how we love them and we enjoy boxing up homemade cookies every year and giving them out as gifts to friends and co-workers every year. Giving away boxes of homemade cookies has become a tradition for us--so much so that we have some people already asking which cookies we are getting over the holidays! 

Since so many people want us to bake for them, I always make sure I stock up on all of my baking necessities at Walmart including all of our McCormick® spices and extracts.

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