Pumpkin Spice Madeleines.

Light, puffy pumpkin spice cookies full of brown butter and fall spices, the signature sponge cake-texture of French madeleines, and all the flavor of a pumpkin spice scone + how to make your own pumpkin pie spice at home for baking.

Last Christmas I asked for a madeleine pan (just let it happen. My Christmas wishes always end up being baking-related.) ... and now, ten months later, I've finally used it!

These cakey, pumpkin spice cookies literally only happened because I found my madeleine pan while packing up my kitchen life. If fall is supposed to be the calm before the storm or the hush before winter, then whoever said that never had a lease up in November.

Lies.

Because I'm moving... again!

Okay, underneath all that stress, I'm excited. I am. I secretly love new places, that feel of starting over and creating a home, finding new places for everything, and totally justified every other day trips to Pier 1 and Target. The part I don't like is right now. Just... BOXES. So many boxes. Boxes on boxes. Everything feels a little upside down. I have absolutely no idea where anything is.

What I do is know is if there were ever a madeleine I could fall in love with it would be pumpkin-spiced. I've never really understood those buttery, bite-size, sponge-cake cookies Starbucks tries to sell me with my coffee. Seems like I could I just eat a vanilla cupcake instead. But my boyfriend is obsessed and I'm obsessed with pumpkin spice, so this seemed like a good place to start.

I cannot believe I put off making madeleines for so long. I was so intimidated by the sponge cake batter, piping it into fancy, French pans, and the delicate, seashell shapes, that my new madeleine pan immediately went the way all my other forgotten baking things I "had" to have (which, if you're wondering, includes a handheld heart-shaped pie press and heart-shaped springform pans.)

These light, puffy pumpkin cookies are full of brown butter and fall spices and taste exactly like a soft, cakey pumpkin spice scone. My boyfriend swears they're just fancy, bite-sized pumpkin breads and calling them a "cookie" is a baking lie.

Either way, they're the perfect spiced cookie to start your fall mornings with. Pair them with pumpkin coffee. Dip them in white chocolate. Glaze them with a sugar and spice glaze like your favorite coffee shop scone. Live your fall life.

P.S. If you're like me, you never have anything convenient like pumpkin pie spice just waiting in your cupboards... because if you did, you would already be out because you've been spiking your coffee with it since the last day of summer. You do, however, have every other spice that you could ever possibly need at a moment's notice ... and that calls for pumpkin spice math, which is totally a thing and looks a lot like this... because yes. On top of baking fancy French cookies, we're also making our own pumpkin pie spice:

2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice = 

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

This recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. You now have an extra tablespoon to shake on your lattes and hot chocolate. You're welcome.

Pumpkin Spice Madeleines

Printable Recipe

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon honey
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

Brown your butter. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until golden brown. Once butter is browned, remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool slightly while preparing the rest of the cookie batter. For more information on how to brown butter, see this post. 

Eggs + sugar. Whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed until light and fluffy and tripled in size, about 10 minutes (to the consistency & color of melted vanilla ice cream). 

Sift. Sift flour mixture over the mixer bowl in two additions, folding in with a spatula after each addition. 

Pumpkin. In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin and slightly cooled brown butter. Add in two additions, folding in after each addition, with a spatula. 

Chill. Fold in honey and vanilla, then cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Preheat + prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let batter stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Spray madeleine pans with baking spray or grease with butter.

Pipe. Transfer batter to a pastry bag (or a Ziploc bag) and snip the end to create a 1/2-inch opening. Pipe batter into prepared molds, filling each about three-quarters full.

Bake. Bake for 8-11 minutes (10 minutes was perfect for mine), or until pale brown and darker around the edges. Immediately shake out madeleines scalloped-side down onto wax paper and allow to cool completely. Wash and re-grease molds and repeat with remaining batter. 

Makes 3 1/2 dozen madeleines. 

Source: Adapted from The Lung Family.

P.S. I recently ran in my 6th 5k this past weekend, a wine run in Napa Valley! It was one of the most challenging runs I've done yet... maybe it was all the wine or the rolling hills or the crazy, rocky, ankle-twisting gravel trails. Either way, it felt good to tie up my purple laces and pound out some moving stress on a vineyard path. Also: WINE.  

Pumpkin Spice Kiss Gingerdoodle Blossoms.

 These pillowy pumpkin spice blossoms are inspired by two of my favorite and most popular (and pinned!) fall cookies: 

❤ Cinnamon pumpkin spice kiss blossoms... soft, chewy cinnamon cookies, rolled in sugar, with a white chocolate-pumpkin spice Hershey kiss on top. 

