The Most Delicious Cookie EVER!

I get hundreds of cookie recipes a year and most I skip over because they just aren't interesting.  Cookies have to be interesting for me to consider putting forth the effort to make them.  A standard chocolate chip cookie is just boring to me.  Blah blah blah, I know there are purists out there who consider that basic cookie to be the most perfect cookie ever, but really, I can get that anywhere.  Every 7-11 sells chocolate chip cookies so all I see is a saturated market of chocolate chip cookies.  I want inventiveness in everything - including cookies.

If you know me at all, you know I love me some Martha Stewart.  She is my domestic idol, she's beautiful, smart and funny, I love her.  Below, she's autographing her newest Entertaining book for me last November at Williams-Sonoma at NorthPark in Dallas. 

I get daily emails from Martha.com and there's always lots of recipes there and sometimes I look at them, but not often.  I did run across one around Thanksgiving for Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing, I liked the name of the cookies so I decided to make them. I finally got around to it right before Christmas and they were spectacularly delicious.  My picky son who hates anything new or that resembles something other than meat and potatoes, loved them and said they were now his favorite cookie.  They aren't particularly quick to make and they don't travel well, but it doesn't matter, you'll eat them up before you get them all frosted anyway.  Really good with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.
The first time I made them, I didn't like how they spread on the cookie sheet so I've tweaked Martha's original recipe slightly so I get an equally delicious cookie that stands up better and spreads less, it's also less fragile this way.  This recipe makes about 5 dozen bite-sized cookies.   Enjoy...

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

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

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cookies:  Whisk dry ingredients together, set aside.  Cream butter and sugar till fluffy, add eggs, mix well, scraping sides of bowl.  Add pumpkin, evaporated milk and vanilla, mix well.  Add dry ingredients and mix till just combined well.  Let rest for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, lightly mist cookie sheets with cooking spray.  In a large piping bag with 1/2" round tip, add 1 - 1 1/2 cups of the cookie batter, pipe 1 1/2" mounds of batter at least 1" apart on sheet.  Bake at 375 for 12 minutes or till tops just spring back when touched, rotating trays halfway through baking time. Place sheet on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then remove cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.  Repeat until all batter is used.

Icing:  Measure powdered sugar into medium sized bowl and set aside.  Place butter in skillet or saucepan on medium heat and cook, swirling occasionally until butter turns golden brown.  Immediately pour into powdered sugar and stir till combined.  Add evaporated milk and vanilla.  Let it sit for 3-4 minutes and cool slightly before you start frosting cookies.  Use 1 teaspoon icing on each cookie and spread with spatula.  Spread frosted cookies out on surface and allow to dry at room temp for an hour or two, then you can stack them and not mess up the frosting.