An easy egg-free recipes, these soft pumpkin cookies are made with pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, and topped with cream cheese frosting. They're a little cake-like, oh-so-soft, and taste like pumpkin pie in a cookie. The frosting really takes these cookies up a notch so don't skip it!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Pumpkin puree: use homemade or store-bought. Homemade tends to contain a little more moisture than canned so you may need an extra tablespoon or so of flour.
- Flour: if you want a more wholesome cookie, you can either replace ½ cup of the white flour with whole wheat, or go for a larger quantity of whole wheat pastry flour. Up to half should be barely noticeable.
- Cream cheese frosting: if you want a less sweet option, use this maple cream cheese frosting instead. For something even sweeter, you can use American buttercream.
- Make it dairy-free: for vegan cookies, use a good vegan butter that comes in stick or block form and vegan cream cheese for the frosting. Both tend to be a little softer so you may need to chill for a longer time.
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Method
Step 1: beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Step 2: beat in the pumpkin puree.
Step 3: add the dry ingredients and mix to combine. The dough will be soft.
Step 4: scoop the dough onto lined baking trays and bake for about 18 minutes.
Top Tips
- Don't over-mix: as soon as the flour is just mixed in, stop stirring. Over-mixing can lead to tough cookies.
- For round cookies: make the cookies perfectly round by swirling a bigger round cookie cutter around them on the baking sheet when they're still hot.
- Add the frosting: these are on the less sweet side for a cookie, so if you want them to be a bit sweeter, definitely top with frosting.
Recipe Notes
This is a fluffy, whoopie pie style of cookie, almost like a cupcake top. The cookies are just very slightly chewy but don't expect chocolate chip cookie level chewiness! They're cakey and meant to be.
There is a slightly longer baking time for these cookies due to their texture (it's not a typo). This is not a cookie you want to under-bake, so make sure to bake them all the way through, until the centre is set.
Pumpkin acts as an egg replacement here, adding stability and moisture.
How to Store
Storage: if frosted, store in a sealed container in the fridge in a single layer. Un-frosted cookies can be kept at room temperature for a couple of days but are best refrigerated if you plan on storing them any longer. Bring back up to room temperature before serving for the best flavour.
Freezing: pumpkin cookies freeze very well. Transfer fully cooled cookies to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, in a single layer to avoid sticking.
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Soft Pumpkin Cookies
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- 2 baking sheets
- Hand or stand mixer
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Cookie scoop or ice cream scoop
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup butter, room temperature
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the sugar and butter into the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a large bowl and electric mixer). Mix on high speed until fluffy and lightened in colour, about 2 minutes.
- Switch to the paddle attachment (if using a standing mixer - if not, use the electric mixer on low) and add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until incorporated.
- Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed until a smooth dough forms.
- Scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 tablespoons per cookie (a cookie or small ice cream scoop is ideal), leaving about 2 in. (5 cm) space between each cookie.
- Bake the cookies for 16-18 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the middle is the same colour throughout the top of the cookie. If it looks under baked in the middle, leave it for another minute or two. If using the convection setting, you can bake multiple trays at one time. Otherwise, bake the cookies in batches.
- Once the cookies are baked, let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing and cooling fully on a rack. Top with cream cheese frosting once the cookies are cooled.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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