Small-batch Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

These Small-batch Pumpkin Cookies are a pumpkiny fall dream. They’re chewy, spicy, soft, and smothered with tangy cream cheese frosting.

Hey, friend. Welcome to October, AKA the month where we put pumpkin into everything: pumpkin pasta, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin lattes, and today, cookies.

Might I interest you in some Small-batch Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting?

(If your answer is no, we might not be able to keep being friends.)

These cookies are a pumpkiny fall dream: chewy, spicy, soft, and smothered with tangy cream cheese frosting.

The recipe will make just eight cookies, and like most of my small-batch cookie recipes, it’s quick, easy, and super simple to throw together.

See also: Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

The cookies are made with melted butter, so there’s no butter to soften (for the cookies–we’ll talk about the frosting in a sec), and the dough doesn’t need to be chilled. So you can decide to make some pumpkin cookies and have them baked and cooling on your counter in about 20 minutes.

Once the cookies are mostly cooled, it’s time to frost them. I used my favorite Cream Cheese Frosting, and folks, it’s really excellent cream cheese frosting.

Silky smooth, creamy, and just the right balance of tangy and sweet, you will probably want to eat it with a spoon, which I totally recommend–just try and leave some for the cookies too. 😉

Small-batch Pumpkin Cookies Recipe Notes

• If you don’t like cream cheese frosting, you can also use my small-batch Vanilla Frosting.
• While the cookies are made with melted butter, the cream cheese frosting uses softened cream cheese and softened butter. Take out the butter and cream cheese for the frosting when you take you the rest of your cookie ingredients and let them sit on the counter while you make your cookies. They should both be softened by the time the cookies are made, baked, and cooled. Though if your kitchen is cold, you may need to cut them into smaller pieces so they soften more quickly.
• For more small-batch cookies, try these Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies, Frosted Sugar Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, and Shortbread Cookies.

This recipe won’t use up an entire can of pumpkin puree. For ideas on what to do with the leftovers, check out What to Do With Leftover Pumpkin Puree.

Small-batch Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

These Small-batch Pumpkin Cookies are a pumpkiny fall dream. They're chewy, spicy, soft, and smothered with tangy cream cheese frosting.

5 from 4 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Cooling Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings (Hover or Click to Change Yield): 8 cookies

Calories: 299kcal

Author: Tracy

Ingredients

Small-batch Pumpkin Cookies

• ▢ 4 tablespoons (2oz) unsalted butter *
• ▢ 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour measured by weight or using the spoon and sweep method*
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon *
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• ▢ Pinch of ground nutmeg
• ▢ 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg yolk
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30g) canned pumpkin puree
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ▢ 2 ounces cream cheese softened
• ▢ 4 tablespoons (2oz) unsalted butter softened
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar sifted
• ▢ Pinch of salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon milk optional
• ▢ Ground cinnamon or sprinkles optional for topping

Instructions

Pumpkin Cookies

• Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
• In a small, microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter for 20 to 30 seconds, until mostly melted. Set aside to cool.
• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, and whisk until well-combined. Add egg yolk, canned pumpkin, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
• Use a spoon to stir in flour mixture until just combined. Scoop 1 1/2-ounce scoops of dough (this should make 8 cookies) and place on a cookie sheet (for the roundest cookies, roll your dough into a ball before placing on the sheet). Use the palm of your hand to smash the dough to 1/2-inch thickness.
• Bake for 8 to 11 minutes, until the tops of the cookies look set and the bottoms are just slightly browned. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• In a medium bowl, combine softened cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.
• Add powdered sugar and pinch of salt and beat until frosting is smooth, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make sure all of the sugar is incorporated. If the frosting is too thick, add milk by the half teaspoon until frosting is creamy and smooth.
• Frost on cooled cookies. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or sprinkles if desired. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

*You can use salted butter in this recipe (cut the salt in half in the cookies and omit the extra pinch of salt in the frosting), but some people find frosting made with salted butter to be too salty.

*Correct flour measurement is very important in this recipe. For best results, measure by weight or the Spoon and Sweep Method (stir the flour in your container to fluff it up and then spoon it into your measuring cup, sweep excess off with the flat of a knife).

* You can replace the spices (not the salt) in the cookies with 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

Did you make this recipe?I'd love to see it! Tag @BakingMischief or hashtag it #BakingMischief.

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