Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting

When pumpkin season comes around every year, I spend plenty of time in my kitchen baking up dessert recipes such as pumpkin gooey butter cake, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, pumpkin cheesecake and these amazingly delicious pumpkin cookies. You can’t eat just one!

Pumpkin Cookies Ingredients

To make these pumpkin cookies, you will need pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, kosher salt and all purpose flour. For the frosting, you will need butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and fall sprinkles. If you want more fall flavored desserts for parties or Thanksgiving, check out my recipes for baked apples, apple fries and caramel apple dip!

How Do You Make Pumpkin Cookies?

To make this pumpkin cookies recipe, start by placing the wet ingredients, the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, oil, egg and vanilla in a large bowl and stir to combine. Next, add the dry ingredients, the baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt and flour to the same bowl. Mix until a batter forms. Chill the dough for at least one hour in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spoon the cookie dough onto the parchment, and bake until the cookies are golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely. Prepare the frosting by beating butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer or stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, then add the vanilla extract. Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cookies. Add some sprinkles on top, then serve and enjoy.

Tips For The Perfect Pumpkin Cookies

It is best to use canned or homemade pumpkin puree; do not use canned pumpkin pie filling. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice at home, you can easily make your own for this recipe. Combine 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, and 1/8 teaspoon each of ground cloves and ground nutmeg. Stir all of these spices into your dough and you’ll be ready to go. You can use parchment paper or a baking mat on your baking sheet. I often use a silicone baking mat. You can change the thickness of your frosting. Simply add more powered sugar to make the frosting thicker or add milk a teaspoon at a time to thin the frosting. I recommend using an offset spatula if you’re going to spread the frosting over the pumpkin cookies. If you choose to pipe the frosting on the cookies, use a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip. Make sure to place the sprinkles on the cookies before the frosting has time to harden. I like to cool my pumpkin cookies on a wire rack so they cool quickly. You can freeze leftover pumpkin puree for later use.

I love this pumpkin cookies recipe as-is, but you can add other ingredients into the mix to customize the cookies to your tastes.

Chocolate: Add 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter. Decorate the tops of the cookies with miniature chocolate chips instead of fall sprinkles. You can also check out my recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Oatmeal: Add 1/3 cup of old fashioned oats to the batter for added flavor and texture. Raisins: Add 2/3 cup raisins to the dough, then proceed as directed with the rest of the recipe. You could also use cranberry raisins. Low Fat: Substitute half of the oil with applesauce. The texture on low fat cookies will not be quite the same as if you use just oil. Frosting: Try using brown sugar instead of powdered sugar in the frosting for a different flavor. Coconut: Use melted coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and add 1/3 cup finely shredded coconut to the batter. Maple: Add two tablespoons of maple syrup to your batter for sweet cookies.

Once you taste these cookies, you’ll find yourself making them all season long!