Starting Fall With Simple Shortbread Cookies

Fall is officially here, and I'm starting the season the simple way with a batch of homemade cookies.

I wanted to bake something that felt like fall without making a big project out of it. So I pulled out my pumpkin and leaf cookie cutters, made some shortbread, and added a little chocolate to the mix.

That's it. Nothing complicated.

Just a simple fall dessert to kick off the season.

I chose pumpkin and leaf-shaped cookie cutters because I wanted the cookies to have an obvious fall feel without having to do a lot of decorating.

For the pumpkin cookies, I used a pumpkin shortbread recipe with a little pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. I also made a batch of classic shortbread for the leaves.

After the cookies cooled, I dipped part of each one in melted chocolate and added chocolate sprinkles.

They're just homemade cookies that look like homemade cookies.

There is one thing I'd do differently though.

Next time, for the leaf cookies, I would completely cover the top of the cookies in chocolate and sprinkles. I think a fuller coating would have made the leaves look prettier.

But that's the nice thing about making something yourself. You get to try it once and then decide what you'd change the next time.

The cookies themselves, though, were delicious.

The pumpkin shortbread has just enough pumpkin and spice to make it feel like fall, while the classic shortbread is buttery and simple. And the chocolate adds just enough extra sweetness.

In trying to keep my fall season pretty simple, I don't need every weekend to be filled with complicated projects or elaborate recipes.

Sometimes it's enough to bake some cookies, put them on a pretty tray, make a cup of coffee and enjoy the fact that the seasons are changing.

So this is my little first-day-of-fall dessert.

Nothing fancy.

I've included all three recipes below:

Pumpkin Shortbread Cookies
Buttery, lightly spiced shortbread made with pumpkin puree:

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Classic Shortbread Cookies
A simple, buttery shortbread that's perfect for cutting into seasonal shapes:

Chocolate Dipping Coating
A quick chocolate coating for dipping the cookies and adding your favorite toppings:

If you're making these for a fall gathering, I'd make both shapes and arrange them together on one platter. The different colors and shapes make the tray look much more interesting without requiring any extra decorating.

Want to make your own?

Grab my recipes above, and

I used these leaf cookie cutters to give these shortbread cookies an easy fall touch. They'd also be fun for, pie crusts, fondant, or other fall baking projects.

[Shop the leaf cookie cutters on Amazon]

[Shop the pumpkin cookie cutters on Amazon]

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