We all have our favorite cookie. There are those of us who can’t resist a gooey chocolate chip. Some of us crave the sweet softness of a snickerdoodle. Many people can’t think of anything better than the brown sugar flavor of oatmeal raisin! And while all of these cookies are delicious and go great with a cup of joe, there’s just one cookie that we crave with our coffee during fall: pumpkin.
If you’ve never had a pumpkin cookie, you’re about to be saddened by all the years it’s been missing in your life. These cookies are soft, pillowy, spice-scented pieces of heaven topped with a tangy and sweet cream cheese frosting to take them to the next level. For fans of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and the cult-classic pumpkin spice latte- this cookie is for you!
Ingredients:
Cookies:
2.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces (block) cream cheese, softened
½ stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dusting of pumpkin pie spice
Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a large bowl.
In another bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, beating again until the mixture is smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix or it will create denser cookies.
Use a tablespoon measure to scoop out balls of dough so they’re all even. Use another small spoon to help scoop out the dough onto sheet pan. Smooth out the tops and flatten each dough ball slightly. They’ll expand quite a bit, so leave about 2 inches of room around each ball.
Bake for 8-12 minutes, making sure they don’t really “brown” on top (you don’t want them to be shiny or wet, but you don’t want them to be dark, either). Remove and allow cookies to sit on the sheet pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
While they cool, make the frosting. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla, beating again until soft and creamy. You want to just incorporate these last ingredients so the frosting doesn’t get whipped too much.
Once the cookies have cooled, frost each with a big dollop of the cream cheese frosting and dust lightly with pumpkin pie spice.
These cookies will get softer with each day that passes, so we recommend storing in them in the fridge and consuming within 3 days.
