This recipe for Soft Pumpkin Cookies is packed with the flavors of fall – rich pumpkin taste, vibrant spices, and a soft, chewy, cake-like texture that makes these irresistible. A cream cheese frosting takes these cookies over the top and balances out the flavors with a creamy, tangy finish.
Halloween has come and gone – did you do anything fun? It’s been snowing like crazy here and died down just enough for us to sneak out of our cozy house to go trick or treating. Luckily, we got into the Halloween spirit by making these soft pumpkin cookies.
Nothing tastes more like fall to me than pumpkin. And while I’m not quite in the pumpkin pie mood yet, these cookies are a nice first step. They’re super soft, moist, and full of spicy fall flavors that will start getting you in the mood for Thanksgiving.
How To Make The Pumpkin Cookies
I’ve experimented a bit with the flour types in these pumpkin cookies and landed on using a mixture of all-purpose flour and spelt flour. Spelt is a whole grain and has a nutty flavor and an airy texture. It’s a good source of fiber, protein, and vitamins, and has great health benefits, like increased circulation, improved immune system, and lowered blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
I love the way the flour adds just a slightly heartier texture to these cookies, while still keeping them really soft.
These cookies also use a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar. I didn't want them to be too rich, but I felt a touch of brown sugar really complimented the pumpkin flavor here.
Here's how these cookies come together:
- To start, cream the sugars and butter together, then add your eggs, vanilla and pumpkin and mix well.
- Next, in a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients: the 2 flours, salt, spices, baking powder and baking soda.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until everything is just combined.
I will warn you – this cookie dough is WET! And a bit sticky. It’s a little tricky to handle and you’ll probably need a cookie scoop, or at the very least, two spoons to scoop your cookie dough piles out onto the pan. But I will tell you: the wetness is what makes them turn out so moist and soft and they are well worth the mess! Just take your time and be patient with the dough. - Using your cookie scoop, or a spoon, scoop the cookie dough into small mounds onto your pan. Then, bake for about 10 minutes, and allow to cool completely before icing them.
How To Make The Cream Cheese Frosting
These cookies are great on their own, but a cream cheese frosting really completes them and elevates the flavors. And, the icing is super easy to make - you can do it while your cookies are cooling!
- Combine your cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in a small bowl and stir until well combined. You could also use a hand mixer to do this.
- Once the pumpkin cookies have completely cooled, ice your cookies with the cream cheese frosting.
Give these Pumpkin Cookies a try! They’re the perfect dessert for Thanksgiving. Or to just get you in that gobble-gobble mood.
Let me know if you’ve tried these cookies by tagging me on Instagram! And tell me what you think of them in the comments below!
More Delicious Cookie Recipes!
- Halloween Candy Monster Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies With Vanilla And Maple
- Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Chocolate-Dipped Orange And Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Soft Sugar Cookies
Soft Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups pure pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup spelt flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a slip mat.
- In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar and granulated sugars. Add the cup of softened butter and cream until mixture becomes light creamy. Add the egg, vanilla and pumpkin and continue mix until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the 2 flours, salt, spices, baking powder and baking soda. Stir well. Slowly add the dry mix to the creamed mixture and stir until combined.
- Scoop small spoonfuls of the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. (Dough will be a bit moist so a cookie scoop works well for this.)
- Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
- While cookies are cooling, make your cream cheese frosting. Combine all frosting ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until well combined and creamy.
- Once cookies are completely cooled, add the icing to each cookie.
- Enjoy immediately, or allow icing to harden a bit and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Brucey
Looks great, good with bourbon