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Ohhhhh, you guys. These cookies. These. Cookies. We know we mayyyy have a tendency to rant and rave about food, but these are truly amazing. They’re everything you want a fall cookie to be. They’re so very soft and a little bit chewy with just the right amount of pumpkin spice flavor. All of that topped with a maple cream cheese frosting… and it’s almost too good. As soon as the last one was gone, we wanted to make them twelve more times. What can we say? We always want them around.

These make BIG cookies; you can really only fit eight per cookie sheet. When you scoop out the dough, you want to flatten each scoop a bit with your hand, but not too much as their size helps keep them so nice and soft. It’s a sticky dough, so wetting your hand a bit helps keep the dough from sticking to it as you press them down.

If you like a crispy cookie, these may not be for you. Then again, they might be. You probably just didn’t know what you were missing. There’s no crunch here – they’re unabashed in their delicate cakiness and we love them for it.

The pumpkin provides that nice autumnal flavor but also helps keep the cookie fluffy and light. And we love that this is a sugar cookie that you don’t have to chill, or roll, or cut out. It’s just batter to the oven. And that’s nice. Because waiting for these is hard.

It can also be hard to refrain from eating the maple cream cheese frosting right out of the bowl, but we recommend you try. Creamy, sweet, and subtly maple-y, it’s the perfect complement to this pillowy dream of a pumpkin cookie. But don’t take our word for it. Go make these. Go. Go now.

Yield(s): Serves 24

30 minutes

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Ingredients
  • For the cookies:
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • For the frosting:
  • 3-4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves until combined. Set aside.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy. Mix in egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. Add pumpkin and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
  5. With mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredient mixture until well combined.
  6. Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, place balls of dough 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand. (Dough will be sticky, you can wet your hands a bit to prevent sticking.)
  7. Bake until set and golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.
  8. While cooling, make the frosting:
  9. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add maple syrup and beat until incorporated.
  10. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition, until desired consistency is reached. Beat on medium-high for 2-3 minutes for fluffier frosting.
  11. Frost cookies with maple cream cheese frosting and garnish with some cinnamon sugar, if desired. Enjoy!

Adapted from Cooking Classy.


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