Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
These easy-to-make, spiced-to-perfection, soft pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting pumpkins are about to be your new favorite fall cookie!
Servings: 10
Calories: 373kcal
Equipment
- Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
- 1 Flat piping tip (like Wilton #150)
- 1 Tiny round piping tip (like Wilton #3)
- 2 Pastry bags
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cookie Dough
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅜ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- ⅜ cup pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 ⅔ cups confectioners' sugar
- orange and green gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the cookie dough.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.
- In a the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer), cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add pumpkin and vanilla and beat until well blended.
- Add the dry ingredients and stir using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula just until combined.
Bake the cookies.
- Scoop 1 ½ Tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies one tray at a time for 12 minutes, or until cookies are puffed in the center with golden edges. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting.
- When the cookies have cooled, mix the cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer), beat cream cheese and butter on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and salt and beat to combine.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add confectioners’ sugar until all the sugar is added. Then beat on high speed until the mixture is well combined and creamy.
Decorate the cookies.
- Transfer ¼ cup of the frosting to another bowl, add a drop of green gel food coloring, and mix until the color is even. Add orange gel food coloring to the remaining frosting and mix until well blended. You may want to briefly chill the frosting before piping (see Notes).
- Add the green frosting to a piping bag fitted with a tiny round tip, and transfer the orange frosting to a piping bag fitted with a flat tip.
- Pipe orange frosting in a curved vertical stripe on each of a cookie's outer edges.
- Continue to pipe, working inwards, with two more curved stripes overlapping the first and then one straight stripe in the center to create a pumpkin shape.
- Pipe green frosting in short lines at the top of the cookie to create the pumpkin's stem, continuing with a little twist down one side to create a curly offshoot with leaves.
- Repeat with the other cookies until all are decorated.
Notes
Storage: Unfrosted cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Once frosted, cookies should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Freezing: These cookies can also be frozen. It's best to freeze cookies unfrosted, though frosted cookies can also be frozen. Seal cookies in an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. If freezing frosted cookies, place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer for one hour to let the frosting freeze before stacking and sealing them in the container; otherwise the frosting will become smooshed when the cookies are stacked.
If you'll be piping the frosting, you may want to let it chill in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes after mixing and before piping so that it will be firm enough to hold its shape when piped.
Nutrition
Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 194mg | Potassium: 91mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 1887IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg