Pumpkin Spice Lattes? In the heart of Fall? Revolutionary. Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies with freshly brewed espresso, a hefty scoop of pumpkin spice, and a smooth buttercream? Now thats actually revolutionary.
These cookies are for the Fall-lovers, the die-hard pumpkin spice fans, and the PSL fanatics who are first in line when Starbucks releases their beloved seasonal drink. The cookies themselves are flavored with pumpkin spice, and the buttercream frosting over top is made with an iced shot of espresso for the authentic pumpkin spice flavor. These cookies are soft and the frosting is ultra smooth for a comforting cookie on cool fall nights.
Now let’s get into a bit of the more nitty gritty of the recipe… the fun part, right?! I don’t know… but absolutely necessary!
The texture of these cookies…
These babies are soft and thick, basically the opposite of a crispy or flat cookie! They have a higher fat content in them from the egg yolks and butter which keeps them soft and chewy, pairing perfectly with the buttercream over top. 🙂
Browning the butter…
Browning butter is a very simple process that takes just about 5 minutes, but adds a ton of flavor and depth to whatever you use it in. To brown the butter for this pumpkin spice banana bread, simply add the stick of butter to a saucepan over low-medium heat on the stovetop. Continuously stir the butter in the pan as it is melting. Once the butter has melted down completely, it will start to simmer and become bubbly & frothy over top. During this process, continue stirring the butter. It will become fragrant and turn a light brown color. At this point, you’ve successfully browned butter! Just set it aside and let it cool down.
Do I have to make the buttercream?
Nope! But without the espresso buttercream, these cookies are just pumpkin spice cookies instead of pumpkin spice latte cookies. And that is totally fine, in fact they are delicious with or without the buttercream! But if you are a PSL lover – I highly recommend going with the buttercream.
Using freshly brewed espresso…
This one is pretty intuitive, but I’ve got to say it! If you are using freshly brewed espresso (which I highly recommend as it tastes amazing), please brew it over ice or chill it in the refrigerator so that it is cold! You cannot add hot espresso to the room temperature butter for the buttercream or you’ll melt the butter! In turn, the butter will then never become buttercream. TLDR: work with cold or iced espresso so you don’t accidentally melt the butter!
Flattening the cookies before baking them…
Flatten the cookies a bit before baking!! Specifically, press a cookie dough ball (about 3 Tablespoons in size) into a circle cookie that’s a 1/2 inch thick. This will bake cookies that are perfect in shape! The reason we press these cookies is because they are thicker cookies and only use baking powder and no baking soda which keeps them from spreading too much.
Frosting the cookies…
You should wait until the cookies have fully cooled before adding the buttercream frosting over top! If you add the buttercream while the cookies are still warm, the heat from the cookies will begin to melt the buttercream and it won’t end up setting over top. The cookies should cool within about a half hour of removing them from the oven.
Soft Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies
10
cookies25
minutes12
minutesIngredients
- Pumpkin Spice Cookies
2 Egg Yolks
3/4 Cup Cane Sugar
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
1 Tbsp Whole Milk
1.5 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pumpkin Spice
- Espresso Buttercream
1 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp Brewed Espresso, chilled
1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
Directions
- Pumpkin Spice Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking pan with parchment paper or silpat baking mat. Set pan aside.
- Begin first by browning the butter. Add 1/2 cup, or 1 stick of unsalted butter to a stovetop pot and heat over low – medium heat, stirring continuously until fully melted and butter begins to bubble and become fragrant. At this point, continue stirring and the butter will become light brown in color. At this point, remove it from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. This is important as we’ll mix it with the eggs and don’t want the butter to be so hot that it cooks the eggs!
- Once the butter has cooled, add to a mixing bowl and combine with egg yolks, brown sugar, cane sugar, vanilla, and milk. Whisk thoroughly until fully combined.
- Then, add flour, baking powder, pumpkin spice and salt to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix together with a spatula to combine.
- Then, refrigerate the cookie dough for about 30 minutes to let the flavors meld together and the butter re-solidify into the dough which will help with the texture in these cookies.
- Then, once the dough has chilled – rolls cookie dough into balls that are about 3 tablespoons of dough each. Place each dough ball onto the lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Press each cookie dough ball down into a circle thats about 1/2 inch thick.
- Bake the cookies for 12 minutes and then remove from the oven to let them cool.
- While the cookies cool, prepare the espresso buttercream.
- Espresso Buttercream
- Add room temperature butter to a mixing bowl, and cream the butter. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix the butter on low-medium speed for about 2 – 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides in between mixing. You’ll know when the butter is creamed when it is smooth and light in color.
- Once the butter is has been creamed, add in vanilla and chilled espresso. Mix again with the hand mixer or stand mixer both are incorporated.
- Then, add the powdered sugar to the creamed butter, espresso and vanilla. Add about 1/4 cup at a time so the powdered sugar doesn’t fly all over. Continue mixing and adding powdered sugar until all has been mixed in.
- Once your cookies have cooled completely, pipe or spread buttercream over top and enjoy!
Notes
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
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