Pumpkin cookies topped with a smooth cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans. A bold spice blend makes these tasty treats flavorful, while pumpkin puree adds a lovely bright orange hue and cakey texture.
Recipe Science
- The pumpkin puree’s fibers bind to water, making the cookies softer and more cake-like.
- This pumpkin cookie recipe uses the classic creaming method, which creates air pockets in the fat for a thicker structure.
- Granulated sugar and baking soda help your pumpkin cookies brown with crisp edges, while brown sugar retains moisture.
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Featured Comment 4
“I just made these for a neighborhood party. They are fabulous. I used a 2 T ice cream scoop which made dealing with the sticky dough a snap. Wonderful flavor. My husband loves them!”—Maggie M.
Why It Works
Bake a batch of soft pumpkin cookies to celebrate the flavors of autumn. With seasonal gourds like pumpkins now in abundance, it’s the perfect time to incorporate them into your baking. While pumpkin pie is a classic, adding pumpkin puree to cookie batter creates tender treats with crisp edges and soft centers.
Pumpkin’s naturally mild sweetness can come across as bland in cookies, but the warm spices—cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves—really bring out its flavor. A generous layer of velvety cream cheese frosting and crunchy pecans add the perfect balance of richness and texture. It’s like a delicious mix of cake and cookie—a winning combination for fall!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pumpkin: This cookie recipe uses the popular canned 100% pure pumpkin from Libby’s for convenience. It has a smooth texture, beautiful orange pulp, and a lightly sweet taste. The special Dickinson pumpkins they harvest taste the best of all the processed options.
- Flour: All-purpose flour contains moderate protein, creating structure and tenderness in pumpkin cookies.
- Leavening Agents: The eggs, baking powder, and baking soda will help the cookies rise and create a half-dome shape once cooked.
- Spices: When we think of pumpkin-flavored desserts, we often expect the cozy taste of pumpkin pie. That’s where warm spices come in. A typical blend includes cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
- Vanilla: The extract enhances the sweet baked aromas of the cookie.
- Butter: Unsalted butter is softened and used to create airy pockets in the cookie dough, giving it a cake-like structure.
- Sweetener: Granulated sugar creates crisp cookie edges. Brown sugar adds a hint of molasses and moisture.
- Nuts: Add chopped pecans as a garnish for a crunchy texture contrasting with soft pumpkin cookies.
- Frosting: To make cream cheese frosting, combine softened butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a touch of cinnamon until smooth and spreadable.
See the recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements (US and metric).
Ingredient Substitutions
This pumpkin cookie recipe is easy to customize! Try these tasty ideas:
- Pumpkin Options: You can also make homemade pumpkin puree, which I highly recommend. Avoid pumpkin pie filling, as it’s already sweetened and spiced, giving you less control over the baked goods’ flavor.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: I use the blend so often that I make my homemade pumpkin pie spice. Make a batch for this recipe; add 1 ¾ to 2 teaspoons.
- Add a Different Topping: Add sugar cookie frosting or sugar cookie icing.
- Add Chocolate: Mix in some semi-sweet or white chocolate chips. Frost with Nutella!
- Switch Up the Spice: Make it chai-flavored by adding cardamom, anise, allspice, and black pepper to the cookie dough or frosting.
- Nuts: Omit or add chopped walnuts, almonds, peanuts, or cashews.
- Frosting Flavor: Add a hint of maple syrup or pumpkin spice to the cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Pumpkin Cookies
Step 1: Preheat the Oven
Position the oven rack in the center to ensure even heat distribution. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC), the ideal temperature for achieving a soft, tender texture with slightly crisp edges. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Step 2: Combine Dry Ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt. This step evenly distributes the leavening agents and spices, ensuring the cookies rise properly and have a balanced, warm, spiced flavor.
Step 3: Cream the Butter and Sugars
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. This process aerates the butter, creating a smooth texture that helps the cookies rise and gives them a soft, tender crumb.
Ingredient Chemistry: This pumpkin cookie recipe uses a classic creaming method. This helps create air pockets in the fat and a thick structure. However, the extra fiber and moisture in the pumpkin attract water, which creates a soft-baked, cake-like texture in the center.
Step 4: Add Egg and Pumpkin
Add the egg to the butter-sugar mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing. Then, mix in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. The pumpkin adds moisture and softness to the dough, while the vanilla enhances the flavor.
Step 5: Make the Dough
Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing at low speed until combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this can make the cookies dense.
