Home > Desserts > Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting July 1, 2020 | 131 Comments SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Jump to Recipe This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. Soft Pumpkin Cookies with cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice to finish them off! These soft, thick, and sweet Pumpkin Cookies are a hit wherever I serve them! Looking for pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips? Try these soft pumpkin cookies or these crisp (not cake-like) pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting These cookies are soft and cake-like — picture a mix between a pumpkin cookie, pumpkin muffin tops, and pumpkin pie. Mmmmm, PSL vibes are rolling over me! They’re also quite thick and chewy, all while being packed with good flavor and spice. The boys and I have been testing and perfecting pumpkin treats over the past couple of weeks, and I’m so excited to share one of our favorite creations. Delicious Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are the best! We invested a ton of time to perfect these soft-baked, bakery-style pumpkin cookies–piled high with cream cheese frosting of course! I’ve always believed that it’s all the little details that make baked goods to turn out their best. With that in mind, let me share a few tips that will get these Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting tasting their best! Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting tips Watch the baking time. I like to *slightly* under bake these cookies to keep them soft and dense. If they are over baked, they lose their awesome texture and a lot of the flavor. Since every oven is different, try baking 1-2 at first to make sure you find the perfect bake time for your cookies. The pumpkin matters. For this recipe, you’ll want to use pure canned pumpkin–not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has a lot of different ingredients and is watered down, so it won’t work in these cookies. I personally love and recommend Libby’s® solid-pack pumpkin because it is thick, not watery, and very consistent from can to can. If you have exceptionally wet pumpkin, you may need to first dab it off a bit with some paper towels. Measure the flour accurately. If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour, you will pack in way too much flour. To accurately measure your flour, spoon it into the measuring cup until its overfilled. Then use the back of a table knife to level the measuring cup at the top. You’ll have a perfect flour measurement. Bake on a Silpat® liner or parchment paper. To help the cookies bake evenly and keep the bottoms from over-browning, I recommend a good baking mat. Parchment paper also works, but I would not recommend lining the pan with foil. Let cookies fully cool. Before frosting the cookies, make sure they are completely cool. Otherwise, the frosting will begin to melt and change consistency. Next, let’s chat about frosting! Cream Cheese Frosting As I’ve made Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting over the years, I’ve experimented with different frostings. While I was testing this recipe, I tried a browned butter frosting, a maple frosting, a glaze, and finally a cream cheese frosting. After lots of tastings from family and friends, the cream cheese frosting was the hands-down winner! Here are a few cream cheese frosting tips: Set out the butter and cream cheese about an hour before baking to get them to room temperature. If these ingredients aren’t at room temperature, they won’t combine smoothly, and there will be unpleasant cream cheese chunks in the frosting. Here are some tips for how to bring the cream cheese and butter to room temperature quickly. Don’t forget the flavor enhancers. The salt and vanilla add so much to the frosting. The salt helps to intensify flavors and balance the sweetness and the vanilla gives an overall nice flavor to the frosting. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Add more or less powdered sugar, according to personal taste preferences. More sugar will make the frosting sweeter and firmer, and less sugar will leave the frosting tangier and softer. Add a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. Instead of mixing pumpkin pie spice into the frosting, I like to add a light sprinkle to the top of the frosted cookies. This not only makes the cookies pretty, but it also adds a nice pumpkin flavor to the cookie. QUICK TIPPumpkin pie spice is a delicious combination of warming spices (like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice). It can be found among other spices in the grocery store, or you can make your own! Storaging Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting Storing BAKED Cookies Unlike most cookie recipes, these Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting do not store well beyond a day at room temperature. Because of the canned pumpkin and how moist these cookies are, they tend to get sticky when kept at room temperature for very long. To combat this, I’ve found it best to freeze any leftover unfrosted cookies after the first day. Put the completely baked, cooled, and unfrosted cookies in a freezer-safe container or bag. Freeze for 2-3 months and bring back to room temperature by microwaving one cookie for 5-10 seconds. I haven’t had success with freezing and thawing cream cheese frosting or frosted cookies. Because of the dairy in cream cheese, it