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These soft pumpkin cookies may become your new favorite Fall cookie; they’re tender pillowy pumpkin cookies with sweet spices and a dollop of tangy cream cheese frosting.

I eat a cookie like this, and I’m already thinking about the soonest time I can make a batch of Pfefferneuse for Christmas. People, I’m a spice cookie nut, and these pumpkin cookies are no exception.

With my own blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves, there’s just the right amount of all the things. I really thought that this cookie was going to be a plainer version of my caramel apple cookies. Surprise, surprise, these outshined them all. That’s a true upset victory given that I stacked the deck by topping them with caramel sauce! Maybe there is something to the magic of pumpkin spice after all.

All I know is, you should dig out a can of pumpkin from your pantry. You’re going to want to make these now.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

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cookie scoop and pumpkin cookie dough balls, flattened on cookie sheet

Why you’re going to make a pot of coffee after you pull these cookies out of the oven

Spices: I make no apologies for my love of spices, and you’ll love this blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. These spices + pumpkin = love.
So soft: If you’ve never eaten a cake type cookie, they’re really special. Not quite a cookie, and not quite quick bread, they’re kind of both of those and something more at the same time. They’re cozy in the best possible eat it while you find a nice blanket and a good Agatha Christie kind of way.
Cream Cheese Icing!: The tang of the cream cheese here balances out everything perfectly. Pumpkin goes so well with creamy textures, too, making this the best of all possible worlds.
Whiskey: Just like with my Caramel Apple Cookies, the little bit of whiskey really ties all the flavors together. Of course you can use vanilla instead if you don’t have or don’t want to use whiskey (though know the alcohol bakes off).

closeup of pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cookies on platter and text overlay

Ingredients you’ll need for pumpkin cookies

Butter
Brown Sugar
Egg
Apple flavored whiskey (or vanilla paste): I like Jack Daniel’s apple.
Pumpkin: canned solid pack 100% pumpkin is the way to go here.

All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
Sour cream: adds tenderness

Process for making soft pumpkin spice cookies

egg and whiskey added to butter and sugar

Grind: grind any whole spices you’re using in a coffee grinder or a mortar & pestle. Measure in any pre-ground spices you’re using.
Mix: Mix the spices with flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Cream: the butter and the rest of the brown sugar together. Add the egg and whiskey and mix into a creamy batter.
Alternate wet and dry ingredients: Alternate adding a little bit of the flour mixture with the sour cream and pumpkin. Start and end with the flour mixture.
Scrape: scrape down the bowl one last time to make sure that the dough is mixed well.
Scoop: 8 cookies to a sheet. Leaving space between the cookies means you get round, lovely cookies that don’t bake together.
Flatten: Flatten the cookies with lightly damp hands for the best shape.
Bake: bake until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned and the tops are slightly domed and set.

How to make the best pumpkin cookies

ground cardamom, cardamom pods and mortar and pestle

adding sour cream and pumpkin to pumpkin cookie dough

Grind spices fresh: If you buy your spices whole and grind them as you need them, I swear you’ll never look back. Think about the pre-ground coffee and the fresh coffee you grind before you brew it up for your weary eyes, and you’ll start to understand where I’m coming from. All herbs and spices start to lose their flavor-containing essential oils the second they get broken down. The sooner you put that flavor into a finished baked good, the more flavorful it will be. I don’t like wasting things, but if you have a tin of cinnamon that’s been sitting in your cupboard so long you could call it vintage, toss it.
Don’t overmix: making the dough for these cookies uses the pound cake method where you alternate adding your dry and wet ingredients to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Don’t worry about fully mixing each addition. A few seconds after each is perfect. You’ll finish up mixing everything together by hand. We want cake, not bread.
Pipe or spread: While I love the look of a piped rosette of the cream cheese frosting, feel free to spread it on with a knife if that’s more your aesthetic or you’re short on time. They’ll be just as delicious!

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

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Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 23 cookies

Print Recipe

Description

Pillowy comforting cookies with a dollop of cream cheese frosting and all the sweet spices of Fall. Simple to make, but better to eat!

Ingredients

Scale

1 stick butter (113 g), at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar (148 g)
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon apple flavored whiskey or 1 tsp vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (292 g)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for decoration
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice (whole or ground)
1/8 teaspoon cloves (whole or ground)
1/4 cup sour cream (60 g)
1/4 cup canned pumpkin (61 g)

Cream Cheese Icing

4 ounces cream cheese, softened (108 g)
1 cup powdered sugar (120 g)
4 Tablespoons butter (57 g)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Cream the butter and the brown sugar until it is light and fluffy. This will take about 2-3 minutes in a stand mixer or a hand mixer depending on how soft your butter is.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix in the egg and whiskey (or vanilla) until you have a smooth batter.
If you’re using whole spices, grind them all together in an electric coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle. After you’ve ground everything to the consistency of ground cinnamon, measure any pre-ground spices you’re using into the rest of the spices.
Whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the spices in a small bowl to distribute the spices and leavening throughout the flour.
Alternate wet and dry ingredients.Add about one third of the flour mixture to the butter, then mix for a few seconds. It doesn’t need to be smooth. Next, add about half of the sour cream and half of the apple butter, mixing again for a few seconds. Continue alternating adding the flour and the sour cream/pumpkin, ending with the flour. Be sure not to overbeat the mixture. No more than 5 seconds of beating with each addition is about right.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix the batter a few turns by hand to make sure everything is well-incorporated.
Scoop 2 Tablespoons of batter onto your prepared sheets. Spread out the cookies well with no more than 8 cookies to a sheet.
Lightly dampen your hands with a few drops of water, then press down on the tops of the cookies to flatten them to about 1/2″ thick.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and spinning them 180 degrees halfway through baking. The finished cookies will be lightly browned on the bottom and the centers of the cookies will spring back when you lightly touch them.
Repeat the baking with the remaining batter.
Cool the cookies completely.
While the cookies are cooling, make the cream cheese icing. Beat together all of the icing ingredients until you get a smooth, fluffy icing with no lumps. Scoop the icing into a piping bag with a decorative tip you like, then pipe a half-dollar size dollop in the center of each cookie. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over the top of the cream cheese frosting.
Cookies are best the day that they’re made, though you can keep them in the fridge on the same cookie sheet you decorated them on for up to 3 days.

Notes

Fresh spices are better, but use what you have: I’ll step up on my soapbox for a second. If you can, buy your spices fresh and grind them as you need them in an electric coffee grinder or a mortar & pestle. It may seem like a pain, but you will get SO MUCH MORE flavor out of them. As a bonus, your spices will keep for much longer than pre-ground, making sure that your bakes will taste better for longer.
Can I use pre-made pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice?: Yes, of course, though I’ll still encourage you to blend your own from the quantities listed here. If you use pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice, use 2 teaspoons.
Perfect transport: If you’re packing up the cookies to take anywhere, refrigerate them first to set the icing. The butter and cream and cream cheese will firm up, making sure that the icing won’t smear during transport.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 0 hours
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Category: Cookies
Cuisine: American