[M]y food brain dreamed up these shortbread cookies with creamy pumpkin caramel back in June when the rest of you were thinking about watermelon and Jell-O shots, and bikini tops, and summer sunsets, and all of the amazing summer things. I was sweating it out in my kitchen, covered in pumpkin puree, completely confused by the smell of holiday spices.
It’s about time these cookies make sense! I mean… I’m wearing a scarf for goodness sake. A scarf!
I made these cookies back in June for this month’s Better Homes and Gardens magazine. These cookies are just one of a good handful of pumpkin recipes that fill the pages.
All I’m saying is… this is really good news on the pumpkin front. Because there is a pumpkin front…. we’re looking right at it.
It’s time to talk about these cookies. These cookies are the base of our thumbprints. The fundamental. The everything.
We’re making a fancy brown sugar shortbread of sorts. Lots of butter (not sorry), lots of brown sugar (still not sorry), and flour. Simple!
Fresh out of the stand mixer this cookie dough will be too soft to handle. It needs a few hours in the refrigerator to rechill the butter before hitting the cookie scooper and the oven. Mandatory chill.
Once the dough is chilled it can be cleanly scooped onto a sheet pan. We’re going to need our thumbs next. One thumb will do.
One thumb in each cookie ball. We’re creating a place for our caramel.
Now… we may lose the indentation in the oven as the cookie bakes and inflates a bit. Not to worry. Use the back of a spoon reinforce the indentation just after the cookies come out of the oven. No harm. No foul.
Let’s talk about this caramel!
Essentially, we’re going to trust ourselves to burn sugar, add cream and pumpkin and make it delicious. First tho…. we have to burn the sugar. That’s the scary part.
In a small saucepan combine granulated sugar, water, and corn syrup over medium heat. Cook, swirl, and observe until the mixture is a deep golden color. No thermometer required… just a sense of color.
Once the sugar is cooked to amber, it’s removed from the heat and cream and butter are stirred in. Sure there’s a bit of foaming and frothing… caramel is dramatic like that. It’s all a part of the act.
Once the butter and cream are stirred into the caramel, we add pumpkin puree. Stir and stir. This is a safe place.
The pumpkin caramel will be smooth and creamy, sweet and pumpkin-y. After a bit of cooling time, the pumpkin caramel is totally spoonable. Spoonable into cookies. Exactly right.
Shortbread cookies baked until juuust golden around the edges, cooled on the baking sheet, dusted with powdered sugar, and spooned with pumpkin caramel.
Salt too. Always a bit of salt. These cookies are a combination of crisp and creamy. I love the texture difference… with a bit of holiday flair. Baking is one part texture, two parts butter, one part flair. Are you taking notes?
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Pumpkin Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: makes about 36 cookies 1x
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the Caramel
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- Powdered sugar and coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- For the cookies, in the bowl of an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter of medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar and salt and beat until combined, light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat until well incorporated, about 1 minutes.
- Add the flour and beat until combined. The dough will be soft and wet.
- Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before baking. The butter needs time to rechill before it hits the oven.
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop 1-inch balls onto the parchment paper, leaving about 2-inches between each dough ball. Press your thumb into the center of each cookie, creating a place for the caramel. Bake for 8 to 11 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned.
- If the center puffs up during baking, just re-press with the back of a spoon. Allow to cool on the pans for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the pumpkin caramel, in a medium saucepan bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Just swirl the pan to stir.
- Boil gently, uncovered, until browned. Once browned to a medium amber color, about 5 minutes, remove front the heat.
- Immediately add heavy cream and butter and stir as it foams up.
- Stir in spice and pumpkin puree. Caramel might seem thin. That’s ok. It will thicken as it cools.
- Transfer to a small bowl. Cover and chill for 4 hours before assembling the cookies.
- Spoon the caramel in the center of each cookie.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar and salt.
67 Responses
These were a big hit. A note on the caramel. It will set – but it does take awhile. I chilled mine in the fridge for over 4 hours and it was still a bit runny. I put it on the cookies and left them at room temperature for an hour or so and after that the caramel set. You will have leftover caramel (at least I did). If you haven’t made caramel before it’s worth reading some tips before hand, but I had no problem with the instructions as written in the recipe.