separates and develops an unpleasant texture. Freezing UNBAKED Cookies While freezing baked cookies works great, I prefer to freeze the dough! Drop the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls into an airtight container/bag separated by parchment paper (so they don’t all stick together in one clump), and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake: You can bake the cookie dough straight from the freezer; just add 1-3 minutes onto the cooking time (or thaw the dough in the fridge and bake according to directions). More Amazing Pumpkin Treats Pumpkin Cupcakes with cinnamon-cream cheese frosting Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with a streusel topping 7 Layer Pumpkin Bars with a cake mix base Pumpkin Carrot Cake a fun twist on a typical pumpkin cake Pumpkin Snickerdoodles rolled in a pumpkin pie spice and sugar mixture FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content. Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting 4.71 from 57 votes - Review this recipe Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are dusted with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice to finish them off! SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting 4.71 from 57 votes - Review this recipe SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are dusted with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice to finish them off! Course Dessert, Snack, Vegetarian Cuisine American Keyword Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting Prep Time 15 minutes minutes Cook Time 12 minutes minutes Total Time 27 minutes minutes Servings 4 dozen cookies Author Chelsea Lords Ingredients▢ Parchment paper or Silpat linerCookies▢ 2 and 1/2 cups (328g) all-purpose white flour (See Note 1)▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder▢ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon▢ 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice▢ 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt▢ 3/4 cup (152g) granulated white sugar▢ 3/4 cup (144g) light brown sugar, lightly packed▢ 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons; 113g) unsalted butter softened, do NOT melt▢ 1 CUP (not an entire can!) (222g) canned pumpkin, (do not use pumpkin pie filling; do not use an entire can)▢ 1 large egg▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extractCream Cheese Frosting▢ 4 ounces (115g) full-fat cream cheese (the block cream cheese, not spreadable), softened NOT melted ▢ 4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, softened, NOT melted▢ 2 cups (242g) powdered sugar▢ 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract▢ Optional: pumpkin pie spice InstructionsPREP: Prepare a large sheet pan by lining with parchment paper or a Silpat liner. This step is very important to avoid burned bottoms on these cookies. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.DRY INGREDIENTS: Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt to a large bowl; whisk to combine and set aside.WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add 1 cup pumpkin, the egg, and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is creamy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Avoid over mixing, as it will create denser cookies. OPTIONAL -- CHILL DOUGH: Cover tightly and chill the dough for 30 minutes up to 10 hours. Chilling is not necessary but it makes the dough easier to work with and intensifies flavors.ROLL COOKIE BALLS: Use a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop out balls of dough. Each cookie should be about 1 tablespoon in size. Once dough is in the measuring spoon, use a small spoon to scoop it out and onto the lined sheet pan. Try to smooth or round the balls, but it's okay if they're a bit bumpy; the dough is difficult to work with. Leave 2 inches of room for each cookie (I only bake 8-10 cookies at a time) and flatten the balls of dough slightly. (This batter is wetter than normal cookie dough, so don't be alarmed that you can't roll the balls of dough; chill in the fridge for additional time if needed for easier rolling).BAKE: Bake for 8-12 minutes (9 minutes is perfect for my oven!) watching carefully to avoid over baking. We like these slightly under-baked 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 to finish cooling.FROSTING: Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the softened (not melted; it should be at room temperature) cream cheese and butter until creamy (about 2 minutes) at medium-high speed. Add the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until soft and creamy. Avoid over-beating the mixture or you'll get whipped frosting.FROST COOKIES: Generously frost the cooled cookies and if desired, sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a little pumpkin pie spice.STORAGE: Do not store the cookies in a sealed plastic container. Instead, store on plates loosely covered with foil in the fridge. They're best eaten the same day or within 2-3 days. After that, they soften too much. Freeze un-baked cookie dough balls for up to 3 months; bake straight from freezer for an additional 1-3 minutes. Video Recipe NotesNote 1: If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour you will pack in too much flour; use a spoon to scoop it into a measuring cup and then level the top with the back of a table knife. We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed. DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.
