I love penuche. Penuche is a fudge-like candy made from brown sugar, butter, milk, and sometimes vanilla. The unique flavor of penuche is due to the caramelization of the brown sugar.
I also love pumpkin fudge and pumpkin cookies. Sadly, most pumpkin cookies are more like mini muffins rather than cookies because of the excessive water content of the pumpkin.
So I decided to combine both the penuche flavor and the pumpkin fudge flavor into a cookie than is truly a COOKIE, and not just a mini-muffin. And if you want even more penuche flavor, top the cookies with penuche icing. You won’t believe a pumpkin cookie can taste this amazing!
See also: Diabetic Friendly Pumpkin Spiced Cookies, Vegan Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey Pumpkin Cookies with Optional Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey Icing, and Gluten Free Penuche Pumpkin Cookies with Optional Penuche Icing,
The Inside Scoop
Measuring: When both volumetric and weight measures are provided, the volumetric measures should be considered approximations. The standard measure for a cup of flour is 120 grams. By volume, this measure will be less than 1 cup. A food scale makes it easy to measure ingredients accurately. However, it you do not have a food scale, sift the flour 3 times, then spoon the flour lightly into the measuring cup and use a knife to level off.
“I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one.” Linus. I grow my own pumpkins and cook them; that way, I can control how much water is left in the pumpkin. If you are using commercially canned pumpkin, you will probably need to drain off the excess water. Too much water in the pumpkin will make the cookies excessively cakey.
To drain the excess water from the pumpkin, fill a jelly bag with the prepared pumpkin and place the bag and bag holder over a bowl. Let the excess water drain off until the pumpkin is no longer watery. I often speed this along by gently squeezing the bag to remove most of the excess water.
If you do not have a jelly bag, line a sieve with several layers of cheesecloth. Place the pumpkin on the cheesecloth and let it drain until it is no longer watery and can hold a shape.
You Trying to Butter Me Up? To maximize flavor, I found I needed to brown the butter first. American butter is 18-19% water. When butter is browned, the water cooks out of the butter and the fat becomes more concentrated. The butter also develops a wonderful, nutty flavor.
To brown butter: Do NOT use a non-stick or dark colored skillet to brown the butter. It is essential to be able to determine the color of the butter as it browns. Once the butter melts and the water evaporates, browned milk particles will begin to appear on the bottom.
“Sugar, Sugar.” As soon as browned milk particles began to appear, I added the dark brown sugar. I found that when I used light brown sugar, the penuche flavor was too faint after it was added to the flour mix. Once the sugar is added, clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan, and let the sugar/butter mix cook to the caramel stage of 250 degrees. One can also use an instant read thermometer, or watch for when the sugar just begins to darken. It is important to stir the butter and sugar mix, especially around the edge of the saucepan, to avoid sugar sticking and burning onto the bottom of the saucepan.
Once the sugar mix reaches the caramel stage, immediately add the drained pumpkin. This will prevent the sugar mix from cooking further and will cook out more of the water from the pumpkin. This mix needs to cool to room temperature before adding the egg, to avoid cooking the egg.
Chill out! To quickly cool the sugar/ pumpkin mix, place the bottom of the saucepan in an ice water bath. To make the ice water bath, pour ice and water in a bowl or pan large enough to hold the bottom of the saucepan. Let the saucepan set in the ice water bath until the mixture cools to room temperature. Be sure to dry the bottom of the saucepan before adding the pumpkin/sugar mix to the flour mix.
Still Chillin’! Once the pumpkin/sugar mix and the flour mix have been folded together, cover the bowl and refrigerate until the cookie dough is firm. This will make it much easier to roll the cookie dough into a ball.
When your ready to bake, roll the dough into 1-ounce balls and place 2″ apart on a parchment -lined cookie sheet. Place about 1/4 cup of granulated sugar into a small bowl, dip the bottom of a small glass into the sugar, and use that to flatten the cookie dough to just under 1/2″. This will make a more even bake and help remove more of the water in the pumpkin.
You may be surprised by the extensive baking time for these cookies. This extensive baking time is necessary to remove the excess water that remains in the pumpkin. A shorter baking time will produce a more cake-like “cookie.”
