Witness and Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Icing

Welcome back to Cookie Bookie week. Be sure to scroll down and check out any cookies or bookies you might have missed.
Just yesterday, I praised the spooky classics, but today I want to tell you about a paperback novel based on an Academy Award winning screenplay that gave me some of the biggest shivers of my lifetime. Six years ago my husband and I were living in Fairport, New York. We had our little Sailor, who was almost two years old, and our six week old baby West. One Saturday evening the wind began to howl and screech and the temperature dropped dramatically. As the shadows fell, a layer of ice began to form on the roads, trees, and power lines. Soon enough, we were without power and heat. It would have made for a cozy evening at home, except that the Quiet Man had a church meeting to attend from 9-11 at night. Death, disease, and a frightened wife would never come become Quiet Man and his integrity. He drove down the icy, black street, leaving me alone with my two babies in a cold, dark house. The wind was wailing at this point and branches on trees were beginning to snap. So, I did what any sensible person would do: I got a couple of flashlights, bundled up my babies in double sets of pajamas, and found a paperback novel to read. I got into bed with one baby on either side of me, and proceeded to read Witness, by William Kelly and Earl W. Wallace. My spine began to tingle almost immediately. Recently widowed Amish woman Rachel Lapp is returning home from a visit to her sister's house in Baltimore. At the railway station, her young son, Samuel is the soul witness to a violent crime. Salty detective John Book is assigned to witness protection, and moves in with Rachel and Samuel in the heart of Amish country. It's a good thing that John Book is there, because very soon Rachael and Samuel will be in very great danger. And you can sense it coming. (I won't give anymore away, but I'll be that many of you have seen the movie, right?) I stayed up the entire night, long past when the Quiet Man slipped home, swallowing the book before the sun came up to reveal a beautiful white wonderland outside, completely encased in shimmering ice. Ooh, I'm getting the shivers just writing about it. I love getting the shivers when I know that I am safe.

And onwards and upwards to today's cookie: Pumpkin Cookies are elevated to ambrosia by a rich and creamy Browned Butter Icing. It's a bit like having your very own little pumpkin cake. As beautiful as they are delicious, they're just perfect for a chilly October night with the lights turned low and a spooky novel to give you the shivers. See you tomorrow with more Cookie Bookie.

Martha's Stewarts Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting

Estimated Cost: $3.00 for 20

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup solid pack pumpkin

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 and 1/4 cup plus two tablespoons flour

For the icing:

5 tablespoons butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375. Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, pumpkin, milk and vanilla and mix until well blended. Stir in powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add flour and stir until just combined. Line two cookie sheets with waxed paper. Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour a little batter onto cookie sheet and nudge it into a circle with the back of a spoon. (Martha recommends piping the dough). You should get about 20 cookies.
Bake both cookie sheets, rotating halfway through, for about 12 minutes, or until cookies spring back. Cool completely. Make browned butter frosting. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until butter is golden brown, about three minutes. Add powdered sugar. Stir in evaporated milk and vanilla. Mixture will thicken as it sits, so add more milk as needed. Frost cookies with warm icing. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon, if desired.

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