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.
Super fofo,lembra um hambúrguer, deve ser muito bom vou adorar preparar, que bom que encontrei essa receita, este blog está de parabéns.adoro!
I just took these out of the oven and they taste delicious! I plan on making the frosting and frost them tomorrow.
So happy you like the cookies and I hope you love the frosting 🙂
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 ?
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
So happy to hear that! 🙂
I’m not finding oven temperature?
It’s in instruction number 1 — 350 degrees F. Enjoy!
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!!
Thank you so much Kaylen 🙂 I hope you loved the book and please let me know if you ever have any questions 🙂
Wow! These look awesome! So glad I stumbled across this recipe, it’s perfect for an upcoming football party!
Hope you love it! 🙂
Thank you for a great recipe!!! It was so much fun making it with my kids!!! Super delicious:)
So happy to hear that! Thanks Kelly 🙂
These turned out perfectly! So delicious! ? Thank you so much for the recipe!!
So happy to hear that! I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies 🙂
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!
You made my day Alli! So glad my website is a go to 🙂 Thank you!
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?
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!
Sounds perfect — thanks for sharing! I hope you love these cookies 🙂
I add walnuts and raisins my son loves them!!!
Sounds awesome! 🙂