Fall Housewarming Cookies

My sister, Elenna, called me a few days ago asking for a favor. She’s a realtor in Florida and one of her clients was closing on a house soon. My sister was wondering if I could make them a batch of cookies as a housewarming gift.

Coincidently, I also have two Seattle friends closing on homes in the coming weeks. Making a cookie batch big enough for everyone could kill two three birds with one stone. The timing was perfect and let my sister know I’d come up with something.

Looking for inspiration for this batch I just had to walk outside. The trees are changing to fiery shades, the sidewalks are blanketed with leaves, and the front porches in my neighborhood are decorated with pumpkins and autumn flair. I decided to create a Fall-themed housewarming batch inspired by all these Fall elements.

To add to the “Fall”ness of this batch, I tweaked my usual, go-to roll-out recipe a tiny bit. I just made two simple changes– substituted half the quantity of granulated sugar with dark brown sugar and added a teaspoon of pumpkin spice for taste and looks.

Pumpkin Spice Roll Out Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and extracts. Mix until it is all well incorporated.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, pumpkin spice, and salt in a separate bowl then add, a cupful at a time, to the butter/sugar mixture until fully incorporated.
3. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
4. Roll to ¼ inch thickness and chill again before cutting into shapes.
5. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven before the first indication of the edges turning brown.
6. Makes about 1 ½ dozen cookies

As for the cookies themselves, I added elements most would associate with purchasing a new home: new set of house keys, a welcome mat, a mailbox, and the staple of every dream home– a white picket fence.

I also added a small house design in coordinating colors. I wanted to compliment the house with a matching front door. I repeated this color scheme with a matching wreath and door knocker cookie. Lastly, with the remaining dough I had left, I cutout a few Fall leaves and acorns to complete the set.

I’m pretty please with this batch. Plus, after looking the set over, the shapes I used were pretty basic. I think I could easily modify this set with simple tweaks for Christmas if need be. I could replace the wheat stack and pumpkins with candy canes and snowmen, add traces of snow on the door mat and fence, then finish it off with string lights detail. It’s convenient to already have a plan if I happen to have more friends purchasing homes in the winter months.

It seems a lot of people I know are buying homes now. That’s a great sign of an improving economy and I hope it continues. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Tampa Bay area let me know; I know a great realtor that can help you out.

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