These are *perfect*. And the dough is so lovely that I made a double batch; I’m using half with the salted pumpkin caramel and the other half with bittersweet chocolate and fleur de sel. Yum!
Hi there, made this and the caramel is still runny after being in the fridge for 6 hours — can you provide a remedy?
My caramel never solidified in the fridge, it’s just a thick liquid. Any suggestions on what I may have done wrong?
I don’t know if I did something wrong but the pumpkin caramel
Is more of a consistency of pumkkin than caramel? Tastes great though
Did you add the corn syrup? That helps thicken the caramel.
Should these cookies be refrigerated for storing? I’m attempting to cheat and use trader joes pumpkin caramel sauce in the centers amd it says to refrigerate after opening.
I like the cheat! Save some time while you can! And yes, I’d refrigerate them!
I made these last night to bring into the office today and they. are. fantastic. :) Seriously, they’re like mini-pumpkin pies. One note: my dough only produced 18 cookies; however, I don’t have a cookie scoop, so my drops weren’t precisely 1 inch. I’d double the dough next time (but no need to double the filling, there would be enough).
I’m already contemplating making another batch to take to Friendsgiving this week. They’re THAT good.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’ve successfully made the caramel (I think) and just need to know if the it should be chilled in the fridge for for four hours or if it should be chilled at room temperature. Thanks!
Can they be out in freezer after baking and cooled?
Yes they can! They’ll keep well in the freezer in a food storage bag or airtight container!
Do you think you could used browned butter in the cookie recipe? Thanks!
Go ahead and use that brown butter Sarah!
I tried these, but had issues with the pumpkin filling not quite setting as nicely. I like the idea, but need to tweak the filling.
I usually love most of the stuff I made from you so thank you. But unfortunately these cookies were not a hit. The shortbread was not very good. Kind of no taste, soft, but crumbly, weird. Not what I except from shortbread. The pumpkin caramel was nice, I just had to cook it for a while after, cause the caramel never set in the fridge. But you gave me a great idea about making caramel and yesterday I made plume caramel to go on the bottom of an apple tart.
They look so delicious! Thank you for the recipe, I love the combination of the pumpkin and caramel, so interesting! :)
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Joy – love the yummy thought of a pumpkin caramel combo. You’re a genius : ) I’m going to tweak a few things and make this vegan friendly!
HO EM GEE! Taking thumbprint cookies and autumnal pumpkin-ness to a whole new level…win.
Hi! These look wonderful! I was just wondering, will the center of these cookies set a bit or will it stay soft? I’m thinking of making them for a party, but wondering if transport would be impractical. Thank you!
You had me at pumpkin caramel, love!!
I’m really happy for you making the Better Homes and Gardens magazine! I’ve been reading your blog this year since I found out about your website in the Entertain, Decorate magazine. I love your photos, recipes and writing style. You work hard and deserve the kudos!
I just made maple caramel today, it sounds like I’ll be making pumpkin caramel soon! These cookies look dreamy!
Hey Joy! What if I don’t have an electric stand mixer? What can I do instead? I ask because these need to be in my life within a week or I don’t even know what I’ll do!
Do it by hand girl! You’ll get a work out in as well!
Yummy…
I have tried to make the caramel twice now and both times as soon as I added the cream, the sugar hardened and I ended up with a hard mass of sugar surrounded by a lake of cream. What am I doing wrong?
I’m sorry to hear that Jennifer. Perhaps your flame (heat is too high) or your cream too cold? Also make sure to whisk while you slowly pour in the cream, I find that helps a lot.
these look unreal. any substitutions for corn syrup if you don’t have any on hand?
Give honey a try!
Dude. I see myself making these and putting a whole pecan on top. If that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
you’re so so right!
I am not usually that into pumpkin everything, but with the salted caramel and the shortbread, you’re making me reconsider. These look really good.
