Pumpkin Spice & Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
It's still hot as as heck outside, but Starbucks finally has Pumpkin Spice Lattes so that must mean it's fall right?
So, in the spirit of all things festive and fall like, I made Pumpkin Spice Cream cheese filled cookies this morning at 2am when my insomnia kicked in full force.
Ingredients: 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 1 cup unsalted butter softened 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup pumpkin puree pumpkin pie filling 1 large egg 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 2 tablespoons of dry vanilla pudding mix (This sounds strange but it is my go-to trick for anytime I bake. The pudding mix helps retain moisture so the cookies stay soft and puff up instead of baking flat) Cinnamon & Sugar for coating For Cream Cheese Filling: 8 ounces softened cream cheese 2/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Instructions: In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and spices together and set aside Beat together the butter and both sugars until fluffy Blend pumpkin puree into butter & sugar mixture, beat in egg and add vanilla extract. Cover and chill for an hour or until dough is firm and not sticky. For the filling, simply blend the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together. Cover and chill for an hr or until firm. Preheat oven to 350, line baking sheets with foil and spray with a non-stick cooking spray To make the cookies, take a tablespoon of the chilled dough and flatten it into a pancake shape. Place a teaspoon of cream cheese filling in the center and cover with another flattened piece of dough. Pinch edges together to seal in cream cheese and roll dough into a ball. Roll dough in Cinnamon & Sugar coating and place on baking sheet. Bake dough for 10-15 minutes or until the tops start to crack Remove from oven and let cool before eating. They smell delicious but trust me, DO NOT eat them straight out of the oven. They smelled so good I couldn’t resist a bite, and may have burned all my taste buds off my tongue in the process the filling was so hot!
