Tender shortbread cookies, made to look like tiny slices of pumpkin pie, make a perfect hostess gift for Thanksgiving – or just a fun treat to nibble on!
I’ve been obsessed with pie-cookies lately, and finally narrowed down my posts to three seasonal flavors: “Pecan Pie” Shortbread cookies. and “Chocolate Pie” Shortbread cookies., and these pretty Pumpkin Pie Shortbread Cookies. Make all three for a beautiful Thanksgiving display, and freeze any leftovers. 
| "Pumpkin Pie" Shortbread Cookies | Print |
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups flour - DIVIDED
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ⅓ cup solid pack pumpkin
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- White chocolate for decorating, if desired
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well, scraping sides of bowl.
- Add 2 cups flour (reserve remaining ½ cup for the "filling"), and cornstarch, and mix until completely incorporated.
- Remove half of the dough and place it in a small bowl.
- To the dough in the large bowl, add pumpkin, brown sugar, ½ cup flour, and spices Mix well.
- Roll the vanilla dough out between two large pieces of parchment paper, about ⅛-inch thick, and cut out 6 large circles – about 4-1/2 inches across – using a small bowl, sour cream container, or margarita glass! Place them on a plate and keep them covered with plastic wrap. It’s fine to re-roll the dough as long as you’re rolling it between sheets of parchment. (Alternatively, you can separate the dough into 6 equal balls and roll them out separately between parchment. Any scraps left over are handy for patching up thin spots while shaping pies.)
- Separate the pumpkin dough into 6 portions and roll them into balls, then flatten until they're approximately 3" circles.
- Working with one piece of each color at a time (keep the rest covered so it won’t dry out) center the pumpkin circle over the white circle. There should be at least ½-inch of white dough showing around the pumpkin. Slowly bring the white dough up the sides. A knife or spatula works very well for this. Don’t worry if it cracks around the bottom edge. This isn’t pie crust! Use your fingers to press and mold the dough (think Play Doh) until it’s fairly straight and even all the way around the top, Press firmly down on the "filling" while you bring the dough around it. The white dough should stick up a little higher than the pumpkin dough.
- Crimp the dough all the way around, using the tips of your fingers. Don’t be afraid to press firmly along the sides as you go – this will keep the fluted edge from falling off as it bakes.
- With a sharp knife, cut pie into 8 small wedges. Move to an ungreased cookie sheet, spaced at least ½-inch apart. Repeat until the baking sheet is full. The cookies can be quite close together; they don’t spread.
- Place baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes, or refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are just turning light golden brown. Move to a rack to cool.
- When all cookies are cool, add a dollop of melted white chocolate to the top.
It will look dry and crumbly, and you may think it will never come together – but eventually it looks just like this!
Ready to roll!
Roll and cut vanilla dough, OR separate into 6 balls and roll each individually.
Bring the sides up around the pumpkin “filling”
Crimp the edges and cut into 8 slices
Ready to bake!
And that, I believe, is my last pumpkin recipe for the year.
Probably.
We’ll see……….
Lorinda
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Last year I made your chocolate version and swore I’d develop some variations — notably pumpkin — for variety. But of course I am not as talented as you and never got the courage to experiment. I am sure these will be as popular as the chocolate ones, which were a huge hit..
Thank YOU, Mary Rose! It’s always so heartening to get good feedback. The pecan version are pretty tasty too!
I am determined to make all 3 variations of these for Christmas presents. But I’m so tired from everthing else I have to do. Is it OK to chill the dough before you roll it into pies? If I can do this, I could make the dough one day and create the cookies the next day. Does this make sense?
You absolutely can spread it out that way. Just make sure the dough is well wrapped so it doesn’t dry out in the fridge, and let it set out on the counter for an hour or so. Shortbread dough is VERY hard to roll out when it’s cold!
Let me know how they turn out, please.