Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookies

Directions

1. Using a hand mixer on medium-high, cream softened butter and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl until smooth, roughly 2 minutes. Blend in vanilla. Add flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, mixing on medium until combined. If the mixture seems crumbly, press it into a ball with your hands. Wrap in plastic and chill for about 30 minutes.
2. Dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough to 1/3-inch thickness. Set an 8-inch cake pan on the dough and cut around its edge with a paring knife.
3. Slice the circle into 8 equal wedges as you would a pie. Place them on a parchment-covered baking sheet, keeping a 1/4-inch gap between each piece and maintaining the circular shape. Cover with plastic and chill for about 15 minutes.
4. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Bake the cookies until the bottoms are just golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
5. You can prepare the cookies up to 2 days in advance; keep them in a sealed container at room temperature.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Gradually add orange and brown food coloring, drop by drop, stirring until the glaze looks like pumpkin pie filling.
7. Place a wire rack inside a baking sheet. Dip the top of each cookie into the glaze, let the extra drip back into the bowl, then flip right-side up on the rack.
8. Set one meringue cookie in the middle of each slice. Allow the icing to harden for about 30 minutes.
9. In a small bowl, tint the remaining vanilla frosting with yellow and brown food coloring, drop by drop, until it matches pie crust color. Fill a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip with this frosting.
10. Pipe the frosting in a spiral shape on the wider end of each cookie.