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Soft and delicious Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting – these are perfectly fall spiced with pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon and topped with an amazing cream cheese icing – these cookies are fall in a bite!
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
I’ve been making this Pumpkin Cookie Recipe for years and everyone who tastes them tells me how much they love them. Years ago I had photos done (before these were redone) and even the food photographer told me they were the best cookies she had ever made. I have a soft spot in my heart for soft pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting – it’s the best kind of frosting, after all!
- This recipe works: I’ve been making it over and over for years.
- They have a soft texture and are perfectly spiced
- These cookies are freezable – with or without frosting!
- Easy to make – you don’t even need a mixer for the cookie part.
Important Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – Measure then melt (for the cookies) and softened for the frosting, salted butter may be substituted
- Pumpkin puree – I like to use Libby canned pumpkin but any brand will do – make sure it’s not pumpkin pie mix.
- Brown sugar – You can use light or dark brown sugar, but the dark brown sugar will give the cookies a darker coloring and richer flavor.
- Egg yolk – Just using the yolk offsets the moisture in the pumpkin – be sure to use a large egg yolk – any extra moisture will make the cookies not turn out.
- Ground nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon – Use my DIY Pumpkin Spice as well or a blend from the store.
How to make Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Stir together the melted butter with both sugars in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
- Add in the egg yolk, baking soda, salt, spices, and vanilla and mix.
- Add the flour and stir until a cookie dough starts to form.
- The dough will be nice and thick. It’s too soft to bake at this point.
- Scoop balls of cookie dough with a cookie scoop onto a cookie sheet and chill. If the dough is too soft, then you can chill the dough in the refrigerator first, then scoop.
- Roll the cookie dough balls to make them more uniform in size, then bake until no longer glossy on top.
- My cream cheese frosting recipe post goes into detail on how to make the icing.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Did I mention that these pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting can be stored for later AND frozen?!
Store any leftover cookies that you’re going to eat within 2-3 days in an airtight container. They’ll need to be kept in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting.
To freeze these cookies, let them cool down all the way, and DON’T add the frosting. Just freeze the baked cookies without frosting. When you unthaw them, you can then add the frosting at that point in time.
To freeze the frosted cookies, place in a single layer on a cookie sheet to freeze, then place them in an airtight container or freezer bag separated by sheets of wax or parchment paper so they don’t stick together. Separate before thawing.
Expert Tips
- Don’t skip the chilling step – that ensures a puffy soft cookie.
- Learn how to separate eggs if you don’t know how! It’s important to just use the yolk in this cookie recipe or the mixture will be too wet.
- You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer for the cookies but I like just stirring by hand. I recommend a mixer for the frosting.
- You could add some chopped walnuts or pecans in the cookie or on the top of the frosting.
- Dust the tops of these with a bit of cinnamon or pumpkin spice, or sprinkles!
FAQ
It’s important that you only use an egg yolk from a large egg. And make sure to measure the flour correctly to have the perfect ingredient ratio.
They will flatten a bit and be no longer glossy on top.
Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter melted
- ⅓ cup (81g) pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar (light or dark)
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (217g) all purpose flour
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups 170g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place melted butter, pumpkin, and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. You can also use a hand mixer, if you prefer. Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds. Mix in egg yolk, baking soda, salt, spices, and vanilla. Mix in flour until batter is smooth. It’ll be a soft batter. Chill dough for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10-13 minutes until they are no longer glossy. (I like to err on the side of under baked for a gooey cookie!) Cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting: cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Frost cookies and dust with a bit of cinnamon.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze unfrosted cookies for up to 1 month.
Recipe Video
Recipe Nutrition
These easy and soft Pumpkin Cookies are the best cookie recipe for fall! They are topped with a cream cheese frosting and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
These are fabulous and I’m not a Pumpkin fan!! I used your cookbook this weekend for this recipe and used your add-in ideas to use up stuff i had in the house, used a can of pumpkin that’s been in the cabinet from last year, as well as a bag of toffee chips!! I doubled the recipe, added some mini chips, no frosting- my husband brought them to the office, excellent way to start a rainy Monday in NJ!!