pumpkin spice sugar cookie ghosts

I don’t care if it’s basic to love pumpkin spice. It’s delicious. However, so many “pumpkin spice” recipes don’t contain pumpkin, only the pumpkin pie spices. I wanted a sugar cookie that had both. This cookie is the perfect fall cookie that I know you’re going to make every single year. It’s a soft sugar cookie with crisp edges, and it holds its shape after baking, so it’s a perfect cookie for decorating.

ingredients in pumpkin spice sugar cookies

• butter– I always use unsalted butter in my recipes so I can accurately tell you how much salt to add, but the truth is that when I’m just baking personally, I use salted butter and nothing is ever too salty. Use what you have, but make sure that it has come to room temperature, about 66-70 degrees. Butter straight out of the fridge will not cream as well, which will either require too much creaming (creating too aerated of a mixture) or the final dough will have little pebbles of butter that will melt in the oven, causing uneven cookies. Make sure the butter hasn’t softened too much and become melty or squishy. See the FAQ section for more help about butter temperature.
• sugar– I use granulated sugar in my sugar cookie recipe.
• brown sugar– This recipe also uses brown sugar, which adds a flavor boost as well as extra softness and chew to the cookie.
• flour– Flour provides the structure for this cookie, and this recipe has the perfect amount for the dough to both hold its shape, yet not be too floury and hard.
• egg– An egg will give the cookie structure and tenderness.
• pumpkin puree– Don’t use pumpkin pie filling! Make sure to grab pure pumpkin puree. I have tried a few brands, and I don’t recommend using an organic brand. The best results for this recipe come from Libby’s pumpkin puree. This recipe uses the puree as is and doesn’t call for straining the liquid from the puree. (I’ve tested this, and straining the liquid makes a too-dry dough.)
• salt- Diamond Crystal kosher salt is the best for baking, so I recommend grabbing a box if you can. It will last you for a long time if you just use it for baking! If you don’t have this type of salt, swap for regular table salt and use half the amount called for.
• vanilla– Vanilla is for flavor in this recipe, and I recommend using vanilla bean paste instead of extract if you can. I love to use vanilla bean paste because the flavor is more intense, but vanilla extract is great as well. I love The Spice House, Heilala, and Nielsen-Massey. (Make sure to check your local Costco store for big jars of Nielsen-Massey at an amazing price!)
• pumpkin spice– You can make your own pumpkin spice mix, but I don’t usually have all those spices on hand at one time. I prefer to grab a pre-made pumpkin spice mix that tastes amazing because it’s nice and fresh.
• pumpkin spice sugar– This product is optional as you could mix pumpkin spice sugar yourself with a little granulated sugar and pumpkin spice, but the flavor of this is so good. The sugar is very deeply infused with the pumpkin spice flavor since it’s been packaged together.

*You can use my code EMILYLOGGANS at The Spice House for 10% off.

supplies needed to make pumpkin spice sugar cookies

• hand mixer or stand mixer– A stand mixer makes this process so incredibly easy, but a hand mixer works just fine, especially if you’re just making a single batch.
• spatula– A spatula is essential to scrape down the bowl throughout the process. Without scraping, you’ll end up with an unevenly mixed dough and cookies that are inconsistent. 
• scale– If there’s one thing I can convince you of, please let it be a kitchen scale. 🙏🏻Using a scale makes everything easier with baking, and it ensures you get the same results every time. Flour is so easy to over-add with volume measurements, and a scale solves that problem.
• parchment paper– I always roll my dough between two sheets of pre-cut parchment paper, which is by far the best way to roll out dough.
• guided rolling pin– Rolling dough evenly is tricky with a regular rolling pin, but with a guided rolling pin, dough comes out evenly every time. It’s such a time saver and one of my favorite kitchen tools.
• baking sheets– I use these cookie sheets for years, and they are amazing. 
• cookie cutter– you can obviously use any cookie cutters you like for these cookies, but here is the ghost cutter I used.

how to decorate pumpkin spice sugar cookie ghosts

These little ghosts and their blushy cheeks are so cute and extremely easy to make. You’ll need a batch of baked cookies (I got 35 4″ x 2″ ghost cookies from this recipe) and a single batch of royal icing. I used my royal icing recipe, but I added 1 teaspoon Watkins caramel extract and extra vanilla bean paste for these ghosts.

• Bag some thick white icing right from the mixer to use as the outline for the ghosts.

• Add some water to a large amount of white icing to thin it out to a thick flood consistency. When you lift your spatula up out of the bowl, it should drizzle down like a honey consistency. When you tap the surface of the bowl of icing, it should settle and smooth out. Bag the icing and set aside.

