Soft Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice to finish them off. The perfect fall treat!
Try these next: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, Pumpkin Créme Brûleé, and Healthy Pumpkin Bread!
Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
One of the most popular pumpkin recipes on my site is my soft-baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies—they’re delicious and impossible to resist. But if you’re like my son and not a big fan of chocolate, you need a pumpkin cookie that’s just as good, without the chocolate.
That’s how these cookies came to be! My son loves cream cheese frosting, and I knew these cookies would make his day. What I didn’t expect was for them to become my new favorite cookie too. They’re that good!
They’re thick, chewy, and full of the best flavor and spice.
Ingredients
- Flour: Spoon into measuring cup and level off for an accurate measurement.
- Baking soda and baking powder: Help the cookies rise and stay soft.
- Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice: Adjust the spice to your flavor preference.
- Salt: Don’t skip it! It makes the other flavors pop!
- Brown and white sugar: Sweeten the cookies and add moisture.
- Unsalted butter: Use softened butter for smooth mixing.
- Canned pumpkin: Use pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Egg: Binds ingredients in pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting together.
- Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract for a richer flavor.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Over the years, I’ve tested browned butter, maple, and glaze frostings for my Pumpkin Cookies, but cream cheese frosting is the undeniable favorite with family and friends!
- Cream cheese and butter: Here are some tips on bringing them to room temp.
- Powdered sugar: Makes the frosting sweet and smooth.
- Salt: Just a little to balance the sweet.
- Vanilla: Adds more flavor.
- Optional pumpkin pie spice: Make your own pumpkin pie spice or grab from the store.
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: Frost cooled cookies and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge.
Storage
Can You Freeze Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting?
Yes, but it’s best to freeze the dough, not the baked cookies. Drop dough balls onto a sheet pan, freeze until solid, then store in an airtight container or bag with parchment between layers for up to 3 months.
Baked pumpkin cookies (unfrosted) will last 3-4 days in an airtight container at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge.
Don’t freeze the cream cheese frosting; make it fresh when ready to serve.
More Amazing Pumpkin Treats
- Pumpkin Granola great on a yogurt bowl
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with a streusel topping
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread readers favorite
- Pumpkin Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting
- Pumpkin Overnight Oats prep in minutes
Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Mixers electric or stand
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2-1/2 cups flour
- 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 not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 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 silicone 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 over-mixing.
- 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.
When freezing the cookie dough balls, do you put on pan to freeze a few minutes so they won’t freeze together.
Yes, I usually freeze them on a plate or parchment-lined sheet pan first, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag until I’m ready to use them.
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