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Cozy Iced Pumpkin Chai Halloween Cookies

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Soft, cake-like pumpkin cookies with warm chai spices and a sweet vanilla glaze, perfect for Halloween. These one-bowl, no-mixer cookies are easy to decorate with ghost faces or spiderwebs for a festive treat.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (240g) pumpkin puree (100% pure, not pie filling)
  • 2 ½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ½ cups (180g) powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Food coloring (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together with a whisk or spatula until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
  3. Beat in eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each. Stir in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree (mixture may look curdled).
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, cloves, and black pepper.
  5. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture in two additions, folding gently with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.
  6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
  7. Using a cookie scoop (about 1.5 tablespoons), portion dough and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
  8. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until edges are set and just barely golden. Centers should look slightly underdone.
  9. Let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  10. For icing: whisk together powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract until thick but pourable. Add food coloring if desired.
  11. Once cookies are fully cool, pipe or spread icing onto each cookie. Decorate with black icing or melted dark chocolate for ghost faces, or use a toothpick to create spiderweb designs.
  12. Let icing set for at least 1 hour at room temperature before stacking.

Notes

Do not skip chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes to prevent flat cookies. Use 100% pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. For best results, toast ground spices in a dry skillet for 2 minutes before adding to flour. Cookies can be frozen unbaked for up to 3 months or baked and un-iced for up to 2 months.

Nutrition

Keywords: pumpkin cookies, chai cookies, Halloween cookies, iced cookies, fall baking, pumpkin spice, ghost cookies, soft pumpkin cookies

Find it online: https://jollyfork.com/cozy-iced-pumpkin-chai-halloween-cookies/