Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies are the ultimate fall dessert recipe! Made with canned pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and a sweet & tangy cream cheese frosting … this easy cookie is soft, thick, dense, and delicious. Full of warm spices and flavor, these will be a pumpkin season family favorite!
Thick, Soft, & Spiced Fall Cookies
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the perfect fall cookie!
Homemade pumpkin sugar cookies are soft, thick, a little bit dense, and a lot delicious. They are loaded with warm spice and pumpkin flavor.
Plus they are complete with a smooth, simple, and sweet cream cheese frosting. And an extra dusting of cinnamon on top!
Are you drooling yet? Because I most certainly am!
This easy treat is a must make this pumpkin season. I promise the whole family will love these cookies!
Looking for more pumpkin spice and everything nice? I got you covered! Stop by my Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls, Maple Glazed Pumpkin Bread, or Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip next.
Ingredients
This pumpkin cookie recipe is made with a simple ingredients! The baking classics and all things pumpkin of course.
Ingredient Notes
Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin Puree: Pure pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling, is a baking staple of mine during the fall season! You will need 1/3 cup. This is a super hot commodity this time of year so if you cannot find a can of pumpkin puree in your local grocery store, here is my favorite to buy online!
- Butter: You’ll need 1/2 cup of unsalted butter for these cookies too. I prefer unsalted because you can control the amount of salt in your treat.
- Sugar: Sugar cookies need some sugar! These require your classic white sugar. 1 cup to be exact!
- Flour: Add 2 cups of all purpose flour to this pumpkin cookie dough.
- Egg: Add 1 large egg for moisture and binding.
- Vanilla Extract: I think a key flavor in sugar cookies is vanilla, so I like to add a significant amount. 2 tsp is perfect!
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: Pumpkin pie spice gives these cookies an incredible warm and rich flavor. It is so good! Add 1 1/2 tsp, or however much you’d like.
- Baking Powder: 1/4 tsp of baking powder gives these soft pumpkin sugar cookies the perfect rise.
- Salt: Lastly, add 1/2 tsp of salt to the sugar cookie dough. This balances and enhances the flavors!
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream Cheese: Cream cheese frosting is my favorite frosting of all time! If a cookie, cake, or any treat has it – i’m eating it. Cream cheese just adds the perfect tang to balance out the sweet. So good! Here you will need 4 oz.
- Butter: This frosting also calls for butter. 1/4 cup of unsalted!
- Powdered Sugar: 1/4 cup of powdered sugar gives the perfect level of sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract: You’ll need 1 tsp of vanilla extract too for that classic taste.
Kitchen Tools
- Cookie Sheet
- Mixing Bowls
- Electric Mixer
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Rubber Spatula
- Plastic Wrap
- Parchment Paper, optional
- Small Prep Bowls, optional
How To Make This Recipe
Pumpkin spice sugar cookies are actually quite an easy recipe! You can truly make the dough, chill it, and bake the cookies in under 1 hour.
You’ll have a perfect cookie and your kitchen smelling like wonderfully, warm pumpkin spice in no time at all!
Step By Step Instructions
Step 1: Set the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: Next add the melted butter, pumpkin, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Combine until smooth.
Step 3: Then to the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients – flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt. Combine until a cookie dough forms.
Step 4: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 25 minutes.
Step 5: Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll into about 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp sized cookie dough balls. Place them on a parchment paper prepared baking sheet. You should be able to make 12-14 cookies.
Step 6: Bake for 18 minutes.
Step 7: While the cookies are baking, make the cream cheese frosting. Add the cream cheese and butter to a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until evenly combined. Then beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Place the frosting in the fridge until the cookies are baked and cooled.
Step 8: Remove the cookies from the oven and cool completely. Spread about a tablespoon of frosting on the top of each cookie. Then add an extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon.
Step 9: Enjoy!
Expert Tips
Have a bunch of leftover pumpkin? Make pumpkin bread, pumpkin bars, pumpkin dip, or pumpkin snickerdoodles.
Chill the dough! This helps the cookies bake properly and it makes the slightly sticky dough easier to work with too.
Line your baking sheet with sheets of parchment paper – this makes for such easy cleanup and minimal mess.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool faster.
Refrigerate the frosting before spreading on the cookies. Depending on the softness of your cream cheese and butter, the frosting my turn out a bit runny. Chilling in the fridge will help it thicken up a bit and solidify!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Pumpkin pie spice is typically cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
Here is a recipe to make your own.
Yes, totally! If you don’t like cream cheese frosting leave it off, the cookies will still be delicious.
Instead you could try a simple glaze or maybe roll the cookies in cinnamon sugar before baking.
Store these cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Since they are topped with cream cheese frosting they can’t be left out or stored at room temperature for more than a couple of hours.
Love this recipe? Check out some similar ones below…
Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Bread with Maple Glaze
- Single Serve Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal
- Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal with Candied Pecans
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cookie Recipes
- Rainbow Sprinkle Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
- Banana Bread Cookies
- Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Connect With Me!
If you make this pumpkin sugar cookie recipe or any of my other recipes, I would absolutely love to know! Tag me @wellnessbykay on Instagram so I can see and share your recreations.
Love this recipe? Leave a comment and a rating! I love to see and it helps me continue to develop delicious recipes for this blog.
PrintPumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 18 Minutes
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 12–14 Cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
Description
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies are the ultimate fall dessert recipe! Made with canned pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and a sweet & tangy cream cheese frosting … this easy cookie is soft, thick, dense, and delicious. Full of warm spices and flavor, these will be a pumpkin season family favorite!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Set the oven to 350 degrees.
- Next add the melted butter, pumpkin, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Combine until smooth.
- Then add in the dry ingredients – flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt. Combine until a cookie dough forms.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 25 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll into about 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp sized cookie dough balls. Place them on a parchment paper prepared baking sheet. You should be able to make 12-14 cookies.
- Bake for 18 minutes.
- While the cookies are baking, make the cream cheese frosting. Add the cream cheese and butter to a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until evenly combined. Then beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Place the frosting in the fridge until the cookies are baked and cooled.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and cool completely. Spread about a tablespoon of frosting on the top of each cookie. Then add an extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon.
- Enjoy!
Keywords: pumpkin sugar cookies, pumpkin spice sugar cookies, pumpkin sugar cookie, pumpkin sugar cookie recipe, pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting, pumpkin sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting
this recipe was ass
The cookies don’t spread.
★
i loved these so much!!!!! this was one of the first recipes i’ve ever made from wellnessbykay and one of the reasons i keep coming back to her website