• Take a small amount of icing and add some pink gel food coloring to make a light pink. Add some water to thin the icing out to a flood consistency just like the white icing. Bag the pink icing and set aside.

• Take a small amount of icing and add some black gel food coloring to make a charcoal black icing. The color will deepen as it sits, so no need to add too much gel. Do not thin this color out. Bag and set aside.

Start by outlining each cookie with the detail consistency white icing.

Using the flood consistency white icing, flood the cookie from bottom to top. Using the pink flood consistency, pipe a circle of icing on the left and right side of the top of the ghost. These will be the blush cheeks.

Pipe a small dot with black consistency icing at the top of each pink circle for the eyes. Allow the cookie to dry completely for 8-12 hours, preferably with a fan on in the room near or facing the cookies.

watch how to make pumpkin spice sugar cookies

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FAQs

• Why did my cookies spread? A little spread (about an eighth of an inch around) is normal. Too much spread that causes the cookies to be misshapen is frustrating and can ruin the process when you want to decorate. Spread can happen for a few reasons: 1) You used too little flour in the dough. Did you weigh it? 2) What size were your eggs? This recipe is formulated for large sized eggs. Extra large eggs add a lot of additional moisture. 3) You didn’t chill the dough for long enough. The initial chill time is important for the butter to chill enough and for the flour to hydrate. Baking them right away will definitely cause them to spread. Additionally, that mini chill time in the freezer before baking is very helpful for holding their shape. 4) Did you use the correct amount of pumpkin? Too much would add too much moisture. 5) Is it possible you added too much sugar? Brown sugar is particularly tricky, because measuring a cup vs. a packed cup can yield very different results. If you didn’t weigh the sugar, it could have been too much. 6) Did you use Libby’s pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)? Other brands, particularly organic ones, have caused spread because of an excess of moisture.
• Why was my dough crumbly and dry? Did you weigh your flour? It is very easy to accidentally add too much flour when measuring with cups. Too much flour will make a dry, crumbly dough. Did you add enough sugar? Do you have the right amount of butter? What size are your eggs? This recipe is formulated for large sized eggs. Medium or small eggs will not provide enough moisture to the dough. Make sure you do not strain the pumpkin for this recipe. We need all that moisture.
• Can I use table salt instead of Diamond Crystal kosher salt? Absolutely! Just use half the amount called for since the flakes of diamond crystal are larger, which accounts for less volume in the measuring spoon. I do recommend purchasing a box of diamond crystal, especially if you’re a baker or like to cook. It’s truly the best and recommended by chefs.
• Is Morton kosher salt the same as Diamond Crystal kosher salt? No, and I don’t recommend you use Morton kosher salt in baking.
• Does my butter need to be room temperature or softened? Room temperature is ideal for this recipe. Cold butter will not mix properly, and softened butter will make a dough that is very soft and sticky. Do not use melted butter.
• What should I do if my butter is cold from the fridge? If your butter is cold right out of the fridge, but you want to bake right now, there are a few options. 1)Microwave the butter as whole sticks on defrost mode for a few seconds at a time until it becomes pliable. 2) Chop the butter into small pieces and set off to the side until you can indent the butter with your finger. 
• Why do my cookies have a shiny, see-through-like patch on the bottoms? That is the sign of an underdone (raw) cookie. It needs to bake more. Before pulling cookies out of the oven, check to make sure the tops are evenly “dull” and not shiny.
• How can I bake these to be thin and crisp? Roll the dough to ⅙″ or ⅛″ and bake at a lower temperature for a longer time. If you bake them at 400 F, it might be too hot and brown them way too quickly before they had a chance to dry out enough to become crisp. Thin and crisp cookies are usually baked at 325 F, but I would start with 350 F. *I have not tested this recipe as a thin and crisp cookie because it is designed to be a thicker, softer cookie with crisp edges.
• Do I really need a kitchen scale? Kinda, yeah? 🙃 They’re not very expensive, but it is a life changing kitchen investment. Here’s the one I use.
• Can I bake my cookies on silicone mats instead of parchment? You can, and I recommend perforated silicone mats if you have them. They make such nice bottoms to cookies. However, I still prefer to bake with parchment. It’s my preference, but your preference could be to use silicone mats. Just experiment and go with what you prefer based on experience and results. 🫶🏻
• Can I decorate these cookies with royal icing or buttercream? Yes! They are delicious with both. Here is my royal icing recipe.
• Is this the same recipe you used to sell on the old website? Yes! This one is exactly the same as the pumpkin spice sugar cookie recipe I used to sell with the exception of one ingredient- I lowered the baking powder to ½ teaspoon as opposed to the 1 teaspoon I originally called for. Lowering it helped with creating more flat tops. I also lowered the oven temp from 400 F to 375 F to help preserve the softness in the cookies.

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