Pumpkin Spice Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting

I love Fall baking! I live in Phoenix, where I have to pretend it is getting cooler in September, and I celebrate Fall with whatever I can make with pumpkin and apple. These cookies have been a favorite of ours for a long time. I love the soft texture of the cookies from the pumpkin in them and the warm, slightly spiced flavor from the pumpkin pie spice. This recipe makes 6 dozen cookies, so plenty to share with friends and family, or you can half the recipe if desired, or make some and freeze some.

The cream cheese frosting is an amazing finish to the cookie. I love the tangy sweetness of the frosting and how it complements the cookie. We like to sprinkle these with a little additional pumpkin pie spice, which adds an extra finish of pumpkin spice flavor, or you can have them with just the frosting.

Looking for other Fall recipes? Try our Sweet Potato Salad Recipe, or our Homemade Chicken and Dumpling Soup

You will need the following ingredients:

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Salt
• Butter
• Granulated sugar
• Brown sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla
• Canned pumpkin
• Cream cheese
• Powdered sugar
• Milk

I know what it’s like when you don’t have everything on hand, and the last thing you want to do is run to the store and pick something up. Here are a few ideas to substitute items on the ingredients list if needed:

1. You could use store-bought cream cheese frosting if you don’t want to make your own.
2. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, feel free to substitute with cinnamon. If you want to have more spice, pumpkin pie spice’s main ingredient is cinnamon with ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice added, and you can make your own.
3. The pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on top is optional; it just adds a bit more of the pumpkin pie spice flavor. That can also be substituted with cinnamon or simply omitted.
4. If you don’t have brown sugar, you could use all granulated sugar here.
5. I’ve never tried using fresh pureed pumpkin in this recipe, but I would guess that could be a possible substitute.
6. You could use half-and-half or cream in place of the milk in the frosting.

Step 1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until just mixed. Set aside.

Step 2. In a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer in a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, scraping down the edges of the bowl with a spatula as needed to ensure the dough is evenly mixed. Add vanilla and pumpkin and mix until fully incorporated.

Step 3. Add the flour mixture to the dough, mixing until just combined. Scrape down the edges of the bowl with a spatula to ensure the dough is evenly mixed.

Step 4. Scoop 2 Tablespoons of cookie dough onto cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between each scoop. I like using a medium-sized cookie/ice cream scoop for this. Bake cookies for 12-13 minutes. In my oven, I like them at 12 minutes, when they are cooked through and a little softer.

Step 5. In a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer in a medium-sized bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Mix in powdered sugar and salt and beat until smooth. Add vanilla and milk and mix until completely incorporated.

Step 6. Frost the cookies with the icing. I like using an offset spatula for this. I turn the frosting in a circular motion with the spatula to get a little swirl on the icing. If desired, top the iced cookies with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.

• I recommend keeping parchment paper on hand; it is especially helpful when baking cookies. Lining your pan with parchment paper helps prevent cookies from spreading when baking, which in turn helps prevent your cookies from becoming too thin and crispy. The cookies won’t stick to your pan, and pans are much easier to clean up. Also, the parchment paper creates a thin layer between the cookies and the pan, which helps promote even browning and prevents hot spots on your pan that may cause cookies to burn.
• I love using a cookie scoop when making cookies so that the cookies are a uniform size and shape. I use a medium cookie scoop for this recipe, which makes a scoop of about 2 tablespoons. I really like the one from Pampered Chef or this scoop from Amazon works great as well.
• Also, I love my USA pan baking sheets, they cook so evenly, are high quality, and long-lasting.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.