Pumpkin Pie Cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies:
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie spice)
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• ⅛ tsp ground cloves
• 2 ½-2 ¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour (you can do a mix of white whole wheat and all purpose flour (which I did) and it turns out just fine)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
For the Frosting:
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 6 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp honey or corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp salt

Instructions

To Make the Cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the spices, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and pumpkin. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. (Start the mixer on low than gradually move the speed up as the powdered sugar mixes with the butter, otherwise you will have a poof of powdered sugar all over your counter. Yes, I've done that).
5. Once butter and sugar are fluffy, turn mixer to low and gradually add in the egg and pumpkin mixture. Stop and scrape the bowl if necessary, then continue mixing until smooth. Slowly begin to add in the flour and spice mixture and continue stirring until most of the dough sticks to the paddle. Pinch a small piece of dough lightly between your fingers. If it sticks, add a little more flour to the mixture. You want the dough to have a little give, but not stick to your fingers.
6. Cut off two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Stick the dough between the two pieces and roll out the dough until it is ¼ inch thick. Use flour to dust the plastic wrap or parchment paper if needed in order to make sure the dough doesn't stick. Using a large cup, cut the dough, then use a knife to cut the dough into pie shaped slices.
7. Place the cookies on a lightly greased baking sheet and cook for 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
To Make the Frosting:
8. In a mixing bowl, blend all ingredients until mixture becomes shiny. Divide the dough into thirds with a larger portion being devoted to the orange and brown, the medium portion to the yellow/tan color and the smallest portion to the white.
9. Using your dyes, tint the cookies to the desired color. To the orange and brown I added ¼ tsp of cinnamon to give the cookies that flecked pumpkin pie look. If using natural dyes it will be harder to achieve that deep brown color.
10. Using a piping bag, squirt bottle or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, pipe the outline of the orange and brown around the entire triangle of the cookie. Flood the interior portion of the cookie with more color and use a toothpick to remove any bubbles. Allow the "pumpkin pie" portion to set up before continuing. Using your yellow/tan color, make a wavy pattern on the straight edge of the cookie. With the white frosting, make a dollop in the center of the cookie to resemble whipped cream. Allow the cookies to fully set up for two hours or overnight before stacking.