Sounds great!…will be making these! I make cream cheese frosted cupcakes and found that once they’re cooled and frosted, I can freeze them on a sheet in the freezer, then wrap individually in plastic wrap and put them back into freezer…it works! Reply
I make a ginger cookie that sounds like it should have the same texture as this cookie. I often bake cookies on a stone but those ginger cookies never seem to turn out unless I bake them on a traditional cookie sheet. Am I crazy? Reply
My husband and I made these yesterday and they turned out perfectly! The idea to cook one cookie first to get the perfect time was brilliant! Thank you for the delicious recipe; your website is our go to for new, delicious recipes! Reply
Wow! These look awesome! So glad I stumbled across this recipe, it’s perfect for an upcoming football party! Reply
Hey!! these look so soft and amazing!!! I’m so happy I stumbled across your page! I went ahead and got the ebook! its been a huge help, since I had no idea about blogging!! thanks so much!! I’ve learned a lot these past few days!! Reply
Thank you so much Kaylen 🙂 I hope you loved the book and please let me know if you ever have any questions 🙂 Reply
Just made these cookies and mannnnn they came out perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I never thought I could bake something and get it right the first time lol Reply
I just took these out of the oven and they taste delicious! I plan on making the frosting and frost them tomorrow. Reply
Hello I have a questuon. Have you ever made these cookies with coconut flour for those that are gluten free ? If so are they still soft and good ? Reply
Super fofo,lembra um hambúrguer, deve ser muito bom vou adorar preparar, que bom que encontrei essa receita, este blog está de parabéns.adoro! Reply
I’m late to the comment game here but I’m trying out chilling the dough for an hour to see if I can get the texture to be a little more lofty. The same idea applies to chocolate chip cookies to why the heck not, right? Reply
Thank you so much Ms. Chelsea I’ll be making these. I was looking for a chewy pumkin cookie recipe such as this. I’m gonna try a glaze with with milk instead of the cream cheese for a lower cal count.???? Reply
Thanks for this recipe! Been looking for a good soft cookie recipe for my sister’s birthday. She lives anything pumpkin! I will be making it tomorrow, but can you confirm the # of eggs? You wrote 1 but in the picture above, I see 2 eggs. Thanks! Reply
I made these yesterday. I posted a picture of them on Facebook and my family came running over. Luckily i had doubled the batch. I took some to work today and got highly compliments. Not everyone got a cookie so tonight I made another batch. Very delicious. I however cooked a pie pumpkin down instead of can. I will not make any other pumpkin cookies besides these ? Thank you so much for recipe. I love love love these cookies Reply
Yesterday I made these cookies and doubled the batch which i am glad i did. I posted a picture of them on facebook and my family came running over lol. I took some to work today and they were a major hit and not everyone got a cookie. They all loved them. Tonight I made another batch to take to work and my daughter wants to take some to school to. Very delicious ? I will not make any other pumpkin cookie. I cooked a pie pumpkin down instead of can pumpkin. Thank you so so much for the recipe. The best one ever ? Thank you again Reply
These are my new fall go-to cookies! They’ve been a huge hit at parties and family get togethers (if they make it past the kiddos and hubby…and me!)Thank you! Reply
very good pumpkin cookies. I added raisins for pumpkin-raisin cookies 🙂 Super tasty and soft. I will make these again! Reply
If i were to make the batter a few days before i need the cookies for an event how do i store it? Reply
I would recommend making the cookies and freezing them. I don’t think this batter would sit well for an extended period of time unfortunately. Reply
I plan on making these tomorrow.. it looks like we cannot save the raw dough or freeze it for later ?? only freeze cookies that have been baked but not frosted correct Reply
Made these to take to work one day and ended up having to make another batch when I got home for my husband and I. These are the perfect cookie for fall or any time of year, really! Such a great recipe!