Use a spatula to gently fold any remaining pockets of flour, ensuring a smooth, evenly blended dough. This step helps maintain the cookie’s soft, tender texture.
Expert Tip: Because of the pumpkin’s moisture levels, the cookie dough consistency is between a thick drop cookie, like a chocolate chip, and a thick pancake batter.
Step 6: Portion the Cookies
Scoop out two tablespoon-sized mounds of cookie dough and place them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Because the dough is sticky, use the back of a spoon to spread each mound into a circle gently. You should be able to fit about 12 cookies per sheet.
Step 7: Bake
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges and centers are set and the bottoms turn golden brown.
Pro Tip: If baking fewer than 12 cookies per sheet, reduce the baking time to 10 to 12 minutes to avoid overbaking. This ensures the cookies have a soft center with perfectly crisp edges.
Step 8: Cool
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes to firm them up. Then, transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely. This step prevents overcooking on the hot sheet and helps maintain its soft, tender texture.
Step 9: Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
Mix softened butter and powdered sugar on medium-high speed in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the cream cheese, one piece at a time, and mix until smooth. Mix in the cinnamon for a warm, spiced flavor.
Tips for Perfect Execution: The aeration of the butter and sugar creates a light texture, while the gradual incorporation of cream cheese ensures a smooth, cohesive frosting.
Step 10: Frost the Cookies
Spread 1 to 2 teaspoons of frosting evenly on each cookie, then sprinkle with pecans for added crunch and flavor. The creamy frosting contrasts with the crisp pecans, enhancing texture and taste.
Expert Tip: The frosting should be thick enough to stay on top of the cookie without running off. To thicken it, gradually add more powdered sugar.
Frequently Asked Questions
The pumpkin cookies can be made a day in advance and stored at room temperature. The cream cheese frosting can also be made 1 to 2 days ahead and then brought to room temperature to make it easy to apply.
Once you add the frosting, refrigerate the cookies within a few hours. Fresh dairy is highly perishable, so cover and refrigerate any leftover cookies or frosting.
Granulated sugar and baking soda help these pumpkin cookies brown with lightly crisp edges. However, the brown sugar is a humectant (keeps things moist), and the fibers in the pumpkin puree like to bind to water. So, over time, the texture becomes softer and cakey, especially when storing for a few days.
More Pumpkin Recipes
If you try these Pumpkin Cookies, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into four pieces and softened
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat the Oven – Set the oven rack to the middle position. Heat to 350ºF (177ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine Dry Ingredients – In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt.
- Cream the Butter and Sugars – In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or hand mixer), combine butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
- Add Egg and Pumpkin – Add the egg and mix until combined, 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Mix until combined, 30 seconds.
- Make the Dough – Gradually add the flour mixture at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix the cookie dough with a spatula to incorporate any pockets of flour.
- Portion the Cookies – Spoon two tablespoon-sized mounds of cookie dough about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. Use a spoon to spread the dough into a circle. The dough will have a sticky consistency. There should be about 12 per baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Bake – Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges and centers are set and the bottoms are golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. If baking less than 12 cookies per sheet, reduce time to 10 to 12 minutes.
- Cool – Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Make the Cream Cheese Frosting – In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or hand mixer), beat 4 tablespoons softened butter and the powdered sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time and mix until smooth. Add the cinnamon and mix until incorporated.
- Frost the Cookies – Spread about 1 to 2 teaspoons of frosting on top of each cookie, and then sprinkle on the pecans.
Notes
- Using Pumpkin Pie Spice: Homemade or store-bought pumpkin pie spice can be used. Add 1 ¾ to 2 teaspoons of the blend instead of the individual spices in the ingredient list.
- Make Ahead: Cookies and frosting can be made a day ahead and stored separately in an airtight container. Allow the frosting to warm slightly at room temperature before filling. The cookies will become cakier when stored overnight or refrigerated.
- Storing: Refrigerate the frosted cookies for up to 2 days.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Maggie Morris says
Jessica,
I just made these for a neighborhood party. They are fabulous. I used a 2 T ice cream scoop which made dealing with the sticky dough a snap.
Wonderful flavor. My husband loves them!
Love,
Maggie (Katies sister in the Midwest)
Olivia Gentol says
Hi there! If I plan on making then the chai way, how much of the extra spices do I use?
Kris says
Jessica, I can’t wait to try these cookies! I’ll be serving them, as well as your corn chowder, for our October book club meeting 🙂
Jessica Gavin says
I can’t wait to hear what the book club thinks about the cookies and chowder!