+

❤ Gingerdoodles... gingersnaps and snickerdoodles rolled into everyone's new favorite Christmas cookie. 

Anything with a Hershey kiss on top is my favorite thing to bake. That was the first thing I changed when I updated my About Me page! Whether it's peanut butter, chocolate-peppermint, cinnamon spice, or Oreo-stuffed white chocolate raspberry blossoms... I'll be honest: it's all about pressing a chocolate candy into a just-baked cookie and making those signature crinkles.

I love a good sparkling, sugary-crisp crinkle.

This fall, the only thing I wanted to bake (besides everything pumpkin) was a repeat of last year's cinnamon kiss cookies. They were simple, chewy, and full of fall flavor ... and even better when paired with a pumpkin spice latte for breakfast. And after snooping at what you've been pinning lately, I was inspired and determined to combine the sugar & spice swirls of gingerdoodles with the pumpkin spice Hershey kiss of those cinnamon blossoms we're all obsessed with.

There's three parts to these gingerdoodle kiss cookies.

❤ Gingersnap dough

❤ Chilled pumpkin snickerdoodle dough

❤ And pumpkin spice kisses!

Oh... and a quick dunk in a bowl of nutmeg-spiked cinnamon-sugar. I ❤ fall.

Rolled together, it's hard to tell we're baking with two different doughs. Don't worry... all your hard work hasn't gone to waste. Here's a sneak peek at the cookie bottoms!

Gingersnaps meets pumpkin snickerdoodles. 

First up, the gingersnap dough.

If you have ten minutes, you can easily mix together a half-batch of the soft-baked, spicy-sweet gingersnap dough used in my original gingerdoodle recipe. Rich with ginger, cinnamon, and molasses, this recipe needed no improvement (except in quantity!).

Next, the snickerdoodle dough.

Because it's October and let me live, I took things one step further by swapping out the snickerdoodle dough for pumpkin snickerdoodle dough. Pumpkin snickerdoodles have been on my fall to-bake list for the past two or three years and I'm so glad I waited for this moment to test the recipe. With the addition of some fall spices, a few tablespoons of pumpkin puree, a little vanilla, and some extra brown sugar, this cookie dough had all the cinnamon-sugar flavor of the classic snickerdoodle, with the subtle pumpkin flavor I plan on craving from now until December.

Because we're baking with pumpkin, the dough is soft and nearly impossible to roll at room temperature. Chilling the dough for at least one hour (I was too lazy to bake and chilled mine overnight) made the sticky-soft dough pliable enough to roll into balls.

As someone who likes her cookies soft-baked and pillowy, the addition of pumpkin turned these blossoms into the fat, puffy, cinnamon-sugar clouds I was hoping for. Where the original gingerdoodle cookies were thin and chewy, these baked up into perfectly soft (but un-cakey) chewy cookies. And they stay soft! Even several days later.

Last... the pumpkin spice Kisses.

The secret to keeping your chocolate from melting? 

1. Freeze your Hershey Kisses.

2. Allow cookies to cool three minutes out of the oven before pressing your Kisses on top.

3. Place the entire baking sheet into the freezer until chocolate sets.

Simple!

P.S. An anticipated FAQ: I found my pumpkin Kisses at Target. Can't find them in anywhere near you? Try caramel Kisses or use the back of a spoon to make a thumbprint-shape indent and fill with a sprinkle of white chocolate chips!

Pumpkin Spice Kiss Gingerdoodle Blossoms

Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Dough

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons pumpkin puree

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Pinch of salt  

Pinch of nutmeg

Make snickerdoodle dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar, softened butter, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin. 

Add in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg and mix on low until thoroughly combined. Let dough chill for at least 1 hour (I chilled mine overnight). 

Gingersnap Dough

6 tablespoons shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

4 tablespoons molasses 

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

Make gingersnap dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add the molasses and egg and continue beating until combined. 

Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

For rolling & making cookie blossoms 

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

1 package Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses

Freeze pumpkin Kisses. Unwrap pumpkin spice Kisses and place them in a small bowl in the freezer until ready to use. 

Prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or spray with baking spray; set aside. 

Sugar & spice. In a small bowl, combine the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and pinch of nutmeg. Set aside.

Combine together. Combine a 1/2 tablespoon of gingersnap dough and a 1/2 tablespoon of snickerdoodle dough together and roll into one dough ball. Toss in cinnamon-sugar and place on prepared baking sheet. Keep snickerdoodle dough in the refrigerator when not using... dough quickly becomes too soft and sticky to handle when at room temperature! 

Bake. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until done.