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Or Am I Just Cheap? After all the cookies are baked, if you plan to ice the cookies, slip the parchment paper that was on the baking sheets under the cooling racks. No need to use up more parchment paper! And this will reduce clean-up time by catching icing drips.
To Ice or Not to Ice? That is the Question. These cookies have a wonderful flavor and chewy texture without any icing. However, if you want to bump up the penuche flavor even more, you can ice the cookies by either piping the icing on or dipping the top of the cookies into the icing. Also, the icing can be made with either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. Although the penuche flavor is stronger with the dark brown sugar, the light brown sugar creates a beautiful contrast in color.
A chewy pumpkin cookie accented with the flavor of penuche. Wonderful by itself, or add a penuche icing for an even greater flavor feast. The pumpkin should be thick and able to hold a shape. If your pumpkin is watery, line a sieve with cheesecloth and let the water drain out. OR Place the pumpkin puree in a jelly bag and let the water drain out. Place 305 g./ 1 ¼ c. drained pumpkin puree in a small bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the brown and granulated sugars; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the middle of the flour mix; set aside. Equip a hand mixer with the flat beater(s); set nearby ready to use. In a 2-quart saucepan, cook the butter on low heat until the water cooks out and brown milk particles just begin to appear on the bottom. Stir in the sugar. Clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan or have an instant read thermometer nearby. Cook the browned butter and sugar on low heat until the thermometer reads 250 degrees or the sugar begins to darken. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan to prevent the sugar from burning or sticking to the saucepan. Once the thermometer reads 250 degrees, remove the saucepan from the heat. Immediately beat in the pumpkin until the mixture is smooth. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. (See Note 2.) Once the mixture has cooled to room temperature, beat in the egg. Pour the penuche pumpkin mixture into the well in the flour mixture; fold until there is no dry flour. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, until cookie dough has chilled and can be easily rolled into a ball. When Ready to Bake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place about ¼ cup granulated sugar into a small bowl, set aside. Measure out 28 g./ 1 ounce of cookie dough (about the size of a walnut) for each cookie. Roll into a ball and place on the prepared cookie sheet, placing cookies 2” apart. Dip the bottom of a small glass into the granulated sugar and then use the bottom of the glass to flatten the cookie balls to just under ½” thick. Place the prepared cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 35-38 minutes, until cookies are firm to the touch. Once cookies are baked, place the cookie trays on cooling racks; cool for 2 minutes. Remove the cookies from the cookie trays and place directly onto the cooling racks. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough until all cookie dough has been baked. Cool completely. If you plan to ice the cookies, remove the parchment paper from the cookie trays and place under the cooling racks to catch any icing drips. To Make the Optional Penuche Icing: In a small saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar. Clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan or have an instant read thermometer nearby. Cook the butter and sugar on low heat until the thermometer reads 250 degrees or the sugar begins to darken. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan to prevent the sugar from burning or sticking to the saucepan. Once the thermometer reads 250 degrees, remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add 3 tablespoons milk. With an electric mixer, beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar; stir by hand until no dry sugar remains. Beat with an electric mixer until icing is smooth. Add additional milk, if needed, for desired consistency. If small particles of burnt sugar appear in the icing, pass the warm icing through a fine mesh sieve. If the icing begins to set before it has all been sieved, warm the icing slightly. Fill a piping bag with icing and the desired tip and pipe the icing onto the top of the cookie, letting drips fall onto the parchment paper below. OR: Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing and place the cookies on the cooling rack to cool, allowing the icing to drip onto the parchment paper. If the icing begins to set before you are done, warm the icing slightly. Enjoy! Note 1: Use 3- 3 ½ T. milk if piping the icing. Use 4 T. milk if dipping the cookies into the icing. Note 2: To cool the pumpkin mixture quickly, place the bottom of the saucepan with the pumpkin mixture in an ice bath. To make an ice bath, place ice cubes and water into a bowl or pan large enough to hold the bottom of the saucepan. Let the pumpkin mixture cool until it is safe to touch. Be sure to wipe any water off the bottom of the saucepan before adding the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture.Penuche Pumpkin Cookies with optional Penuche Icing
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