Supremely soft and chewy cookies infused with brown butter, espresso, and warm pumpkin spices, and loaded with white chocolate chips!
Although Pumpkin Spice Lattes have become synonymous with Basic Biotches, it doesn’t mean that the rest of us “non” Basic Biotches can’t indulge in this captivating combination of flavors. As someone who believes Starbucks is overrated, even I can’t help but pick up one of those delicious PSLs at least once during fall.
So of course, I got to thinking…if pumpkin spice and coffee make such a great duo in a beverage, wouldn’t they make an even better duo in a cookie??
The answer is a resounding YES, my friends…
So I know I’m not the only one to come up with this brilliant beyond brilliant idea, but I will say that there are a few extra special elements that set my cookies apart from the rest. The first being the addition of brown butter.
To me, brown butter just SCREAMS fall due to its blissful notes of toasty, nutty, toffee-like goodness. Therefore it only seemed appropriate to incorporate it into this autumnal cookie. Brown butter not only adds a divine nutty flavor to the cookies, but it also gives them that beautiful glossy sheen as they bake in the oven.
Even though PSLs technically don’t contain actual pumpkin, I decided to add a little pumpkin puree to these cookies. For one thing, pumpkin adds extra flavor. And another thing, it lends extra softness to each bite. However, you don’t want to add too much pumpkin or you’ll end up with cakey cookies. For this recipe, all you’ll need is a 1/4 cup of puree. And if you’re looking for ways to use up the rest of that pumpkin puree, check out some of these recipes.
Now that we’ve talked pumpkin, let’s move onto the star ingredient–pumpkin SPICE!! Along with 1.5 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, I like to add a 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Although pumpkin pie spice already contains cinnamon, the extra cinnamon infuses these cookies with more warmth, and obviously, flavor.
As for the “latte” element, 2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder are incorporated into the dough. It’s just enough to remind you of that iconic PSL flavor, but not too much to overpower the pumpkin spice.
These cookies also contain a little bit of cornstarch to create that soft and chewy bite. Along with chilling the dough, cornstarch prevents the cookies from spreading too thin in the oven, so they bake up nice and thick. In fact, because they don’t spread as much as most cookies, you’ll want to flatten your cookie dough balls slightly before they go into the oven. This will ensure a much more even spread.
To create that picturesque cookie, I like to reserve about 1/3 of the chocolate chips for AFTER the cookies are done baking. So immediately after removing them from the oven, I’ll press the chocolate chips into the cookie. This also guarantees a much more even distribution of chocolate chips in every bite.
So if you’re a fruGAL like myself, and would rather not spend an arm on a leg indulging in your daily PSL habit, I definitely recommend these Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies! Not only are they better on your wallet, but they’re a lot more pleasurable to your taste buds…
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 ½ cup white chocolate chips*
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, it’ll start to foam, then turn a clear golden color. Continue to stir the butter, scraping up any browned specks from the bottom of the pan as it starts to brown. It should have a nutty aroma. Once browned and nutty, remove from the heat; set aside to cool.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cornstarch, espresso powder, and spices together in a medium bowl; set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the browned butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth and incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla and continue beating until combined, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.* Cover, and refrigerate dough for at least two hours, or up to three days.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball, then place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten each dough ball slightly so that it resembles a little hockey puck.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers are puffy but still look slightly underdone. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes