Well, my fellow Mississippians, I’m looking at the weather forecast and the lows are projected to be in the 40s and 50s for the next 10 days, so I think we can finally call it — it’s fall, y’all!

When I think of fall in Columbus, I think about how the ginkgo trees throughout downtown are turning yellow and will soon dramatically drop their leaves. I think about how eerily quiet it is when I walk my dog on a Saturday afternoon because everyone is either at home watching the football game or out in Starkville, Oxford or Tuscaloosa attending said game. And I think about the inevitable increase of rainy, chilly days and how that leads to me being home, in my kitchen, finally baking pumpkin-flavored treats.

Because I am constantly baking, I find myself drawn to recipes that feel new and exciting in some way. While the classics are classics for a reason — undeniably reliable and delicious — these days I feel inspired to bake something that offers ingenuity or a twist on a familiar flavor profile. So when I came across Deepika from A Deeper Living’s recipe for “Chewy Fudgy Marshmallow Fluff Pumpkin Cookies,” I was intrigued. (thedeeperliving.com)

The first step of this recipe calls for you to brown your butter. Now, I’m not going to pretend that browning butter isn’t intimidating, especially if you’re like me and splurging on the “good butter,” i.e., Kerrygold. I know what you’re thinking: “You’re asking me to risk burning $6 worth of butter for this recipe?” Yes. I am. But trust me — not only will it be worth it, but I am confident you can do it. After all, could there be a better way to celebrate spooky season than by facing your fears?

By browning your butter, you add a delicious, nutty depth of flavor that elevates the cookie and brings out that autumnal richness we’re hoping to capture. If you aren’t confident in how to do this, just look up a quick YouTube video on the process. John Kanell of “Preppy Kitchen” has an excellent tutorial on his page. (youtube.com/preppykitchen)

Here’s an important baking lesson: Brown butter is not the same as melted butter. When you brown butter, you evaporate the water that is naturally found in it. When you simply melt butter, that water content remains. So if a recipe is developed using brown butter, the recipe developer is accounting for that loss of water. Substituting regular melted butter and not getting the results you expected? That may be where things went wrong.

I changed a few things about the original recipe when I made these. While the original calls for no spices at all and really focuses on the natural flavor of the pumpkin, I couldn’t help but add a bit of pumpkin pie spice — ’tis the season, after all. I also added a bit more marshmallow fluff than the recipe called for, simply because I had an open container I wanted to use up from when I had a Rice Krispies obsession over the summer. I finished my cookies with some flaky sea salt because I love the salty-sweet contrast in a cookie, but that is completely optional.

I hope you’ll try these out and maybe learn a new cooking technique along the way. Though fall may arrive annoyingly late for us in the South, let’s make the most of it and enjoy the beautiful weather and all the delicious, bountiful seasonal treats we can.

BROWN BUTTER PUMPKIN MARSHMALLOW COOKIES

Yield: 16-20 cookies

Ingredients:
226 grams or 2 sticks of butter
270 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
200 grams or light brown sugar
50 grams or granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
75 grams or pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons maple syrup (26 grams)
1 tablespoon molasses (13 grams)
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
65 grams marshmallow fluff
Flaky sea salt to finish (optional)

Directions:
■ First, make the brown butter: Place the butter in a light-colored pot over medium heat and let it melt down until liquid. Once liquid, constantly stir the mixture and scrape the bottom and sides. Keep a watch on the butter for the next 5 to 8 minutes as it starts to sputter, bubble and become warm golden brown. There will be a lot of foam so in order to check the color of the butter, pull the pan off the stovetop for a moment to let the foam subside. Once the whey of the butter has turned into a nice golden brown and releases a nutty aroma, turn the heat off and set the butter aside to cool.
■ Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
■ Combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk till combined. Set aside.
■ In a separate bowl, add the cooled brown butter, brown sugar and white sugar and pumpkin pie spice and whisk until the sugars are incorporated into the butter.
■ Take the pumpkin puree and place it into a clean kitchen towel or clean paper towel. Squeeze out the excess water from the pumpkin puree, until the mixture is dry and resembles the texture of playdough.
■ Add the dried out pumpkin puree, molasses, maple syrup and vanilla extract/paste into the sugar butter mixture and whisk until combined.
■ Add the egg yolk into the dough and whisk until combined.
■ Gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet sugar mixture until no dry pockets remain. The dough should be on the dry side.
■ Spoon the marshmallow fluff into the cookie dough and using a rubber spatula, fold the fluff into the dough gently just until it is incorporated and you still see streaks of fluff.
■ Line a half sheet baking pan with parchment and scoop out two tablespoon size scoops of cookie dough onto the sheet. Place six scoops of cookie dough per pan, giving them about 2 inches of space.
■ Let the cookies bake for about 9-11 minutes or just until the cookies are set at the edges and have spread out.
■ Pull the cookies from the oven and sprinkle with flaky sea salt (optional).
■ Allow the cookies to cool down for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and then give them another 10 minutes to set. Enjoy!

Kristin is a Columbus local and a graduate of MUW’s Culinary Arts Program. She lives downtown with her husband, Jon, her naughty cat Sokka and her retired sled dog, Megan. In her free time she enjoys baking, making stained glass art and hanging out with her friends. If you see her in town, say hi!