Every year around October (right before Halloween) I keep up a tradition I've had for a while - to make a new pumpkin cookie. It's been a fun journey and a delicious one I might add! I've made soft ones, hard ones, crunchy ones and yucky ones. And this year I made pumpkin cookies that tasted more like a cake (score!!). And the batter???? Oh my goodness the batter.... I could have just eaten it all. 

cookies

2 3/4 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 c packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 c canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)

3/4 c evaporated milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

^ brown butter icing where have you been all my life??? ^

frosting

4 c confectioners' sugar, sifted

10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter

1/4 c plus 1 tbsp evaporated milk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes (mine took much longer to brown, more like 8 minutes). Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time.

recipe from Martha Stewart