Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cookies

These pumpkin cream cheese cookies are the best fall cookie recipe you’ll ever try! Made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices, these thumbprint cookies are topped with homemade cream cheese frosting and dusted with cinnamon. Ready in just 40 minutes – no chill time required!

These delicious cookies are perfect all through the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to Christmas! Everything is made from scratch, but what makes this recipe easier than others is the thumbprint center for the cream cheese frosting – perfect for beginner bakers and holds the frosting so much better than just brushing it on top.

Everyone will love these soft pumpkin cookies for a dessert or tailgate party. And if you have leftover pumpkin you can use it for these pumpkin jumbo muffins or pumpkin sage pasta.

Ingredients

Here are some details on the main ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below.

• Flour – I like to use an all purpose flour without malted barley. King Arthur Whole Wheat, Bob’s Red Mill Organic, Arrowhead Mills, White Wings, and Gold Medal are some brands I tend to buy.
• Pumpkin puree – I have found that regular pumpkin puree often tastes and bakes better than organic. This is especially true with my pumpkin apple bread. Organic brands tend to have a lot more water and less flavor, whereas ones like Libby are a deep orange color. You could also use homemade pumpkin puree, just be aware that they all may give you different textures and flavors! Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
• Sugar – This recipe uses 3 kinds of sugar – regular white cane sugar, light brown sugar, and powdered sugar for the cheesecake filling.
• Spices – Warm spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger all add perfect seasonal fall flavors to the recipe. I prefer to add these all separately as pumpkin pie spice tends to vary by brand.
• Vanilla – Any kind of vanilla extract will work. I tend to use the Trader Joe’s alcohol free vanilla.
• Cream Cheese – Philadelphia brand in the plain block form works for this recipe, as well as Publix Greenwise. You just want to avoid anything with carrageenan or any cream cheese in a tub.
• Butter – Good butter makes a difference! I love Kerrygold and get a great deal on it at Costco or Trader Joe’s. Make sure this is at room temperature by leaving it on the counter an hour before you start baking. You want it to be soft, not melted.

How to Make

For the pumpkin cookies

1. Mix together wet ingredients. In a large bowl or mixer bowl, add room temperature butter and sugar and blend on medium-high speed till light and fluffy.
2. Stir in egg, pumpkin and vanilla or mix on low. It’s ok if the mixture looks a little bit grainy (this can happen if your pumpkin puree is a little cold, which mine was). It all turns out when you bake it.
3. Mix together dry ingredients. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Begin by mixing the dry ingredients together – flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
4. Combine the wet and dry. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients to the butter/pumpkin mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Cream Cheese Frosting

5. Make the pumpkin cookies. Using a spoon, scoop out a drop of pumpkin cookie dough onto a prepared sheet pan covered with a silpat or parchment paper. Use the back of the spoon (or finger) to create a nice “mound”. Bake at 350F for 13-15 minutes, until lightly brown around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes.
6. Make the thumbprint. While still warm, use your finger to make a small divot in the cookie for the cream cheese filling.
7. Make the cream cheese filling. In a mixing bowl, whisk together room temperature butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar, a little bit at a time, till desired thickness (and sweetness) is reached.
8. Make the pumpkin cream cheese cookies. While still at room temperature, add a dollop of cheesecake filling inside of each cookie and then sprinkle with cinnamon on top.

Storage Suggestions

Because these pumpkin cream cheese cookies involve butter and cream cheese, which should be refrigerated for storage, you have three preparation options.

1. Fill the cookies right away and consume them immediately.
2. Fill the cookies right away and store the whole cookie in the fridge or freezer.
3. Keep the cookies out and store the frosting until you’re ready to serve.

Refrigerator – If storing in the fridge, the cookies can dry out after a day or two, so just be aware of that.

Freezer – I recommend defrosting by leaving out at room temperature. They should be soft within an hour or two. These cookies will store well in the freezer for up to 3 months.