These Butternut Squash Cookies are made with a butternut squash puree and is studded with chopped pecans and chocolate chips. The finishing touch on this soft cookie recipe is the boiled brown sugar frosting that coats the top of the cookies along with a single roasted pecan.
These cookies are delicious warm, straight from the oven with no frosting, but who can resist a delicious brown sugar frosting on a fall cookie recipe? Not me! These are great for afternoon tea, or to set out on a cookie display for the holidays. Anyway you squash it, these will be a bit hit!
Making Cookies With Butternut Squash
I have made plenty of recipes, sweet and savory, with butternut squash. However, I had never made butternut squash cookies until this year. We have plenty of butternut squash from the garden this year and I have been going a little squash crazy as of late.
Butternut Squash puree is not that different from pumpkin puree. They are both a type of winter squash and both have a slight sweetness to them, with butternut squash being slightly sweeter. I came to the conclusion since I had so much butternut squash that I would puree some up and make these butternut squash cookies!
The Texture Of A Cookie Made With Winter Squash
Whenever you cook with a squash, be it summer squash or winter squash, your recipe is going to have a lot of moisture in it. Winter squash is 81% water. So, when cooking with a winter squash, you first want to have cooked the squash before you use it in a recipe that uses flour of any type. If you don't you will have soggy cookies.
The Butternut Squash made these cookies super soft and tender and they did not taste like squash at all, these cookies rather reminded me of my favorite Soft Pumpkin Cookie that I made every year. They were tasty without the frosting, so I did leave a few unfrosted, but I can't resist putting a yummy frosting on soft cookies. So, I made a boiled brown sugar frosting to cover these yummy butternut squash cookies!
What You Need To Make Butternut Squash Cookies
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*See recipe card at bottom of the page for full ingredient list and instructions*
Mashed Butternut Squash - be sure that the squash is boiled with only a little bit of salt until it becomes tender.
Chopped roasted pecans with 12 whole pecans reserved for topping the icing on the cookies. Pecans add another layer of nutty flavor to these cookies.
Semi sweet chocolate chips
Granulated and Brown Sugar
Butter
Insulated Baking Sheet and Parchment Paper
Tips and Substitutions
- The cookie batter may separate after the butternut squash has been added. This is ok. Once the flour is added, all will incorporate nicely
- Use pureed pumpkin instead of butternut squash
- Substitute chopped walnuts for the pecans
- Substitute the chocolate chips with raisins
- When making the frosting, if it starts to stiffen up, add a little bit of milk to loosen it up some.
Some of our favorite Squash Recipes You May Like
Cheese Ravioli with Butternut Squash
Buddha Bowl with Shrimp and Butternut Squash
Can't get enough of winter squash? Try this easy recipe for Roasted Acorn Squash!
*If you made these Butternut Squash Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting, please give them a star rating*
📖 Recipe
Butternut Squash Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting
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Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup butternut squash puree
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1//4 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ cup chopped toasted pecans
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips optional
FOR THE FROSTING
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract.
- Add the butternut squash and mix until combined.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and allspice. Gradually add the flour to the squash mixture, stirring until combined.
- Stir in the chopped pecans and chocolate chips (if using)
- Using a small cookie scoop, place cookies 2"apart on a parchment lined cookie tray. Bake for 12 minutes, or until cookie springs back when lightly touched in the center.
- Cool cookies completely on a cooling rack.
- FOR THE FROSTING
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together the milk and brown sugar, bringing to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove the syrup from heat and add the butter. Stir until melted. Add the powdered sugar and beat until sugar is fully incorporated. The frosting will turn a pale tan color.
- Spread 2 tablespoon of frosting on top of cookies while warm and top cookie with a whole pecan.
Video
Notes
Tips and Substitutions
- The cookie batter may separate after the butternut squash has been added. This is ok. Once the flour is added, all will incorporate nicely
- Use pureed pumpkin instead of butternut squash
- Substitute chopped walnuts for the pecans
- Substitute the chocolate chips with raisins
- When making the frosting, if it starts to stiffen up, add a little bit of milk to loosen it up some.
Stacee says
These were really yummy but mine ended up flat. Any tips?
Shelby Law Ruttan says
If you followed the recipe exactly and used both the baking powder and baking soda then maybe one of them was too old. Also, did you use fresh or frozen butternut squash? If I have more information I can try to help.
Marie B says
Fantastic! Easy to make, tasty, and fluffy! Wonderful way to use butternut squash. Thanks!