Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns (Lady Locks)
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure PolicyMade on clothespins, these Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns (Lady Locks) are a flaky sweet treat filled with a pumpkin spice cream that tastes just like pumpkin pie. This recipe makes the perfect fall dessert!
Yes, you guessed it, one of my favorite recipes (and yours too!) on Inspired by Charm got a seasonal makeover for fall. I took my classic cream horns recipe and turned them into these delicious Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns. (Or as some would call them Pumpkin Spice Lady Locks.)
Even though Fall Cookie Week (FCW) officially ended yesterday, I just couldn’t resist giving you all one more delicious recipe (and a special surprise – see below). And in case you missed anything from FCW, I’ve linked up everything below.
Fall Cookie Week 2018:
- Salted Caramel Shortbread Cookies
- Peanut Butter Brownie Pillow Cookies
- Maple Glazed Cinnamon Chip Bars
- Squirrel and Acorn Gingerbread Cookies
- Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies
- Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns – you’re here!
My blogger buddy Julie Blanner joined me for this series, so there are 11 recipes in total. You can scroll to the bottom of each of my recipes to find a link to Julie’s cookie-of-the-day or you can click here to see all of her cookie recipes.
Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns:
Last year for the holidays I made one of my family’s favorite cookie recipes – Cream Horns – and shared them here on the blog. They continue to be one of the most popular posts on IBC. I decided to make them for FCW, but with a special filling for fall. So that’s exactly what I did.
And boy, am I pleased with how they turned out. They taste exactly as I expected, and dare I say it, I like them better than the originals.
It took me three attempts to nail the filling for these. The first time I made them, the frosting became a curdled mess. I found out that my cream cheese frosting didn’t mix well with the pumpkin.
For my second try, I made a Pumpkin Buttercream. It tasted delicious, but it was just too rich for the delicate horns.
Finally, I went back to the original filling recipe and tweaked it a bit by adding pumpkin puree and all the spices required to bring that flavor alive. This was it! I had a winner. To me, filling tastes just like pumpkin pie, but it is light enough so it doesn’t overpower the cookie horn. Yum!
How Do you Make Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns:
If you’d like a more detailed look at how to make Cream Horns (Lady Locks), check out this post here.
In sum, the pastry dough gets mixed, rolled out, and cut into strips. Each strip is then wrapped around a clothespin that’s covered in foil.
Once baked, you have beautiful cone shapes that are ready to be filled.
In this recipe, I filled the horns with my delicious pumpkin spice filling to create an amazing fall cookie recipe!
I think you’re going to love these!
Want more pumpkin-inspired recipes? Try these!
Free Printable Recipe Card for Fall:
Now, with all of our cookies made and another Fall Cookie Week on the books, I thought I’d wrap up the series with a gift for each of you: A NEW fall-inspired recipe card printable!
As some of you may know, I’ve been sharing free printable recipe cards here on IBC for the past few years. This new card is the latest in my current collection.
I created a separate post to share the new fall recipe cards with you. So, if you’d like to download and print these adorable recipes cards, just click here. I hope you enjoy them and use them to create or share some fall cookie recipes of your own.
Thanks again for joining me for another tasty Fall Cookie Week. I hope these Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns (and my fall recipe cards) have created a perfect ending to this fun week!
Happy fall baking!
Pumpkin Spice Cream Horns (Lady Locks)
Ingredients
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter softened
- 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (Crisco)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup cold water
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- Clothespins wrapped in foil or lady lock molds
Filling:
- 2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- Additional 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon for garnish
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the butter, vegetable shortening, and sugar for about 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Then mix in the egg yolks. Finally, mix in the flour and water until combined. Chill dough for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sprinkle your work surface with flour. Roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time until it's about 1/8-inch thick. Cut into strips that are 1/2-inch wide and 10 inches long. Then wind the strips around the foil-wrapped clothespins (or lady lock molds.) Bake on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes or until the horns are just barely starting to brown.
- Remove the horns from the oven. Allow them to cool for about 2 minutes; then carefully remove them from the clothespins. (Don't let the horns cool completely on the molds or the horns will crumble easily. The horns will also crack more if they are overbaked.) Let the horns finish cooling.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling. Start by heating the milk, flour, and pumpkin puree in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook 8-10 minutes until thick, constantly whisking so the mixture doesn't burn. Transfer it to a bowl and whisk in the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Allow to cool.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, vegetable shortening, and salt 5-6 minutes or until fluffy. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Then add the pumpkin mixture and vanilla. Beat until combined and fluffy.
- Put the filling in a piping bag, and then fill each horn. Before serving/storing the cookies, sprinkle them with the confectioners' sugar/cinnamon mixture.
- To store: Refrigerate in an airtight container.
Hi, thank you or the recipes, I have made your original recipe and this one delicious! I absolutely love that your lady lock recipes aren’t a HUGE amount of work, but are just delicious
Cream horns are my weakness! I was recently diagnosed with lactose intolerance. Many of your recipes call for butter and/or milk; can you recommend anything as a substitute? I don’t know if soy milk and margarine would deliver the same results.
Made these this morning. For a beginner, I give myself a B. I think using your clothespins is probably a better idea than the molds. I struggled with winding the pastry around the molds. They also had very small openings, which made it difficult to pipe in the filling. The filling itself was perfect. Just the right touch for a cream horn. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for letting me know!
xo Michael
Will try making these tomorrow. They look great. I do have one question. How many cream horns does this recipe make? I do have the molds, but not sure how many to bake.
It all depends on how you roll your dough and the size of your molds. I would say around 5 dozen, but maybe more.
xo Michael
Thank you so much for doing all the hard work to perfecting these and allowing us to reap the rewards! You nailed it!
That is the neatest idea to wrap the dough around a clothespin! Genius!
And the cookies look delicious!
What?! I’ve never seen anything like this before. They look so tender and creamy. I’ve got to make these sometime!
This looks so good! I have never heard of this treat, but now I am going to try it ASAP!
I loved your other cream horn recipe, I think I may like this one even more. This was such a great idea.
How long do these stay fresh after filling? I’m in charge of Thanksgiving desserts and these are beautiful!
You can keep them in the fridge for a couple weeks or the freeze for a couple months.
xo Michael
Thank you Michael for this delicious recipe!! A definite keeper! I’ll be making these for Thanksgiving!! Love your blog & always look forward to opening new decor or recipe tips from you!! Since you’re living in Pgh, you might want to check out Fort Ligonier days Oct. 12,13 & 14! It’s a huge fall festival! Here’s the website: http://www.fortligonierdays.com and as well as Autumn fest at Seven Springs. Here’s there website: http://www.7springs.com It will give you the schedule of events. I’m a Pgh girl and these two events are something we look forward to every year! Lots of vendors and great foods/drink!
Happy Autumn!!
Cindy
Thank you so much for these wonderful pumpkin recipes. I love using your recipes especially since I love to bake in the fall.