Pumpkin Patch Brownies
Soft and chewy chocolate thumbprint cookies rolled in brown sprinkles and topped with adorable orange vanilla buttercream pumpkins, complete with mini chocolate chip stems and green frosting vines.
Servings: 20 cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- ¾ cup salted butter room temperature. you can use unsalted if you prefer
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ cup dark chocolate cocoa powder you can use a natural cocoa powder if you prefer
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown nonpareil sprinkles
For the frosting:
- ½ cup salted butter room temperature. you can use unsalted if you prefer
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp heavy cream or milk room temperature
- orange food dye
- green food dye
- 20 chocolate chips
Instructions
For the cookies:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and egg and mix until combined. With the mixer on low, add the cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, all-purpose flour and dark cocoa powder. Mix just until a soft chocolate cookie dough forms. Be careful not to over mix.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, portion the dough into 20 even cookie dough balls. Roll each dough ball in year hands to gently warm up the dough for 10 seconds then press into the brown nonpareils, gently pressing the sprinkles into the dough so they adhere.
- Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the chilled dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them approximately 2 inches apart. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers are still soft.
- Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven, use the back of a tablespoon measuring spoon to gently press an indentation into the center of each cookie. If desired, use a round cookie cutter to gently shape the cookies before making the indentation. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting:
- To make the buttercream, beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt. Beat on medium-high speed for 2–3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add additional cream if needed to reach a smooth, pipeable consistency.
- Remove a small portion of the buttercream and tint it green. Tint the remaining buttercream orange. Transfer the orange buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip. Transfer the green buttercream to a separate piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, pipe a generous dollop of orange buttercream into the indentation of each cookie. The ridges created by the star tip give the frosting the appearance of a little pumpkin. Gently press one chocolate chip into the top of each pumpkin to create the stem. Pipe small green buttercream vines around the chocolate chip stems to finish the pumpkin patch design.Repeat with the remaining cookies and enjoy!