I made these tonight and they all flattened out and were a thin and not thick chewy cookie. What did I do wrong? Reply
Did you change any of the ingredients or process? Did you by chance accidentally use an entire can of pumpkin instead of the 1 cup called for? (A common mistake in pumpkin recipes!) Reply
Why can’t you use spreadable cream cheese? I didn’t notice that comment until after shopping and grabbed spreadable 🙁 Reply
It might work; the two are different though (https://www.finecooking.com/article/for-baking-use-cream-cheese-bricks) Reply
Oh my!! There are not even words to describe how delicious these cookies are!! Our family loves pumpkin and these cookies are perfect! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!! Reply
Hi, I just came across your recipe and can’t wait to make these cookies. About the pumpkin filling: do you drain or blot the filling to get out some of the liquid? I’ve seen other recipes where that’s done and wondered if you experimented with that at all. Thanks, and can’t wait to whip these up! – Brian Reply
Hey Brian! I don’t blot out for these cookies, but I do recommend a good quality, solid packed pumpkin like Libby’s! Enjoy! Reply
These are literally the BEST!!! I’m kind of obsessed now! ? The first time I tried making them, I forgot to flatten them out, but they turned out amazing anyways! This time, I’ll TRY not to eat the entire two dozen or so. ???? Reply
I made these and doubled the amount of pumpkin and think even more pumpkin would have brought out more of the pumpkin flavor. The basic recipe makes soft cookies. Reply
These are amazing! I used all purpose gluten free flour and they turned out so good. Perfectly soft and fluffy with the perfect amount of spice. Didn’t make any frosting because I didn’t have the ingredients on hand but I dont think they need it, they stand on their own. I also added chocolate chips to half the batch, just because. All were gobbled up quickly by hubs and kids. Thanks for the recipe, I won’t be making any other pumpkin cookie recipe, this is it! Reply
AHHH I am seriously sooo happy to hear this!! Thanks for the tip on the gluten free flour!! YAY!! 🙂 Reply
Fantastic cookies! I made two sheets at the same time for 12 minutes. They were wonderful and chewy even without the frosting. The frosting really puts them over the top. They are quick and easy to make and perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and potlucks. Reply
These are like a cookie steak – so rich, filling and delicious. I gave them at Thanksgiving to family and colleagues and they were a hit with both kids and adults. We’re about to make more right now. Reply
Hello! Could I make these cookies using a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter? If so what size? Thanks! Reply
Sorry not this recipe! They won’t cut out nicely, they spread and are very cake-like (think like a muffin top!) Reply
best cookies i’ve ever made! great recipe that i highly recommend. my family and friends loved them. Reply
I looked everywhere for a recipe for pumpkin cookies. The grocery store I go to makes them from scratch. These are very close to them. Thank you for sharing! Reply
Hello these cookies sound wonderful. I have one question do you think I could make these into cookie bars instead of drop cookies? I’ve done this succesfully with other kinds of cookies just wondering, I need to bring these with me to a party and because of time restraints I thought it would be faster… thanks. Reply
I wish I could be of more help but I’m really not sure with this recipe. My initial instinct is that it wouldn’t work super well, but I’m not sure without personally testing. Sorry to not have a great answer for you Reply
Does the icing dry? Can you stack the cookies in a container to transport or do they have to stay in a single layer? If so, how long does it usually take? Reply
The frosting stays soft and the cookies are fairly soft so I wouldn’t recommend stacking these cookies; I think they’d end up sticking together Reply
Love this recipe! I am guilty of swapping sugars and using alternative flours in the vain of making bake goods a little more nutritious. However this time, I opted to throw that out the window and celebrate Fall with this recipe sans substitutions! These came out delicious. We didn’t get around to icing them before most were gobbled up. But they were plenty sweet for our three sweets-loving boys without the icing. I like pumpkin spice flavors so I was little heavy-handed with the pumpkin pie spice and it came out great. We added chopped pecans to the tops of the last half of the batch and found it helped to flatten out the cookie by preventing it from sticking to your fingers when you were shaping Reply
I am seriously so happy to hear this Andrea! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed these so much! Thanks for your comment! 🙂 Reply
