Fun Friday: Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Spiderweb Frosting

Pumpkin Cookies
Yield: 36 cookies
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat OR all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the pumpkin and egg until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients. Slowly add the flour to the pumpkin mixture and mix until everything is combined.
4. Drop the dough onto a cookie sheet by the tablespoonful. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly browned and the dough is cooked through. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

Caramel Frosting
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp baking soda
8 tbsp butter
1 to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp coarse sea salt

In a large saucepan, bring the sugar and cream to a boil. Boil for exactly one minute. Add the baking soda and boil for one minute more. Remove from the heat and drop tablespoons of butter all over the mixture. Do not stir. Allow to cool for thirty minutes on the stove. Place the pan in the refrigerator to cool for another thirty minutes. Stir the butter into the caramel and scrape caramel into a mixing bowl. Beat in 1 to 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, depending on the consistency you like. Spread onto cooled cookies. Make spiderweb design using the recipe below for chocolate ganache or purchase a tube of black frosting at the grocery store.

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into very small chunks

Bring the heavy cream to a boil over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat as soon as the cream begins to boil. Stir in the chocolate and continue stirring until it has melted. Cool for five minutes before pouring into a piping bag fitted with a number 5 tip. Pipe three small circles onto each cookie (like a target) and then drag a toothpick through the circles to make a spiderweb.

Karly Campbell, author of the popular baking blog Buns In My Oven, began blogging in 2008. For more of her recipes, musings, and food photos, visit her at BunsInMyOven.com.

Have a favorite halloween recipe you want to share? We would love to hear about it!