My freshman year of high school I took a cooking class as an elective because I like to cook and I thought it would be a fun elective, because coooooking! Honestly it was a pretty big let down and it basically ended up being for people who didn’t know how to cook. I don’t even really remember that much of it, accept for the cooking contest my group lost because we didn’t add enough salt to our dish. I don’t know how that happened, because I allllways salt stuff, like more than the normal person, but somehow on this dish we plain ol’ forgot the salt. Rookie move for sure.
Anyway, the only other thing I remember from that class was the pumpkin cookies we made. They were the one bright spot out of the experience — super soft with a sweet vanilla glaze on top, my absolute favorite.
That class was 9 years ago, and I realized the other day, that I haven’t made pumpkin cookies since! How is that even possible!? This travesty needed to end this year. So I made not one, but two pumpkin cookie recipes, and they are straight out-of-this-world amazing!
The cookie recipe for today are my soft pumpkin cookies with a cream cheese frosting. I love these cookies because you can frost them however you please. Spread it on top of the cookies, or sandwiched in between… choose your own journey.
These cookies are so simple to make, and absolutely delicious. They’re soft like cake cookies, with a beautiful balance of fall spice, topped with a silky smooth cream cheese frosting. They are melt in your mouth delicious! Need I say anything more? Now let’s get to the good part, how to make them.
How to make Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
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- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, whip together the pumpkin, softened butter, and sugar, until fluffy, about one minute.
3. Then add in your egg and mix for another minute. Next add in the vanilla and mix for another minute. Your dough should be fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl combine, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. Starting on low, gently increase the speed of the hand mixer until the dry ingredients are mixed into the wet, and your dough becomes sticky.
6. Place your dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
7. When 30 minutes is up, scoop out a golf ball sized scoop of cookie dough, and using your hands roll it into a ball. Place six cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet, put the rest of the dough back into the refrigerator.
8. Bake the cookies for 11 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat steps 7-9 for the remaining cookie dough.
10. Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting
- Using an electric hand mixer, whip together the cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Then add the vanilla and lemon juice. Mix until the frosting is smooth and there are no clumps. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Cookie Sheet
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Cup Softened Butter
- 1 Egg
- 2 tsps Vanilla
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
For the Frosting
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 3/4 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
For the Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Using an electric hand mixer, whip together the pumpkin, softened butter, and sugar until fluffy, about one minute.
- Then add in your egg and mix for another minute. Next add in the vanilla and mix for another minute. Your dough will be light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl combine, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.
- Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. Starting on low, gently increase mixer speed until the dry ingredients are mixed into the wet, and your dough becomes sticky.
- Place your dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- When 30 minutes is up, scoop out a golf ball sized scoop of cookie dough, and using your hands roll it into a ball. Place six cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet, put the rest of the dough back into the refrigerator.
- Bake the cookies for 11 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat for the remaining cookie dough. Let cookies cool for an hour before frosting.
For the Frosting
- Using an electric hand mixer, whip together the cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Then add the vanilla and lemon juice. Mix until the frosting is smooth and there are no clumps. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.