Autumn Acorn Cookies

Sometimes inspiration gets a little nudge. Like with these acorn sugar cookies. It so happens that #NationalCookieDay and #NationalPumpkinSpiceDay coincide this year. It’s a rather happy coincidence. And around here it resulted in a delightful cookie that celebrates fall. Which is a great way to welcome autumn with a sweet treat!

I picked up this acorn cookie cutter some time back with autumn in mind. I liked that it was just the right size for class treats. When I am making treats to send to the girl’s classes at school I want the cookie cut outs to be small enough that I can get the needed 48 cookies out of one batch, but not so small that they are finicky to handle.

Then I found this delightful recipe for pumpkin spice sugar cookies. The name is a bit deceptive as there is no actual pumpkin in the cookies, just the iconic spices that make up pumpkin spice. The resulting cookies are so creamy and good. In my batch I left out the the black pepper and did not make the icing. However, I definitely made my own pumpkin spice mix. It took no time at all and is SO GOOD!!! The leftover pumpkin spice mix is now happily residing in my cupboard awaiting the next batch of these delightful cookies or even perhaps a pumpkin cheesecake.

Obviously these acorn shaped cookies could be made from any sugar cookie dough though. I think chocolate might be rather fun for an even darker looking acorn! In this case though I thought the spiced cookies were very autumn appropriate and and gave a nice colour, with flecks of spice, to the cookies once baked.

Sometimes when a sugar cookie dough requires chilling, I roll it out first, while it’s easy to work with and then chill it. Once chilled I cut out the shapes. I did half the batch this way and the other half the traditional way. Both turned out, but one was easier on my arms and gave a more uniformly baked cookie. Either is fine.

Once the cookies were cooled, I dipped the acorn tops in melted chocolate and placed them on a wire rack over a plate (to catch any drips). While the chocolate is still wet I sprinkled the cookies with chocolate sprinkles or golden course decorating sugar along the base of the chocolate for a more textured acorn look. Then I left them on the wire rack to set and harden completely. This works best if the chocolate is tempered or at least somewhat tempered. Alternately chocolate candy melts would work great as well.

Acorn Cookie Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Recipe
Acorn Shaped Cookie Cutter
1 Cup Chocolate Chips (or chocolate candy melts)
Chocolate Sprinkles (or jimmies) OR
Gold Pearlized Sugar Sprinkles

Acorn Cookie Directions

Bake cookies according the recipe directions on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Cool.
Working a half cup at a time, melt chocolate, or chocolate melts, in 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between, until melted.
Dip cookies into chocolate, removing excess with a knife or on the rim of the bowl.
Place on a wire cookie rack over a plate (to catch drips) to set.
Sprinkle with golden sugar or chocolate jimmies along the base of the chocolate while the chocolate is still wet. I found this worked best, dipping four cookies at a time, then sprinkling.
Allow the chocolate to set up for several hours.
Store in an airtight container.