Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Are you in for a pumpkin cookie with cream cheese frosting? Then I might have something for you. This is a cake-like pumpkin cookie that is very soft and has a not too sweet cream cheese frosting serving as a nice contrast. You may not think much about it, but here in Germany pumpkin is usually not served in sweet goods, you will find tons of savory recipes, but sweet ones not so much. I sometimes wonder why. There is a reason why pumpkin is very popular in North America in any baked goods, it has a sweet kind of flavor and carries a lot of fall flavor, makes sense to me. So let’s give these cookies a try!

So as stated, Germans don’t seem to be too fond of pumpkin flavor in cookies, but maybe these can make you change your mind. Since it is very difficult in Germany to find canned pumpkin, I just made pumpkin puree myself. Homemade mashed pumpkin is more watery than canned one, so I hope you can forgive me if I cannot help you that much if you are using canned pumpkin. I believe the recipe should still work, so please let me know if you try this recipe with canned pumpkin. Happy to learn how the cookies turn out then.

When I served these cookies for the first time to my test eaters, several came back asking for the recipe. That is a huge deal, especially considering that Germans are very suspicious if they see anything made with pumpkin that is supposedly sweet. You can probably imagine that not every recipe I test actually makes it onto the blog. Many recipes are just OK or mediocre and are left to be forgotten. So once I made these pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting and people actively requested the recipe, I knew I had a winner. So I quikkly made a second batch. However, these didn’t turn out as great. I didn’t know why. So I had to make several batched before I found the problem. Chilling was the key to success, chilling these cookies overnight, actually. So this is my number one tip for you if you make these, chill them overnight and you will get really nicely shaped cookies.

Even though my second and third batch were not as tall as the cookies you see here on the pictures, they were gobbled up in no time. Your cookies may be much flatter if you don’t chill them long enough. One of the test eater who immediately tried my recipe herself at home, said that the cookies actually taste better on day 2. If you actually manage to keep enough for that long. The flavor of the spices will definitely intensify.

Credit: Cooking Classy

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Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Serves: About 20-24 Cookies

Prep Time: 30min preparation + chilling – Cooking Time: 12min – Total Time: 45min

These pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting have a cake-like cookie as base and are topped off with a not too sweet frosting with cream cheese.

Ingredients

• Cookies
• 140 grams of butter, at room temperature
• 100 grams of brown sugar
• 50 grams of regular sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, see here how to make your own
• 240 grams of pumpkin puree (so not pumpkin pie filling, but plain mashed pumpkin)
• 290 grams of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ½ TL teaspoon of nutmeg
• ½ TL teaspoon of ground ginger
• 
  
• Frosting
• 70 grams of butter, at room temperature
• 60 grams of icing sugar
• 110 grams of cream cheese

Instructions

1

For the cookies beat the soft butter for about two minutes until creamy. Then add the sugars and beat for an additional two minutes. Add the egg, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients and only beat until combined. Cover bowl and chill overnight. It is important to chill the cookies as otherwise they will spread.

2

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Drop by the tablespoon and bake for about 12 minutes. Chill remaining dough while baking and let the cookies cool completely before frosting.

3

For the frosting cream the soft butter, then add icing sugar and cream further. Add the cream cheese last and mix until everything is combined. If too runny, stick in the fridge for the butter to harden and then beat again before frosting. Frost each cookie with a spoon or knive and dust with additional cinnamon if desired.

P.S: If you are interested in more pumpkin recipes:

Pumpkin waffles

Cut-out pumpkin cookies with pumpkin

Pumpkin roll with apple cream

Vegan pumpkin rolls in the shape of pumpkins

Pumpkin caramel cupcakes