Soft Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice to finish them off!
Try these next: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, Pumpkin Créme Brûleé, and Healthy Pumpkin Bread!
Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
These cookies are a soft, cake-like blend of pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffin tops, and pumpkin pie. They’re thick, chewy, and full of great flavor and spice.
Over the past few weeks, my boys and I have been perfecting pumpkin treats (like these Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal, and Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies) and we’re thrilled to share one of our favorites: delicious Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Ingredients
- Flour: This is the main part of the cookie dough.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: These make the cookies rise and get fluffy.
- Cinnamon & Pumpkin Pie Spice: These spices make the cookies taste like pumpkin spice.
- Salt: It makes all the other flavors taste better.
- White Sugar & Brown Sugar: They make the cookies sweet. Brown sugar also makes them a bit chewy.
- Butter: Makes the cookies rich and tasty.
- Pumpkin from a Can: Gives the cookies a pumpkin flavor.
- Egg: Holds everything together.
- Vanilla: Makes the cookies smell and taste good.
Cream Cheese Frosting
I’ve tried various frostings for my Pumpkin Cookies over the years, including browned butter, maple, and a glaze. After testing and getting feedback from family and friends, cream cheese frosting emerged as the clear favorite!
- Cream Cheese & Butter: They make the frosting creamy and good. Here are some tips on bringing them to room temperature quickly.
- Powdered Sugar: Makes the frosting sweet and smooth.
- Salt: Just a little to balance the sweet.
- Vanilla: Adds more flavor.
- Optional Pumpkin Spice: For extra spice flavor if you like.
How To Make Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In another bowl, mix together wet ingredients.
- Combine Mixtures: Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
- Scoop Dough: Place the dough onto a lined baking sheet and flatten slightly.
- Bake: Cook in a preheated oven until just set.
- Prepare Frosting: Beat together cream cheese, butter, and sugar until smooth.
- Frost Cookies: Apply the frosting to cooled cookies and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge.
Storage
Can You Freeze Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting?
Yes, you can freeze Pumpkin Cookies, but it’s best to freeze the dough, not the baked cookies. Drop the dough balls on a sheet pan, freeze until solid, then transfer them to an airtight container or bag with parchment paper between them. Freeze for up to 3 months.
It’s not recommended to freeze the cream cheese frosting; instead, make it fresh when you’re ready to serve.
More Amazing Pumpkin Treats
- Pumpkin Granola
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
- 7 Layer Pumpkin Bars
- Pumpkin Carrot Cake
- Pumpkin Overnight Oats
Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Parchment paper or silicon baking mat
- stand mixer
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2-1/2 cups flour see note 1
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, not melted
- 1 cup canned pumpkin do not use pumpkin pie filling; do not use an entire can
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese block cream cheese, not spreadable; softened, not melted
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, not melted
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pumpkin pie spice optional
Instructions
- Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat to avoid burned cookie bottoms. Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt to a large bowl; whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add 1 cup pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Beat until mixture is creamy. Add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Avoid overmixing, as it will create denser cookies.
- Optionally, chill dough: Cover tightly and chill dough for 30 minutes up to 10 hours. Chilling is not necessary but makes dough easier to work with and intensifies flavors.
- Use a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop balls of dough and place them onto the lined sheet pan. Try to smooth or round the balls, but it's okay if they're a bit bumpy (chill in the fridge for additional time if needed for easier rolling). Leave 2 inches of room for each cookie (I only bake 8–10 cookies at a time) and flatten balls of dough slightly.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes (9 minutes is perfect for my oven!), watching carefully to avoid overbaking. I like these slightly underbaked and soft, but the tops shouldn’t be shiny/wet looking at all. Remove and allow cookies to stand for another 3–5 minutes on the sheet pan before removing to a wire cooling rack.
- Meanwhile, make frosting. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the room-temperature (not melted) cream cheese and butter until creamy, about 2 minutes, at medium-high speed. Add powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until soft and creamy. Avoid over-beating or you’ll get whipped frosting.
- Generously frost cooled cookies and if desired, sprinkle them with a little pumpkin pie spice.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I thried to bake those and cut shugar twice an they still very-very sweet.
Sorry you didn’t love these! They are definitely sweet; I’d recommend making without frosting if you want a less sweet cookie
I make these cookies every year during the fall holidays. I share them with many of my friends and everyone loves them and me also, of course! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks for your review Denise! 🙂
This is my go to cookie recipe! I always get compliments and make it just as the recipe says. Thanks!
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks Shane! 🙂
Can I use a fresh pie pumpkin instead of canned? Trying to find a recipe to use the pumpkin with!
I’m sorry Amanda, I’ve never tested any of my pumpkin cookie recipes with fresh pie pumpkin! If it’s not watery (thick like canned) I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, but can’t say for sure
These are my go to holiday pumpkin cookies for years now. I am lazy about the frosting bit however. I follow the cookie recipe to the “t” but instead I do them as drop cookies and add 3/4 cups of chocolate chips folded in. My family loves them and they turn out perfect every time.
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thank you Becky! 🙂
Hi, can I use homemade puree? I made it using pie pumpkin (sugar pumpkin) thank you!
Sorry I haven’t tested these with homemade puree. I think as long as it’s not watery it should work okay. If it is watery, I’d squeeze out some of the excess liquid first