So if I were the type of person to use a candy thermometer (which I am), what temperature would I want to cook the sugar/water/syrup to? I ask because I live at elevation (about 5,000 feet) and water boils at 196 degrees here so I have to adjust all candy and caramel recipes accordingly. I have had disastrous results trying to caramelize sugar without using a thermometer so if you could indulge me and give a precise temperature I would be so grateful!! I can calibrate from there :)
i’m going to make these! i’m going to make these!
These cookies look amazing! I love the pumpkin caramel, I’ve been seeing it everywhere this year but haven’t made it yet. Definitely need to do that, it looks so so good!
Any ideas or special tips to use baked pumpkun (plain–from jack-o-lanterns) in the recipe? My bad as I thought perhaps the puree was canned? Major apologies if it was not….and thank you! This might be my cookie exchange choice this year!
Could you maybe have a contest that I could win and you could come to my home and help me make caramel?
There is a pumpkin front and it is moving steadily in, when it hits the downstream of a high caramel front magic will rain down! These look absolutely delicious Joy, as always :)
I am a sucker for shortbread and thumbprint cookies always conjure memories of one of my great aunts in Tasmania. Can’t wait to make these :)
hmmmmmm…..ok yes i think this would be like a tiny salted caramel pumpkin pie with extra crust. approved.
just made these cookies! unfortunately the dough started melting and spreading so they’re quite thin, and crispy more than chewy. maybe my oven runs hot? the filling is delicious though!
You’ve given me yet another reason to love pumpkin! I’ll be having food dreams of these cookies tonight, yum…
Is the corn syrup required? Could a basic caramel of just plain sugar work?
Try using honey instead!
Loved the cover of Better Homes & Gardens. I have it on my foodie desk still. Great Job!! Bravo!
These are perfect. Pinning so I can make these for Thanksgiving!
My family will go nuts for these. Thanks! Beautiful photos!
Love the plaid!! And I’m in love with salted caramel, so I already know I’m going to love these :)
Congratulations on the magazine feature and these cookies sounds heavenly!!
Uhh yesss please!! Salted and caramel and pumpkin?! Yesss.
Love seeing you in BHG! And loving these cookies even more! XO
Girl! Better Homes & Gardens?! That’s major! You GO!
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So cool that you’re in that magazine!! And these cookies are stunning!
Oh my <3
seem so delicious. You make me feel very tempted to try doing this cookies.
I wish we could eat pumpkin year round. Can we make that a thing?
I saw these and couple other of your creations in BHG this month and just came here to ask if they’d also be on your site for future reference. Question answered! Now I know what to do with that half can of pumpkin puree lingering in my fridge ;-)
I love thumbprint cookies, the gooey filled center, and the cookie around the outside…hmm hmmm delicious! You went a step further and added one of my favorites, pumpkin!! I am giving these a try and going to go about making them allergy friendly, because I know that my youngest one will love these!
Love this combination! These look perfect. :)
i am dreaming of these on my Christmas table. So clever to put pumpkin the caramel; i would bake pumpkin in summer to test these any day!
What a wonderful idea … having recently ‘sort of mastered’ caramel, I’m totally confident about trying these!
These look divine! Thanks for sharing this! Could you please check out my blog and maybe follow back on blog lovin https://anotherteenontheweb.blogspot.co.uk/
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Congrats on Better Homes & Gardens! I want these cookies for breakfast. Right now. Thanks for the recipe and thanks for dreaming of them while we were still thinking about BBQ and margaritas.
xx,
Hailey
I love how the filling is a mixture of pumpkin AND salted caramel! Oh wow, that sounds amazingly good! And isn’t it funny that with blogs, one must cooks weeks/months in advance! I can picture you now baking a pumpkin recipe at that height of summer :)
wow these look amazing. would love to see a vegan version too!
rae of love from berlin
Heck yes! This is all the wonderful things (like love and kindness and world peace!) wrapped into one delicious morsel! I love it! Thanks, Joy!
This is so creative! Love the caramel with pumpkin – it’s not done enough! And the shortbread cookie is the perfect platform for these flavos. Thanks for sharing – these are a must make!
Now I dream in November from this yummy looking cookies :) Thanks for the recipe, hope I will find soon some time to bake them!
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