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 Muffins, and Healthy Pumpkin Bread!
author’s note
Pumpkin Cookies That Melt in Your Mouth!
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
| Ingredient | Swap / Tip |
|---|---|
| Flour | Spoon & level for accuracy. Too much flour = dry cookies. |
| Pumpkin Purée | Use 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. |
| Pumpkin Pie Spice & Cinnamon | Make your own blend if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice. |
| Brown Sugar | Use dark brown sugar for deeper flavor. |
| Unsalted Butter | Salted butter works, just cut back on added salt. |
| Cream Cheese (for frosting) | Room temp, full-fat cream cheese works best for stability. |
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.
Featured Comment
“I’ve made these cookies a few times now and I get compliments every time! They don’t last very long when I take them places. I’ll never use another recipe.”
– Abby
Storage
Can You Freeze Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting?
- Unfrosted cookies: Keep in an airtight container at room temp for 3 to 4 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
- Frosted cookies: Store in the fridge with parchment between layers. Best within 3 to 4 days.
- Freezing dough: Scoop dough balls onto a tray, freeze until solid, then place in a bag for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen with 1 to 2 extra minutes.
- Frosting: Do not freeze. Make fresh when ready to use.
More Amazing Pumpkin Treats:
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Pumpkin Cake Recipe (BEST EVER!)
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Pumpkin Pecan Pie
Breakfast
Pumpkin Scones Recipe
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Pumpkin Cheesecake Ball
Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are soft, delicious, and dusted with pumpkin pie spice to make the perfect fall dessert!
Video
Equipment
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Stand mixer 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.
Final step! Please let us know how it was by leaving a review.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Do not store the cookies in a sealed plastic container. Instead, store on plates loosely covered with foil in the fridge. They’re best eaten the same day or within 2–3 days. After that, they soften too much. Freeze unbaked cookie dough balls for up to 3 months; bake straight from freezer with an additional 1–3 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 105kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3.9g | Cholesterol: 13.9mg | Sodium: 67.4mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 11.3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Fantastic cookies! I made two sheets at the same time for 12 minutes. They were wonderful and chewy even without the frosting. The frosting really puts them over the top. They are quick and easy to make and perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and potlucks.
So happy to hear these were a hit! Thanks Tom! 🙂
These are amazing! I used all purpose gluten free flour and they turned out so good. Perfectly soft and fluffy with the perfect amount of spice. Didn’t make any frosting because I didn’t have the ingredients on hand but I dont think they need it, they stand on their own. I also added chocolate chips to half the batch, just because. All were gobbled up quickly by hubs and kids. Thanks for the recipe, I won’t be making any other pumpkin cookie recipe, this is it!
AHHH I am seriously sooo happy to hear this!! Thanks for the tip on the gluten free flour!! YAY!! 🙂
I’ve made these pumpkin cookies twice. Turned out really good!
YAYYY!! Soo happy to hear! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
I made these and doubled the amount of pumpkin and think even more pumpkin would have brought out more of the pumpkin flavor. The basic recipe makes soft cookies.
Thanks for the comment!
These are literally the BEST!!! I’m kind of obsessed now! ? The first time I tried making them, I forgot to flatten them out, but they turned out amazing anyways! This time, I’ll TRY not to eat the entire two dozen or so. ????
Yay! SO happy to hear these are the best 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment and review Lucy!
Hi, I just came across your recipe and can’t wait to make these cookies. About the pumpkin filling: do you drain or blot the filling to get out some of the liquid? I’ve seen other recipes where that’s done and wondered if you experimented with that at all. Thanks, and can’t wait to whip these up!
– Brian
Hey Brian! I don’t blot out for these cookies, but I do recommend a good quality, solid packed pumpkin like Libby’s! Enjoy!
Oh my!! There are not even words to describe how delicious these cookies are!! Our family loves pumpkin and these cookies are perfect! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!!
Yay!! So thrilled to hear these were a hit. Thanks for the comment and review Lynesse!
The cookies are terrific !! Best recipe ever ! First time I tried !
Yay! So happy to hear that 🙂 Thanks Luisa!
Why can’t you use spreadable cream cheese? I didn’t notice that comment until after shopping and grabbed spreadable 🙁
It might work; the two are different though (https://www.finecooking.com/article/for-baking-use-cream-cheese-bricks)
Just made these. They are yummy. I like how light they are. Frosting them tomorrow.
So happy to hear these are a hit! Thanks for the comment Heather! 🙂