These pumpkin spice hazelnut cookies are covered with a sweet maple glaze and strike a great balance between hardy and delicate. They are full of delicious warm fall flavors and make the perfect treat for a fall afternoon.
For more fall favorites, check out this Stovetop Apple Crisp and this Pumpkin Spice Banana Bread.
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Cookie ingredients:
A few notes on some of the ingredients:
- The butter and the cream cheese need to be at room temperature for this recipe in order to get whipped properly and to take up enough air during the whipping process. It takes about an hour to let the butter come up to room temperature after you take it out of the fridge and a bit less for the cream cheese. If you’re short on time, cut the butter into little pieces, that will speed up the softening process significantly. (Don’t try to stick the butter in the microwave, that will melt it on the surface while still leaving it ice cold in the center.)
- Cream cheese is an unusual ingredient in cookie dough but it works very nicely here. It doesn’t make the cookies taste tangy, it just adds richness and gives the cookies a nicely tender texture. NOTE: Don’t use any cream cheese products labeled as low-fat or reduced-fat. Those have a higher moisture content than full-fat cream cheese and that will interfere with the baking process.
- Pumpkin spice is a spice blend made with cinnamon, ginger, allspice, clove, nutmeg and mace. You can buy the blend but you can also make your own. The recipe I recommend is this one by The Kitchn: How to make Pumpkin Pie Spice.
- You don’t have to remove the skins from the hazelnuts in this recipe. Just rough-chop them with the skins.
How to make the cookies:
Step 1. In a standing mixer or with a handheld mixer, whip 16 tablespoons softened, unsalted butter and 3/4 cup granulated sugar together until pale and fluffy.
Step 2. Whip in 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice and 3 tablespoons softened cream cheese.
Step 3. Whisk together 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then add them to the batter and whip until everything is well combined.
Step 4. Whip in 3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, then briefly knead the dough into a ball.
Step 5. Cut the ball in half.
Step 6. Shape each half into a disk. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 7. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut out the cookies.*
*RECIPE NOTE: If the dough is too hard to roll out easily, simply let it sit on the kitchen counter for a few minutes to warm up.
Step 8. Bake the cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets or sheets lined with silicone baking mats for 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool.
Glaze ingredients:
A few notes on some of the ingredients:
- There is cream cheese in the glaze for these cookies as well and here you can taste it just a little bit. Mostly though the cream cheese adds great texture to the glaze and the predominant flavors are sweetness from powdered sugar and intense maple flavor from maple flavoring.
- Be sure to get high-quality maple flavoring with a strong, pure maple aroma for the glaze. You also want the flavoring to be dark brown in color in order to get the color into the glaze.
How to make the glaze:
Step 9. Whisk together 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon softened cream cheese, a few drops maple flavoring and 1 to 3 tablespoons milk (start with 1 tablespoon of milk, then add more to get a thick but spreadable consistency). Taste the glaze and add more maple flavoring to taste. Glaze the cookies with the brown glaze.
Step 10. Once the glaze has dried, whisk 1/4 cup powdered sugar with a splash of milk and drizzle the white glaze over the maple glaze.
Can the cookies be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze the cookies glazed or unglazed by stacking them in a freezer bag. If you freeze the cookies glazed, use aluminum foil to separate the layers.
More delicious cookie recipes:
- Crispy Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies
- Spiced Linzer Cookies with Dulce de Leche
- Linzer Cookies with Ginger Cardamom Raspberry Jam
- Cardamom Meringue Cookies
- Honey Lemon Sandwich Cookies
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Recipe Card
Pumpkin Spice Hazelnut Cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese,* at room temperature
- 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts
For the glaze:
- 1 tablespoon cream cheese,* at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar (divided into 1 ½ cups and 1/4 cup)
- a few drops of maple flavoring
- 1-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions:
For the cookies:
- Whip butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Whip in the cream cheese and the pumpkin spice.
- Whisk the flour and the salt together, then whip them into the batter.
- Whip in the nuts.
- Bring the dough together by hand, form into two disks, wrap them each in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, then cut out the cookies.
- Bake the cookies on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or with silicone baking mats for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.
For the glaze:
- Whisk cream cheese together with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, maple flavoring** and 1-3 tablespoons milk (start with 1 tablespoon, then add more milk to get a thick but spreadable consistency). If you go overboard and the glaze gets too runny, whisk in more powdered sugar.
- Glaze the cookies and let the glaze dry.
- Whisk the remaining powdered sugar with a splash of milk and drizzle over the glazed cookies.
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