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Leaf Cookies – A Thanksgiving Cookie Recipe that Looks Like Fall

Make these autumn leaf cookies to bring the color of leaves and the feel of fall to your Thanksgiving holiday table. Pumpkin spice creamer gives this Thanksgiving cookie recipe a very seasonal flavor.

Leaves are so popular in fall, that there is even a national day devoted to them – October 3 is Look at the Leaves Day!

To celebrate we will be baking these cute leaf cookies. Keep reading to find out how to make them.

Autumn leaf cookies

For another fun Thanksgiving dessert idea, check out these pilgrim hat cookies and candy corn turkey cupcakes. They are also a delight and fun to make.

I was born in Maine and fall has always been my favorite time of the year. I used to love watching the leaves change colors and make a spectacular view when the weather was getting colder.

I love to use leaf sprinkles in my desserts for Thanksgiving. Check out my dirt cup recipe in the shape of teepees for an example.

I live in North Carolina now and the colors of the leaves are less bright, but I’m so grateful I can bring fall inside to my table with these delicious Autumn leaf cookies. They’re a symbol of fall for me.

Today we’ll be celebrating the colors of fall by baking cookies with autumn leaf shades.

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Want to tell your friends about these cute leaf cookies? Share with this tweet:

Today is Look at the Leaves Day! If you like the colors of fall,  you will LOVE these leaf cookies. Head to Always the Holidays for the recipe and enjoy some comfortable fall cookies. Share on X

I used a basic sugar cookie dough but added a special Thanksgiving touch. Some pumpkin pie spice and a splash of pumpkin pie spice flavored coffee creamer added a delicate pumpkin flavor to the cookies.

If you are a fan of pumpkin pies, make sure to check out this post on National Pumpkin Pie Day, which has an easy 5 ingredient pumpkin pie recipe.

Just looking at this plate of cookies makes me think of the lovely display of leaves in Maine and makes me very nostalgic for their cold fall weather.

If you have never seen the leaves in the fall in the Northeast, you should definitely take a trip to see them. They are amazingly beautiful!Close up of Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies.

It’s time to make these Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies

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To make your cookies, start by whisking your dry ingredients and then mixing the butter, sugar, spice, vanilla extract, coffee creamer and lemon zest in a stand mixer. Add the dry ingredients to make a stiff dough.

Making the Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies.

Once the dough is made, separate it into four evenly sized balls of dough. Add the gel food coloring to each ball and mix, using the paddle attachment, being sure to wash both the 
Wrap the colored dough with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for an hour to make it easier to work with.

Form the dough into four balls and color with gel food coloring.

Take out the dough and pinch of chunks of it and piece it together on a silicone baking mat.

Roll the colored dough to about 3/8″ thick with a floured rolling pin.

Piece together chunks of the colored dough and then roll with a floured rolling pin.

I used some Wilton leaf shaped cookie cutters that were about 1 1/2″ in size.

I had three different leaf designs as well as a 1″ acorn and managed to get 100 cookies out of the dough. I used toothpicks to draw veins in the leaves for more effect.Use leaf shaped cookie cutters and add veins to the leaves with a toothpick.

As you cut the cookies, you will end up with extra dough. Just make it into small balls, flatten and cut to give even more of a leaf mosaic look to the cookies.Left over pieces of dough can be remade into extra pieces to cut leaves from.

Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.

Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies cooling on a wire rack.

Time to taste this Thanksgiving cookie recipe!

This Thanksgiving cookie recipe has a delicate texture and light hint of pumpkin pie spice. I LOVE the size of them. It means I can eat 2 (or 4 or 5!) of them without breaking the calorie bank.Plate of Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies.

Place a bowl of these autumn leaf cookies on a party table with some festive fall decor items for a pretty tablescape.

Kids will love these fun leaf shaped cookies! If you’re looking for more family friendly content this fall, make sure to check out our Thanksgiving word search and Thanksgiving word scramble!

These Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies make a lovely fall tablescape.

There is nothing quite like a batch of these Thanksgiving Autumn leaf cookies this time of the year.

Even if your leaves are not falling and it’s not time to have a fire in the fireplace, you will get in the fall mood with these delightful little sweet treats.

This Thanksgiving cookie recipe will bring in the color of fall to your holiday table. They are easy to make and your holiday guests will love them!

This Thanksgiving cookie recipe is the prefect treat to take to your child’s school party and also fun to share at your annual cookie swap.

I bet you will hear lots of people saying “they are too pretty to eat! But don’t let that keep you away from them. The taste is just amazing!

Look at the vibrant colors of these Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies!

Don’t forget to add a bowl of my Thanksgiving snack mix nearby with blessing printable labels for the snack bags to remind the kids what to be thankful for this year.

Are you all set for the upcoming holidays? What is your favorite festive sweet treat to share with your friends and family? Please share your ideas below in the comments.

For more Thanksgiving inspiration, be sure to check out my Let’s Give Thanks Pinterest board.

Pin this recipe for autumn leaf cookies for later

Would you like a reminder of this recipe for Thanksgiving leaf cookies? Just pin this image to one of your Thanksgiving boards on Pinterest.

Thanksgiving leaf cookies

Do you like to have fun with food? Check out my pilgrim hat appetizers. They make the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer.

Yield: 100

Thanksgiving Autumn Leaf Cookies

Close up of Thanksgiving autumn leaf cookies.

Make these autumn leaf cookies to bring color & the feel of fall to your holiday table. Pumpkin spice makes this Thanksgiving Cookie recipe very seasonal.

Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Inactive Time 40 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 2 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups of self raising flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp Pumpkin pie Spice
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • lemon zest
  • a few drops of Gel food coloring (yellow, orange, green, purple.)
  • Wilton leaf Cookie cutters

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and sea salt and set aside.
  2. Add the sugar, butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest and pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix well to combine.
  3. Gradually add in the dry ingredients to make a stiff dough.
  4. Separate the dough into four evenly sized balls.
  5. Add the gel food coloring to each ball of dough and mix well with a paddle attachment. Be sure to wash the bowl and paddle between each color so that the don't change the color you want them to be. Cover the colored dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
  6. Take pieces of the colored dough and piece them together to make a mosaic of colored dough. Roll to 3/8" thick with a floured rolling pin
  7. Preheat the oven to 375º degrees.
  8. Use small leaf cookie cutters to cut the dough into leaves and use a toothpick to draw veins in the leaves.
  9. Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 100 of the small cookies. (I used cookie cutters that were about 1 1/2" in size.)
  10. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

100

Serving Size:

1 cookie

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 39Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 55mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 0g

Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.

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