These soft and flavorful pumpkin pie cookies taste just like traditional pumpkin pie! They’re topped with a sweet and tangy cream cheese vanilla frosting and are a great way to use up any extra cans of pumpkin puree in the pantry this fall season or any time of year!
These cookies just melt in your mouth!
Our family loves easy desserts and baking, besides these Soft Pumpkin Cookies, our favorites lately have been Oreo Brownies, Peach Cobbler Cake and Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies.
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Ingredients
Everyone loves a good cookie with frosting and glaze. These cookies kinda remind you of a carrot cake or Carrot Cookies. Carrot or pumpkin makes the cookies super moist and flavorful without anyone even realizing what is it made of.
- Pumpkin puree - Pumpkin pie filling is not a suitable alternative to pumpkin puree so don’t get these two mixed up. The puree gives these cookies a cake-like texture and a good amount of moisture. A good brand of canned pumpkin we like to use Libby’s.
- Flour - All-purpose flour is a sturdy option for chewy cookies. You could use gluten-free flour instead such as Measure to Measure or Bob’s Red Mill. I also like to sift the flour so that no lumps form in the cookie dough. I haven't tried plant-based flour such as coconut flour but I'm sure it would work.
- Butter and eggs - I’ve used melted unsalted butter in these pumpkin treats but you could use salted butter instead and omit the salt called for in the ingredients. The egg should be at room temperature for easy mixing.
- Spices - You could omit the cinnamon since pumpkin pie spice typically includes cinnamon anyway but I enjoy that extra kick of warm spices in these scrumptious cookies.
- Sugar - I’ve used white granulated sugar which adds sweetness to the cookies and makes them crispy on the outside. While brown sugar could also be used, it may make the soft cookies overly moist.
- Oats - Use regular oats for these cookies, not whole grain.
- Frosting - I’ve made a vanilla cream cheese frosting to top these soft and cake-like cookies. All you need is cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. You could also make a maple frosting by adding some pure maple syrup to the frosting mixture.
- We love to use the same thick cream cheese frosting in our other cookie recipes, especially these soft Ricotta Cookies.
For the full list of ingredients, please scroll down where you'll find the recipe card.
Instructions
In a large mixer bowl beat eggs, sugar, vanilla. Add fresh pumpkin puree.
In a separate large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Whisk to combine and add to wet ingredients gradually.
Mix until ingredients are almost combined.
Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
Shape about 2 tablespoon size cookie dough balls and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet leaving at least 2 inches apart. Slightly press down the cookies.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Bake for 12 minutes.
The cookies will have a very soft and moist center inside.
Let the cookies stand in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, combine the icing ingredients and once the cookies are cool to touch top with frosting and enjoy.
Tips
- Make sure that the egg is at room temperature and the butter is melted for this recipe, as this helps them to mix much better into the cookie batter.
- You can easily double the ingredients to make an extra batch of cookies and store them away in an airtight container in the freezer to enjoy whenever you like.
- Always check the expiry date on the label of your baking soda as old or expired ingredients can affect how these cookies rise while baking.
- Use a cookie scoop for ease of measuring and to ensure uniform-sized cookies that will bake evenly.
- I’ve refrigerated the cookie dough before shaping the cookie balls and baking the cookies. This helps the cookie dough thicken and will also prevent the cookies from spreading flat while baking, which is especially important since this recipe used melted butter!
- Baking time could vary since all ovens heat differently. These cookies should take about 12-13 minutes in the oven but you can insert a toothpick to test for readiness.
- Add in some chocolate chips to make chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
Freezing and Storing Instructions
Cool the soft pumpkin cookies before storing them completely. Transfer to airtight containers and keep at room temperature for 3-5 days or freeze for 2-3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Depending on how much frosting you add to each cookie, these pillowy soft pumpkin cookies can reach as many as 230 calories each. That shouldn’t come as a surprise considering that the recipe hasn’t spared the use of creamy ingredients, butter, and sugar.
These cookies may not be diet-conscious but they’re certainly healthier than most commercial cookies and they taste amazing!
I don’t recommend using pumpkin pie filling in any pumpkin recipes that call for pumpkin puree (store-bought or homemade pumpkin puree). The two ingredients are quite different and will yield different results in your baked treats.
Pumpkin pie filling already contains sugar and spices while pumpkin puree is only cooked pumpkin. By using pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree in this recipe or any other recipe that calls for pumpkin puree, you risk adding too much sugar and spices to the baked treats. Pumpkin pie filling could also affect the consistency of these cookies.
These cookies taste just like pumpkin pie with a delicious pumpkin spice flavor. They’re soft with a tangy and sweet cream cheese frosting.
Pumpkin spice goes well with so many other flavors such as other spices (ground nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger), vanilla, cream cheese, and browned butter, to name a few.
Thank you so much for reading about how to make soft pumpkin cookies. Please feel free to comment with any questions you may have! I love reading your feedback.
Rita
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below. Thank you!
Easy Baking Recipes
- Cookies And Cream Cookies
- Valentine Oreo Brownie Bars With Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- Red Velvet Cookies With White Chocolate Chips
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Peppermint Snowball Chocolate Chip Cookies (No Nuts)
Soft Pumpkin Pie Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For Red Velvet Cookies
- ½ cup pumpkin puree such as Libby’s not pumpkin pie filling
- 7 oz butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 + ½ cup flour sifted
- 1 cup oats regular not wholegrain
- 1 teaspoon baking soda sifted
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixer bowl beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add fresh pumpkin puree.
- In a separate large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Whisk to combine and add to wet ingredients gradually.
- Mix until ingredients are almost combined.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Shape about 2 tablespoon size cookie dough balls and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet leaving at least 2 inches apart. Slightly press down the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- The cookies will have a very soft and moist center inside.
- Let the cookies stand in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, combine the icing ingredients, and once the cookies are cool touch top with frosting and enjoy.
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