Salted Maple Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies
These Salted Maple Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies combine so many delicious Fall flavors! They are perfectly thick and chewy with so much warm and cozy flavor from rich brown butter, dark brown sugar, maple syrup, pure pumpkin, spices and flaky salt.
Ingredients
Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookie Dough:
- 10 tablespoon (140g) salted butter
- ⅔ cup (145g) packed dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoon (30ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60g) pure pumpkin puree (do not blot)
- 1 ⅓ cups (190g) all purpose flour
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon baking soda (See notes in FAQ section about adjustments for more spread)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- heaped ¼ teaspoon fine salt (if using unsalted butter, use up to ¾ teaspoon salt)
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice)
- flaky sea salt for topping
Cinnamon Sugar:
- 3 tablespoon (45g) packed light brown sugar
- heaped ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- First brown the butter. Follow the instructions in this post here to learn how to brown butter. It's easy! Melt it in a medium saucepan and continue to cook allowing it to gently boil over medium heat. It will start foaming and turn golden brown with a nutty aroma. Make sure you are stirring and watching closely so it doesn't burn. Brown specks and a dense golden foam will form at the surface when it is nearly ready. This whole process takes around 8-10 minutes. Immediately pour it into a large mixing bowl and let it cool for 20-30 minutes until it reaches room temperature and is fluid but no longer hot.
- Combine cooled brown butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl and whisk to blend. It will look like wet sand. Add egg yolk, maple syrup and vanilla and whisk gently until it is smooth and glossy. Add pumpkin puree and whisk it in to incorporate evenly.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly. Add this flour mixture to the bowl with the pumpkin mixture and use a rubber spatula fold it in until just combined.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Prepare the cinnamon sugar. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Use a 1.35-oz cookie scoop to portion mounds of dough and roll into smooth balls about 1 ½ inch diameter. If you don't have a scoop, divide the dough into 13 or 14 equal balls. If the cookies are too small, they won't spread enough.
- Drop the dough balls into the cinnamon sugar mixture and roll them around to coat evenly. Place them onto the baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches of space between them. Flatten the dough balls with the palm of your hand if you prefer thinner cookies.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are browned and the centers looks puffed and slightly cracked. They will still be soft in the middle. Allow them to rest on the baking sheet for a 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Sprinkle with flaky salt while still warm and enjoy!
