The first day of fall is swiftly approaching, and you know what that mean: Pumpkin Spice Everything is hitting the store shelves, the product pages, the commercials, and everywhere else.
Now, I’m not one to get cynical about it. I like a good pumpkin spice, with or without the pumpkin. I make up big batches of the spice mix to keep on hand, since it’s good pretty much anywhere you would use cinnamon. It doesn’t really bother me that people like it. It’s a classic, after all.
The hard part is, at least on my end, figuring out different ways to make pumpkin spice treats. Before I started this blog, I had a handful of things I would make all the time, and that was that. Now, I have to come up with new ideas every week. I’ve already made a bunch of pumpkin spice treats, too.
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
- Pumpkin Swiss Roll
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bars
- Spiced Pumpkin Cake
- Spiced Pumpkin Bread
One thing I haven’t made yet is cookies. So, I figured, why not try it out?
Well, this cookie recipe is great, but it’s almost hard to call them cookies. For one thing, they’re very soft, a lot more like a cake than a cookie. It’s softer, even, than soft sugar cookies! You could even crumble it up and make cake bites, I bet.
That’s about it, really. They’re shaped like cookies, and they’re delicious like cookies, but they’re very soft like a cake. I’ll try to work out a crispier or denser cookie recipe later, but for now, this is what I’ve got. It’s a lot like the spiced pumpkin cake recipe above, but as cookies, these pumpkin spice cookies are delicious. Here’s how to make them.
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Stand Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 2½ Cups Flour
- 1 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice See blog post for link to spice mix.
- ½ Cup Butter Softened.
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- ½ Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Can Pumpkin Puree 1¼ cup worth.
- 1 Egg
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Topping
- 8 Oz. Cream Cheese
- 3 Tbsp Butter Softened.
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Dash Pumpkin Pie Spice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugars until combined and fluffy.
- Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to the sugar/butter, and mix until combined.
- Add in the flour mixture and keep mixing until it just comes together.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop dollops of dough onto your baking sheet. Lightly flatten them with a finger; it's sticky, so be careful. The cookies won't spread as they bake, but they will rise, so keep that in mind.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool before icing.
- To make the icing, beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar until smooth. Add a dash of milk if it's too thick for your preferences.
- Spread the icing over top of your cooled cookies. Top with a dash of pumpkin pie spice and, optionally, some chopped nuts of your choice. I like pecans for the crunch!