These Pumpkin Shaker Cookies are the cutest Halloween/Autumn treat. They are so fun to make and a real hit with kids and anyone that’s a pumpkin fan. The biscuit dough is flavoured with pumpkin spice. Two thirds of the cooked and cooled biscuits are set with isomalt to create windows and filled with decorative Halloween sprinkles that move when you shake them. It’s a treat and a toy all in one!
So I’m not gonna lie, these little shaker cookies do take a few steps and lots of cooling/setting in between stages but they are totally worth it! They are super cute and so much fun to play with! The steps to make these are as follows;
This recipe is a simple “sugar cookie” recipe with the addition of pumpkin spice and orange food colouring.
To make these pumpkin spiced biscuits, begin by beating together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy using an electric whisk or stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Next, add in the egg and food colouring. Beat again until fully incorporated. After this, add in your flour and mix until just combined. Once a dough forms, place onto a piece of baking paper or cling film. Wrap up well and pop into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
Once fully chilled, remove from the fridge and roll out evenly to about the thickness of a coin. Using the large pumpkin cutter to cut out shapes. Place these onto lined flat baking trays. Using the smaller pumpkin cutter, or a smaller round cutter, cut out the centre of each biscuit as shown below. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked and leave to cool completely before the next step.
Isomalt can be tricky to work with. It’s a sugar that sets clear and firm with a good snap. However, it is prone to sucking up the humidity and becoming cloudy as a result. For the easiest way to use it, buy a pre-tempered isomalt like I have. Follow the instructions on the packet to prepare it.
For this brand I simply had to melt it down in a saucepan until it reached a certain temperature (170°c in my case). While your isomalt is melting, arrange two thirds of your cooled pumpkin spiced biscuits onto a lined, flat baking tray. Very carefully pour the hot, meted isomalt into the centre of the biscuits. Leave to set for at least 10 minutes before moving.
To make the “glue” that sticks these Pumpkin Shaker Cookies together, we use a water icing. This is simply icing sugar mixed with water to create a paste like icing that sets hard.
To begin, add 100 grams of icing sugar to a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of water to begin with and mix with a spoon. Add a few more tiny drops of water if needed to get the right consistency. You want it to be easily piped but still hold it’s shape. Divide off a tablespoon and dye green for the tops. Add a few drops of orange food colouring to the remaining icing and spoon into a piping bag.
To assemble these cookies, start off by taking an isomalt filled biscuit and pipe around the edge of the biscuit. Place a plain (non isomalt filled) biscuit on top and press down to glue together. Take a heaped teaspoon of Halloween sprinkles and place into the middle. Pipe around the edge of the biscuit and place an isomalt filled biscuit on top. Press down gently to glue together. Repeat this process until you run out of biscuits. Use the remaining orange and green icing to decorate the top biscuit layer.
You sure can! Pumpkin Spice can vary from brand to brand, each having different amounts of each ingredient. If you make your own, you can control exactly how you like it! To make pumpkin spice, mix together 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of mixed spice, 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg to make 1 tablespoon of Pumpkin Spice.
If you can’t find Isomalt or you just find it too expensive, you can make your own sugar glass out of sugar and corn syrup (or glucose if you’re in Europe). This is a slightly harder method as it takes a little longer and more patience. For full instructions, check out this blog post by In The Kitchen with Matt on Edible Sugar Glass.
Ensure that your butter is slightly soft and at room temperature. This will help the butter to incorporate into the dough. Lumps of butter in your dough can result in bumpy biscuits that aren’t smooth and might have air pockets or pools of butter.
This is a super important step if you want biscuits that will hold their shape. The dough has to be chilled after making for this. You can speed up the chilling by dividing the dough into smaller pieces and really flattening them out before wrapping. The thinner the dough is when placed into the fridge the faster it will chill. You can also pop it into the freezer for 10-15 minutes but keep a close eye on it. You can also make this dough up to three days in advance and keep it in your fridge.
Roll the dough out to around 4mm thick or roughly the same size as a coin. Rolling the dough thinner may cause the biscuits to burn or break apart when handled later. Rolling the dough too thick could result in soft, under cooked biscuits.
Try to bake off the same shapes or sizes on the same baking trays. Different sizes take different baking times and it’s important to be able to control which ones you can take out of the oven and when.
Make sure to leave your biscuits for around an hour before icing. If they are warm in any way the icing is likely to melt and slip off. Not to mention that they can be a little soft while still hot and may break or crumble as you try to move them.
For more Biscuit Recipes, check out my Biscuit Category here.
Maybe you want to see more decorated biscuits? Take a peek at how I decorate my Christmas Cookies, here!
For more Autumnal inspired recipes, check out my Autumnal Category, here.
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