Everything was perfect. I only had to cook them a little longer because I like my cookies a little bigger so I have more decoration space. I also found that if you put in 6oz of cream cheese it gives it less of a powdered sugar taste, and more of a homemade cream cheese frosting taste. 10/10 will make again! Reply
Omg omg they are the best cookies ever, my fiancé is the picky person in the entire world, and he love love love these cookies, thank you so much for this great recipe ❤️❤️😍😍 Reply
These cookies are super delicious made them for my family last week and just couldn’t resist making them again today. Thank you Chelsea. Reply
These were an absolute hit at my bachelorette girls night. People kept raving about them! I would describe these as similar to the pumpkin muffies at Panera but miniature. Next time I make them, I might consider sandwiching them to make “moon pies”. Only change I made to the recipe was I switched up the icing ratios to have a less rich, less sweet, and fluffy icing. I did about 6 oz butter to 3 oz cream cheese Reply
I used a jumbo egg instead of a large, but the rest I measured out the same. Ended up with cookie sized pumpkin mini breads. They were still super delicious, and I’m actually pretty fond of this texture. I’ll have to make these again for the upcoming holidays. Reply
Soo good! Made them and I literally had to give them away to my sister to avoid eating it all myself. Lol I was curious- would I be able to make the frosting in advance? And how far in advance do you think if refrigerated? Thank you! Reply
Soo good! Made them and I literally had to give them away to my sister to avoid eating it all myself. Lol I was curious- would I be able to make the frosting in advance? And how far in advance do you think if refrigerated? Thank you! Reply
I’m so happy to hear this Susana! Yes you can absolutely make the frosting in advance! It lasts for up to a week in the fridge in an airtight container. Just make sure to set it out a little bit before frosting so it can come to room temperature to frost easily! 🙂 Reply
Delicious! My oven took about 8 1/2 – 9 minutes to bake them fully. I added some chocolate chip to a portion of the batter, too; they just had to bake a little longer. Super easy to make, and they turned out wonderful. I found that a good indicator if they were cooked all the way through is a slightly golden brown bottom (not to be confused with a dark brown). I didn’t have enough cream cheese, so I made half a batch of frosting instead of the full batch and I had enough frosting for all of them (sans a few, I wanted to leave some frosting-free, but I would’ve had enough frosting had I wanted to frost them). The frosting wasn’t overly buttery or sweet, and the pumpkin spice on top is a nice touch. I’m definitely making these again (especially since my family loved them). Reply
Has anyone tried to half this recipe? I only have 1/2 cup pumpkin. Should I omit the egg or maybe just add a yolk? I really need these cookies this morning!!!!! Reply
Amazing flavor, light as a cloud! I so appreciated your tips on measuring the flour etc. and my home-made pumpkin pie spice (also your recipe) was excellent. I will be making them again this week because for some reason, they just disappear into thin air, aka my husband scarfed them up! Reply
Excellent flavor – they passed both the granddad and grandkid test. I will absolutely make this again. Pictures and instructions were spot on. Reply
Yum! As stated in the recipe, the dough is sticky and hard to work with so I do definitely recommend chilling the dough before baking. These siftd sponge texture Reply
I’ve made these cookies a few times now and I get compliments every time! They don’t last very long when I take them places. I’ll never use another recipe. Reply
I have these in the oven right now and I’m soooo excited! My whole kitchen smells like pumpkin. I’m sending them with my husband to work, I can’t wait for the response! Reply
Thank you for all your wonderful details! These pumpkin cookies came out perfect. I am 72 years old and this recipe was a pleasure to make! Blessings on your future cooking experiences. Reply
I love pumpkin(so much that I use it to bake all year around lol) these cookies are perfect. I sprinkle the pumpkin spice on after the icing & I think it’s a great way to bring out the pumpkin taste. I can never just eat one of these so the 4 dozen servings works! I have some in my freezer now I just pop them in the oven whenever I’m craving some. Definitely recommend making these. Reply
These cookies are AMAZING! So addicting and chewy. I had my husband, kids, and coworkers taste test – and everyone loved them 🙂 Reply
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 Reply
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. Reply
Can I use a fresh pie pumpkin instead of canned? Trying to find a recipe to use the pumpkin with! Reply
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 Reply
This is my go to cookie recipe! I always get compliments and make it just as the recipe says. Thanks! Reply
