Let my warm, spicy pumpkin sugar cookies recipe fill your kitchen with ooey gooey goodness! The warm spicy smell of these little pumpkin cookies permeates the kitchen beckoning to every hungry tummy within smelling distance.
Most people whip up pumpkin spice cookies during the autumn months, but why wait that long? Summer is a great time for fruit cookies, so just swap your favorite tart fruit for creamy, dreamy pumpkin and bring some autumnal cheer into your sweltering summer!
These tender, moist cookies are as sensational as my coconut cookies recipe or my banana chocolate chip cookies — great for the whole family and sinfully easy to make!
Let’s bake!
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What I Love About This Recipe
Anything pumpkin flavored has my heart! These sweet, crunchy cookies are my guilty pleasures all year long.
- No chill time so they bake in a snap!
- Pumpkin flavor to the MAX
- Great to make with kids
- Perfect crunchy-chewy texture
How To Make Pumpkin Sugar Cookies Recipe
Start by preheating your oven and prepping your baking sheet. Yep, you’ll need it all straight away, so hop on it!
Next, bring together your dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix your sugars and butter until fluffy, then beat in the oil, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Add your flour mixture until blended.
Shape your dough into medium-sized cookies and place two inches apart on your baking sheets. Flatten your cookies with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar — this will make the cookies crunchy!
Bake until set. These cookies don’t brown, so don’t judge based on color!
Let cool, then whip up the frosting by mixing the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, then spread on your cooled cookies and decorate with your favorite sprinkles!
Pumpkin Cookies Recipe Notes
This pumpkin cookies recipe makes any season a little brighter! Plus, they are just so fun to make — from the dough to the decorating, you’ll fall in love too.
Ingredient Notes
Who can say no to scrumptious pumpkin cookies, especially a no chill sugar cookies recipe? Here are my best tips and tricks!
Butter – The secret to great cookies is using the right temperature ingredients. Room temperature butter is typically between 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s soft but spreadable and it can hold air.
- During the creaming process, the sugar crystals cut tiny pockets into the butter for the air to gather. Need to get room temp butter fast? Here are some tricks!
Sugar: It’s important to use a mixture of granulated and powdered sugar for these cookies. The powdered sugar adds to the sweet creaminess and the granulated sugar punches the necessary holes in the butter to capture the air.
Pumpkin Puree: You’ll want to use pumpkin puree for this recipe. It’s easy to grab pumpkin pie filling because they both have Pumpkin on the label, but pumpkin pie filling typically contains squash and other spices, so it’ll change the flavor and possibly the texture of your cookies.
- Not feeling the pumpkin? I have a whole list of alternatives below, but try swapping the pumpkin for seasonal citrus like lemon sugar cookies!
All-Purpose Flour: Using all-purpose flour is best for these cookies. Self-rising flour already has leavening agents in it which can mess up a recipe that doesn’t call for it. Since you’re adding baking soda to your cookies, all-purpose flour is ideal. Even if you want to turn these into sugar cookie bars, you’ll still want to use this type of flour!
Cream of Tartar – Don’t skip the cream of tartar. While it’s origin may be a bit of a mystery, it’s vital to your cookie recipe.
Tools to Make
The tools you’ll use to make these pumpkin sugar cookie are the same as any other cookies:
- Baking sheets
- Bowls
- Mixer
- Cookie scoop
- Spatula
- Cooling rack
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
Since we ice these cookies, they’ll do best in the fridge. Putting a piece of bread in the container will help absorb moisture and keep your cookies fresh.
Once you’ve baked up a big batch of this pumpkin cookie and tossed it in the fridge, it’ll stay good for at least a week. They’ll probably stay fresh longer, but I like to err on the side of caution.
Can You Freeze Them?
Yes! You can freeze the cooled decorated cookies, or you can freeze the raw cookie dough. You can also make a batch of cookies, toss them in the freezer and thaw them when you’re ready to decorate. The options are endless!
For baked cookies, you can store them for up to eight months. You can thaw these at room temperature.
For raw cookie dough, store it for up to six months. To thaw, leave in the fridge overnight.
Make Ahead Tips
I like to whip up a big batch and freeze the raw cookie dough. Then I can turn on my oven and bake up some pumpkin cookies whenever the mood strikes!
If you look in my freezer, you’ll see a myriad of cookie flavors all labeled and dated just waiting for my attention. I assure you – they’ll get it.
Serving Recommendations
What’s the best way to serve these cookies? As part of a whole decadent dessert spread, of course!
Whip up some of my utterly delicious cinnamon sugar cookies! These go great with pumpkin’s mellow flavors and play up one of the warmest, coziest spices out there. And if we’re going with cinnamon, we gotta have pumpkin pie! Cut out your pumpkin cookies into fun autumn leaves to decorate the top of your pie.
Recipe Variations
Changing up this recipe is so simple — here are a few tasty suggestions:
- Use a summer fruit staple and flatten out these cookies into peach crumb bars.
- Bring in chocolate and swap the pumpkin for a tropical favorite with coconut chocolate chip cookies.
- Go for a full summer flavor sensation with dreamy orange creamsicle cookies that melt in your mouth!
- Zing and tart! Lemon blueberry bars play up seasonal fruit while still being easy peasy to make.
- Want another autumn fruit favorite? Apple bars are only a few ingredient shifts away!
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup 100% pure pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg, well beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Frosting (optional)
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spices
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Decoration (optional)
- jimmies
- sprinkles
- pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer set on medium speed, cream together powdered sugar, granulated sugar, and butter, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Beat in oil, pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.
- Shape dough with a medium cookies scoop and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Gently flatten cookies with the bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar.
- Bake in preheated oven 9-12 minutes or until centers are set. Cookies will not brown, do not overbake.
- Remove baking sheets to a wire rack and let cookies cool on sheets 3-5 minutes. Gently transfer cookies directly onto wire racks and cool completely.
Frosting:
- In a medium mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until smooth and creamy. Beat in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until smooth.
- Frost cookies and decorate with jimmies, sprinkles, or a dash of pumpkin pie spice.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Make sure to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Don't skip the cream of tartar.
Nutrition
More Pumpkin Desserts Recipes
Want even more sensational pumpkin desserts? Here are some favorites I just can’t wait until fall to make!
- Pumpkin Scones – Great with a morning breakfast spread or afternoon tea!
- Pumpkin Crunch Cake – Coffee’s best friend
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake – Perfect for parties and absolutely divine with frosting!
- Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting – Cream cheese and pumpkin is a classic pairing
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Chocolate and pumpkin can do no wrong!
Conclusion
This pumpkin sugar cookies recipe is so sweet and decadent! Can you see why I can’t wait until fall to make it? It’s just too good to leave in only one season!
What did you use to decorate your pumpkin cookies? Let me know in the comments!
I’m in love with these pumpkin cookies! <3 <3
Thanks, Shine! 😀
Cute cookies
I love these pumpkin cookies!!