Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
These soft, spiced pumpkin cookies topped with cream cheese frosting are the perfect fall treat. Plus, there’s no chilling required and the cookies are ready in about an hour.
If we’re going to let our fall freak flags fly, there’s no better way than with a batch of pumpkin cookies. The dough is so easy to make and there’s no waiting around for it to chill. Just mix, scoop, bake, and frost. It’s as easy as fall baking gets.
Ingredients
- Softened unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Pumpkin puree
- Pure vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Baking soda
- Cream cheese frosting
How to Make the Cookies
☑️ Make the Cookie Dough
Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix just until the dough comes together.
☑️ Scoop the Dough
Form the cookie dough into 1” balls (a small cookie scoop makes this easy) and place them 2″ apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly press each one to flatten it a bit.
☑️ Bake
Bake the cookies at 350°F until the edges are golden brown and the center is set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Take them off the pan and cool them to room temperature on a wire rack before icing them.
☑️ Frost the Cookies
While the cookies are baking, make the cream cheese frosting made with cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. The instructions are included in the recipe card.
Once the cookies are cool, place a piece of parchment paper under the wire rack that the cookies are on. This will catch the drips and make clean up easy.
Top each cookie with a tablespoon of frosting and spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle a little pumpkin pie spice on top for extra credit.
Baking Tips
- If you don’t want to buy pumpkin pie spice, you can use a combination of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and allspice. Mix them up and use a teaspoon of the combo for the dough.
- For the best soft cookies, don’t overmix the dough. There are two ways to avoid this. One, use a room temperature egg. It’s easier to mix into the dough than a cold one. Two, add the flour slowly and, once it’s absorbed and the dough forms, stop mixing.
- You can skip the icing and enjoy the delicious pumpkin cookies plain, but the cream cheese frosting really takes them over the top. It’s worth the extra step.
- Although it’s tempting to slap that icing on top of the warm cookies, please wait until they’ve cooled. The icing will melt if the cookies are warm and won’t set.
- You can freeze the baked cookies without the icing and thaw them to enjoy later. Iced pumpkin cookies will keep at room temperature for up to two days in – you guessed it! – an airtight container.
More Pumpkin Recipes
Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
For the Cream Cheese Icing
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well mixed. If using a stand mixer, make sure to use the paddle attachment.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the flour, pumpkin pie spice, and baking soda. Mix just until combined – you don’t want to overmix.
- Scoop out 1” balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, making sure to place them at least 2” apart. Press each of the cookies down gently to flatten it.
- Bake until the edges are golden brown and the center is set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool while you make the icing.
- Make the Icing
- Beat the softened cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the powdered sugar (about ¼ cup at a time).
- When the sugar has been fully incorporated, add the vanilla and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Frost each of the cookies with 1 tablespoon of icing and top with a pinch of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon if desired.
- Store leftover cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
Nutrition Estimate
More Cookie Recipes
- Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Molasses Cookies
- Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps
So, happy pumpkin spice season to all who celebrate. I hope you make a batch of these cookies soon!
Happy baking,
These turned out really good. I didn’t have pumpkin spice so just did a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Wish I had added cloves and will do that next time. The cookies are delicious and I really liked the icing. The only thing is I got 34 cookies so maybe I made them smaller than you did?