Stick a kiss in it. Remove from oven and allow to cool for three minutes on baking sheet. Gently press a frozen pumpkin spice kiss into the center of each cookie. The Kisses will start to get shiny and melt after a just few minutes. At this point, just pop the whole baking sheet into the freezer until the chocolate sets.

Source: Cookie blossoms inspired and adapted from my cinnamon pumpkin spice kiss blossoms and gingerdoodles. 

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cookie Butter Buttercream.

I spend all summer trying to figure out what to do with myself. Do I bake pies? Do I bake in Mason jars? Do I make ice cream? How do you even make ice cream? That just seems like a lot of work when I live so close to a Coldstone Creamery. Can I just get away with grilling slices of banana bread? 

I love summer, the bucketlists and carefree, sun-filled months, but when it comes to baking, I just don't feel the inspiration. I want long days by the pool with a book and a tropical drink and late nights with kettlecorn, s'mores, and Once Upon a Time. Just let me live.

  

Fall is when I find my inspiration. 

From pumpkins and the colors of changing leaves to the cooler weather, candy corn, and that crisp, fall magic in the air that makes you feel alive and like celebrating everything and nothing at all. Even my autumn-inspired Pinterest board has me wishing I could just call in to work and spend the morning in my tiny apartment kitchen with a whisk, some brown butter, and not a care in the world, baking all things pumpkin spice, cinnamon, salted caramel, and gingerbread.    

These cupcakes were inspired by one of the best cupcakes I've ever baked: my pumpkin spice cupcakes for two. Two perfect pumpkin cupcakes topped with the tiniest batch ever of cinnamon spice buttercream. 

The only problem? Obviously. They only made two!

This is what a problem looks like solved.

Twelve of the most irresistable, cakey, perfectly-moist pumpkin spice cupcakes, loaded with that rich, spicy fall flavor from cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. These cupcakes the softest and so moist... like the texture you would get from using a boxed spice cake mix, only better. For years to come, these will be my go-to pumpkin cupcakes. I'm already dreaming of cream cheese frostings, chocolate glazes, a sprinkle of candy corn... and thick, creamy cheesecake centers.    

Okay. So you caught me. I tried to distract you with all that sugar-talk. There's only eleven cupcakes in that picture. I don't want to talk about it. 

Or the half-jar of cookie butter I ate for dinner last week.

Let's talk frosting.

The frosting for these pumpkin cakes was inspired by the rich, gingerbread-y cookie butter truffles I baked into my chocolate chunk brown butter brownies and the peanut butter buttercream from my vanilla bean peanut butter cup cupcakes. Biscoff is like peanut butter. Could we substitute it for the peanut butter and turn it into a sort-of gingerbread buttercream for pumpkin things? 

The answer is yes.     

Yes and now.

This is the stuff spoons were made for.

These cupcakes (eaten chilled and shamelessly in the middle of the night after a stressful workday) were one truly irresistable start to fall. The combination of pumpkin spice cake, sugary cookie butter frosting (think gingerbread + snickerdoodles + cinnamon graham crackers), topped with salty-sweet crushed chocolate-covered toffee pieces was the most perfect match of fall flavors.

Combined with a pumpkin spice latte and a lazy afternoon? 

These cupcakes were everything ever. 

P.S. Unfrosted... they could totally just be pumpkin spice muffins. Cake for breakfast. Do your thing! 

  

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cookie Butter Buttercream 

Printable Recipe

Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs

Cookie Butter Buttercream Frosting 
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup Biscoff (or Trader Joes creamy Cookie Butter)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons cream (or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Crushed Heath toffee bits for sprinkling on top, optional

Prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Set aside.

Whisk. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside. 

Mix. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing until just incorporated. 

Scoop & bake. Using a cookie scoop, fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake tests clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. 

To make the frosting, cream together the butter and cookie butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Add vanilla and one tablespoon of cream at a time; beat until light, fluffy, and desired consistency. 

Frost it! Pipe frosting onto completely cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with crushed toffee, serve & enjoy!

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Source: Cupcakes barely adapted from Annie's Eats and Biscoff frosting recipe from Baked Bree. 

Pumpkin Spice S'mores Cracker Candy.

Remember a couple summers ago when I made graham cracker s'mores candy? 

You know... chocolate and marshmallows melted over a layer of bubbling caramel and graham crackers?

It's been my summer 2012 go-to, last-minute, I've-been-at-the-beach-all-day recipe. Wait, we're going to a barbeque where? You said I'm bringing what? Tonight? 

Give me just one second. I need some graham crackers.

   

Well, this is that recipe... hunkered down for fall.

Graham crackers become cinnamon-sugar grahams.

