Soft Pumpkin Cookies
on Sep 29, 2023
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Sweet and cakey with all of those warm spices that make it feel like fall. Plus, that wonderful glazed icing!
These cookies are light and cakey and so very tender, with that slightly crunchy sweet frosting. Soft and comforting, they are obviously a wonderful fall dessert, but they are perfect for a little break in the middle of the day with a cuppa of tea or coffee.
And these cookies make use of that amazing convenience product: canned pumpkin. Yes, you can cook up your own pumpkin puree if you are feeling ambitious, but if you grab a can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling! That’s something different), you can get them into the oven in 10 minutes.
Serve these sweet old-fashioned pumpkin cookies with coffee or tea, or if you want to go full-on pumpkin, an iced spiced pumpkin latte would be amazing! My favorite drink pairing is mulled cider. Or head in another direction with a hot toddy or an espresso martini? (Also, check out How to Do a Cookie Swap!)
Table of Contents
Soft Pumpkin Cookies: Sweet and cakey with all of those warm spices that make it feel like fall. Plus – that wonderful glazey icing!
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Ingredients
- Canned pumpkin – Make sure not to buy pumpkin pie filling by accident — you want the plain pureed pumpkin. You can also make pumpkin puree from scratch! See FAQ for details.
- Brown sugar – Adds a caramel-like sweet flavor and helps keep the cookies super soft.
- White sugar – Adds sweetness and structure to these easy pumpkin cookies.
- All-purpose flour
- Unsalted butter – Bring to room temperature so it beats in easily.
- Baking powder and baking soda – Make the cookies rise in the oven.
- Ground cinnamon and cloves – What is pumpkin without spices? I don’t want to find out.
For the Icing
- Confectioners’ sugar – Thickens and sweetens the icing.
- Milk – Makes the icing soft enough to pour over the cookies.
- Unsalted butter – Adds a little richness and creaminess to the frosting.
- Pure vanilla extract – The absolute best flavor for icing. You can really taste the vanilla here, which I love!
How to Make Soft Pumpkin Cookies
- Combine the dry ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt until well blended.
- Make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter with the sugars. Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
- Bake: Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons on a baking sheet. Bake for about 16 minutes until the edges are firm and the middle isn’t mushy.
- Cool and frost: Cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Add the icing if desired.
How to Make Pumpkin Cookie Icing
- Combine the icing ingredients: While the cookies are baking and cooling, make the frosting. In a medium mixing bowl, use a mixer to blend together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
- Add frosting: When the cookies have cooled completely, spread the frosting over the cookies. Let the frosting set for about 30 minutes at room temperature.
Tips
- Make sure to leave at least 2 inches between each cookie when you drop the batter on the baking sheet.
- Cool the cookies completely before icing them.
- The frosting will firm up after about 30 minutes, as long as your kitchen isn’t too hot. You can chill them in the fridge for 20 minutes if it’s too warm for the frosting to set.
FAQs
If you have some fresh pumpkins at home, making pumpkin puree from scratch is a great option. Just cut your pumpkin in half and roast it cut-side down on a baking sheet in a 400-degree oven for about 50 minutes, or until tender. Once cool, peel off the skin, remove the seeds, and put all the flesh in your blender to blend. Now you have homemade pumpkin puree that can be used in pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, or pumpkin spice pancakes!
Fall is the perfect time to cozy up in the house with a cup of tea and a cookie. Plus, baking cookies is a great activity to do with kids on one of those autumnal rainy days. And nothing is more autumnal than pumpkins (well, maybe apples?), so a soft pumpkin cookie is perfect. And they come together in just a couple of minutes! Some of my other fall favorites are Snickerdoodles, Shortbread Cookies, and Oatmeal Cookies.
Soft cookies are largely about the ratio of ingredients in the dough. One of the most important tips is to include brown sugar, not just white: the brown sugar’s moisture (which comes from molasses) helps make the cookies soft and chewy. A generous amount of butter is also important for achieving this texture. It’s all about balancing the sugars, butter, and flour in the right amounts.
And, you should keep your cookies tightly sealed in an airtight container. If they start to harden, you can add a piece of bread to the container, reseal it, and in a few hours, they should have softened up.
This is an adaptation of a back-of-the-can recipe from Libby’s. I hope you don’t turn your nose up at back-of-the-box recipes — they can be the best! I mean: Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies? Do I need to say more?
What to Serve With Pumpkin Cookies
More Pumpkin Recipes
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Soft Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (softened)
- ¾ cup light or dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup pureed canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)
- 1 large egg
For the Icing
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt until well blended. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar and well blended. Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until completely blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.
- Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons on a baking sheet with at least 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for about 16 minutes until the edges are firm and the middle isn’t mushy. Cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are baking and cooling, make the frosting. In a medium mixing bowl, use a mixer to blend together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and pinch of salt until smooth. When the cookies have cooled completely, spread the frosting over the cookies. Let the frosting set for about 30 minutes at room temperature.
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Notes
- Make sure to leave at least 2 inches between each cookie when you drop the batter on the baking sheet.
- Cool the cookies completely before icing them.
- The frosting will firm up after about 30 minutes, as long as your kitchen isn’t too hot. You can chill them in the fridge for 20 minutes if it’s too warm for the frosting to set.
