The Great Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 cup butter, room temperature

  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, plus more for rolling

  • 1 large egg

  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Using a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda.

3. Using a large bowl and a flat rubber spatula, beat butter and sugar until combined. Beat in egg until combined. Stir in pumpkin puree and vanilla extract until combined. Stir in flour mixture until combined.

4. Add additional granulated sugar to a large plate for rolling cookie dough (about ½ cup). Cookie dough will be very sticky. Drop a tablespoon of cookie dough to the plate of sugar. Using your fingers, sprinkle the top of the dough with sugar. Roll the dough with your fingers until all covered with sugar and the dough resembles a ball. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart (no need to flatten the ball of cookie dough, they will spread out while baking).

5. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and let cool for 15 minutes (cookies might appear that they are not done, no worries, because they will continue to bake during the cooling period.


Notes: A small (1 tablespoon) ice cream scoop works perfect to measure out the sticky cookie dough. The cookies will be more uniform and it will already be in a ball of dough as you roll them out in the plate of sugar.