Marshmallows become orange, pumpkin-shaped pumpkin spice mallows.

And white chocolate chips and toasted pecans replace the handfuls of Hershey milk chocolate squares and chocolate chips. 

Basically buttery, brown sugar, caramel-y goodness.  All in a pan, all for you.

P.S. Should I be worried that most of my favorite holiday recipes involve crackers? 

This.

This is what November tastes like.

It's pumpkin spice meets pre-game bonfires meets cinnamon-sugar s'mores, all together, during Revenge commerical breaks, in under twenty minutes. 

Seriously, these are so easy. If have butter and graham crackers, you're halfway there. 

If you have a new apartment, no kitchen table, no place to sit, one baking sheet, one spoon, and one pot holder, you're also halfway there. In case you were wondering.

Pumpkin Spice S'mores Cracker Candy

Printable Recipe 

12 sheets of cinnamon graham crackers

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 (8 ounce) package pumpkin spice marshmallows

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1 cup toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang over the ends, and spray foil with cooking spray. Line graham crackers up on the foil so that the sides are touching.

Toast pecans for 4-5 minutes on a baking sheet (I used a metal pie pan). Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and mixture comes just to a boil (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat and pour evenly over crackers. Bake 5 to 6 minutes, or until bubbly.

Remove pan from oven and immediately sprinkle marshmallows, white chocolate chips, and toasted pecans over the crackers. 

Return pan to oven for another 2-3 minutes, or until marshmallows begin to soften and puff up. 

Cool completely before serving. Lift from pan using foil edges; cut into bars and enjoy!

Source: Adapted from my graham cracker s'mores candy, originally from Stefanie's Cooking Spot.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Kiss Blossoms.

I literally do not have my act together.

I made these thick, sugary cinnamon kiss cookies in September. Then a whole cluster of real life situations happened. 

Like... I went to a wedding. 

A wedding in a beautiful vineyard where maybe I learned that if you drink several glasses of crisp, sweet champagne on an empty stomach there's a good chance that you'll end up barefooted in a muddy vineyard plucking fat purple grapes off the vines and declaring them, "SERIOUSLY THESE ARE THE BEST GRAPES EVER."

Hypothetically.

I signed a lease on an apartment with my boyfriend. We move in next Wednesday. In nine days. I'm not stress-eating candy corn. I'm not.

I'm not. 

I totally am.

There were football games. Lots of them. Real ones. You know, the kind where you sit in the bleachers and try to understand what a tight end is... while secretly pretending you're at a Quidditch match.

There was a sand and sun-filled week in Hawaii where I did absolutely nothing but nap by the pool, tuck flowers in my hair, and order mai tais for breakfast. 

And now there are pumpkin patches and Christmas trees in the world. It's October. I bought Christmas ornaments today. When did summer end? Is it Halloween? Is it winter? What, what are we doing for Thanksgiving?  

Whatever. Let's just make cinnamon cookies.

Pumpkin spice kisses. Have you put these in your life?

These little orange morsels taste like fall. Like October and November-times.

You know: pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, white chocolate. Fall things. 

These chewy cinnamon cookies are crazy good. The first batch around I made them like so: Plain cookies. Stick a kiss in it. Honestly, I'm not trying to make things complicated around here.

... but then the kisses melted and mistakes were made. 

They ended up looking like little orange Sorting Hats.

So I swirled the melted kisses and made it fancy and totally on purpose.

But something was missing.

Oh yes. More sugar.

Can I share some secrets? 

Freeze the Kisses. 

Roll everything in sugar. 

Yes, this is totally breakfast.

And always, always drink less champagne. 

... unless you're moving in nine days. Then do your thing and pass the candy corn.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Kiss Blossoms

Printable Recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1-3 tablespoons milk, if dough is crumbly
1 package Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses
1/2 cup granulated sugar, for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Unwrap pumpkin spice Kisses and place them in a small bowl in the freezer until ready to use. Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a bowl for rolling cookies in; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Gradually add in small batches to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined. If dough is crumbly and not coming together, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until dough forms.

Scoop dough into 1 tablespoon-sized balls, roll in sugar, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until done.

Remove from oven, flatten just slightly with the back of a spatula (if you want them less pillow-y) and allow to cool three minutes. Gently push a frozen pumpkin spice kiss into the center. The Kisses will get shiny and start to melt after a few minutes... at this point I popped the whole baking sheet into the freezer until the chocolate set to keep that traditional-looking blossom cookies...

... or you can let the Kisses melt and swirl the melted chocolate with a toothpick for a pretty marbled effect like this.

Or both! Definitely do both.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

Source: Barely adapted from Sprinkle Some Sunshine.