High Altitude Pumpkin Spice Shortbread Cookies

What says fall better than a buttery, melt-in-your mouth shortbread cookie? And during “pumpkin everything” season, high altitude pumpkin spice shortbread cookies are even more perfect. With pumpkin puree and plenty of warm, cozy spices in the cookie dough, these pumpkin cookies smell and taste like pumpkin pie. For today’s recipe, I filled them with vanilla bean pecan buttercream for the most delicious pumpkin shortbread cookie sandwiches. And although this is a high altitude recipe, it will work perfectly at sea level, too!

Looking for more pumpkin recipes? You might also love these pumpkin pecan waffles, pumpkin crumb coffee cake, and pumpkin streusel bread.

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Why You’ll Love These Cookies

Taste like Pumpkin Pie. With the pumpkin puree and lots of warm spices, these cookies really do taste like a piece of pumpkin pie.

Versatile. Pumpkin spice shortbread cookies are delicious plain or dusted with powdered sugar, but they’re also ideal for decorating with sweet icings. I love using these for my decorated Christmas cookies as well.

Perfect for the Holidays. If you’re anything like me, you plan your holiday baking months in advance, and these shortbread cookies are so versatile for so many occasions. You will also find that they do not taste excessively sweet (like a sugar cookie can be). Make a double batch so you can keep some for yourself and give some away!

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cookies

• All-Purpose Flour. Provides structure and strength to the cookie dough.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the cookies, while the fine texture of the powdered sugar makes a softer cookie than granulated sugar.
• Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness.
• Spices. A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves complements the flavor of the pumpkin and adds warmth.
• Unsalted Butter. Adds flavor, moisture, richness and fat. As the water in the butter evaporates, the steam creates tiny flaky layers for a very tender cookie.
• Pumpkin. Usually, I add milk to my shortbread cookie dough to moisten the dough and bind it together. For my pumpkin shortbread cookies, I added canned pumpkin puree instead of milk.
• Vanilla. Use vanilla bean paste, or good-quality vanilla extract, for the best flavor.

Buttercream

• Butter. Use unsalted butter, or omit the salt if using salted.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability.
• Vanilla. Use vanilla bean paste, or good-quality vanilla extract, for the best flavor.
• Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness.
• Cinnamon. Flavor.
• Pecans. Adds crunch and a nutty richness.

Instructions

Make the cookie dough.

• In your food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar, salt and spices until combined.With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly. Add the pumpkin puree and the vanilla, then process until the dough starts to stick together.
• Dump the mixture out onto a clean work surface and knead in any stray bits of flour, until you have a soft, smooth, supple dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Roll the dough and cut the cookies.

• Lightly flour your work surface, and roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Dust the dough with a little more flour to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. 
• Use a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter to cut as many cookies as you can, then gather up the scraps, re-roll the dough and continue cutting cookies.

Emboss the unbaked cookies.

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cut cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
• If you’re embossing your cookies, as shown in the photographs, dip your alphabet letter embossers into flour, tap off the excess, and press them onto the cookies.

• For the cutting and embossing, I used both an assortment of pie crust cutters (the type that have a spring-loaded plunger to easily release the dough) as well as my set of snap together alphabet embossers. This Sweet Elite set on Amazon is exactly what I use, and they work beautifully. The mini size is perfect for embossing cookies, and there are plenty of letters for making any combination of words I’ve used them for. I’ve even used them to stamp pie dough!
• When rolling and cutting your cookies, be sure to stamp them before you chill the cookies prior to baking. A light dusting of flour on the embossers will keep them from sticking to your cookies as you press them into the dough. They make a deep impression in the dough, and with my no-spread shortbread cookie recipe, they hold their impression wonderfully.

Chill and then bake the cookies.

• Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or in the freezer for 20 minutes. Chilling the cutout cookies will help the cookies maintain their shape and not spread while baking.
• After the cookies have chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake the cookies for about 11-12 minutes.  The baked cookie will still be very pale on top, but the surface will no longer look like raw dough, and you should see tiny flaky layers around the edges.  Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for several minutes, and then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
• Yields about 20 cookies, using a 2 1/2 inch cutter.

Fill with buttercream.

• With an electric mixer (either stand or hand-held), beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the pecans), and beat for 4-5 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy. Fold in the chopped pecans.
• Turn half the cookies over, so that they are bottom side up. Spread (or pipe) the frosting onto the cookies, then place a second cookie on top to make a sandwich.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these cookies soft or crunchy?

They’re somewhere in between. They have a buttery, tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture that’s just wonderful.

What if I don’t have a food processor?

You can certainly make the cookie dough with a pastry cutter instead of a food processor, but it takes a few more minutes to cut the butter in, and then work the crumbs with your hands to bring it together into a smooth dough. A food processor makes the process super quick and easy.

What tip did you use for piping the buttercream?

I used tip 1M. Be sure to finely chop the pecans, so that they don’t clog the tip. If you use a smaller tip, you should omit the pecans.

How should I store the cookies?

Store leftover pumpkin spice shortbread cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.  If filled with buttercream, store the cookies in the refrigerator, but let come to room temperature for an hour before serving.  The cookies can be frozen for up to 3-6 months.

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