Pumpkin Spice Cookies are perfect cookies to get you ready to kick off all things Fall flavored. They are chewy, cake-like and irresistible.
Pillowy, chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are undeniably one of the most iconic types of Holiday Cookies. Full of warm spices and moist pumpkin, it’s no wonder they are a favorite when the weather gets cold, just like these cookies, and Butter Pecan Cookies!
Why You’ll Love These Cookies?
- Cake-like cookies that have all the craveable flavors of Fall.
- Easy to adjust flavors without changes to cooking time or recalculating main ingredients.u003cbru003e
Sabrina’s Pumpkin Spice Cookies Recipe
When the leaves begin to fall, the hunt begins for all the pumpkin goodies you can find! There is something so wonderfully comforting biting into a moist, spiced Pumpkin Muffin or Cookie that tastes like a Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Pair your pumpkin treats with a pumpkin spice latte – if you can handle the fall spice overload!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar , packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree , canned or homemade
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pecans , roughly chopped (divided)
Instructions
- To a stand mixer cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add in the pumpkin puree until combined.
- Sift the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.
- Add it to the stand mixer on low speed until just combined.
- Stir in ¾ cup pecans.
- Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Put the remaining pecans in a bowl.
- Using a cookie scoop (just over 1 tablespoon), scoop the dough into the topping mixture and roll gently, covering the exterior of the ball in some of the pecans.
- Place dough 2" apart and bake for 12 minutes.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
Chef’s Note
Pumpkin is naturally full of moisture and egg also adds moisture to cookie dough, so this recipe has a higher water content closer to a cake recipe. These spiced pumpkin cookies have a cakey texture, similar to the top of a muffin. If you want a denser chewy cookie you can omit the egg or you can soak out the excess moisture in the pumpkin puree. Wrap the puree in paper towels and gently squeeze before adding to the dough.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
There are so many ways to transform a can of pumpkin and a scoop of pumpkin pie spice into an amazing dessert, but it doesn’t get much easier than these flavorful cookies. They are made with pantry ingredients, including actual pumpkin puree for maximum Pumpkin Pie flavor. This is a great cookie recipe to use up leftover pumpkin puree from other recipes, since it only needs a half cup to fill these with intense pumpkin flavor. This recipe finishes the cookies with chopped pecans so they are sweet with a little earthy crunch for balance.
Ingredients
- Canned Pumpkin: These cookies are made with pureed pumpkin and not just the spices for extra flavor and moisture. Make sure you are using 100% canned pumpkin (or try making your own Pumpkin Puree) and not pumpkin pie mix that has sugar and spices added.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: A little secret about pumpkin pie treats is they get their distinct flavor from the spices and not the actual pumpkin. Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and sometimes cloves. You use about 3 parts cinnamon to each of the other spices because they have a more powerful flavor than cinnamon.
- Pecans: Is there any nut that says holidays like pecans? These crunchy nuts add a bit of salty, earthy flavor to balance out sweetness in baked goods. For a deeper toasty flavor, try roasting the pecans in the oven or in a dry skillet before chopping them.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can make the cookie dough ahead of time, either shaping the cookies or storing the unshaped dough. Refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days or freeze unbaked cookie dough for up to 6 months.
Baking Tips & Tricks
- Wet Ingredients: With beaters or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy, in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and finally the pureed pumpkin until combined.
- Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. You can use a whisk if you don’t have a sifter.
- Combine: Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. Gently fold in ¾ cup of pecans. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and chill for 30 minutes.
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mat.
- Bake: Add the remaining pecans to a small bowl. Scoop the dough with a small cookie scoop and roll dough balls gently in pecans. Place dough 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until edges golden brown.
Pairing Suggestions
If you want some extra sweetness, you can add Cream Cheese Frosting or drizzle them with Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce. For extra pumpkin spice flavor, add a teaspoon pumpkin pie spice to the frosting!
How to Store
- Serve: Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before placing on a wire rack to continue cooling. Serve them warm or at room temperature, covering or storing leftovers.
- Store: These pumpkin cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week in an airtight container. You can refrigerate them for a week or two longer, but you’ll want to warm them to make them soft again.
- Freeze: The dough or baked cookies can be frozen in a sealed container for up to 6 months. Freeze the dough or cookies on a tray for an hour before storing so they don’t stick to each other. Bake cookie dough from frozen. Thaw baked cookies uncovered so any ice collected doesn’t melt and make them soggy.
Frequent Questions
If you have sticky dough and it won’t hold it’s shape when you roll the dough into balls, it’s because there is too much moisture. Add flour a tablespoon at a time until it has the right consistency, being careful not to over-mix. In the future, pat the puree dry if it seems really wet.
If you don’t have a pumpkin pie spice blend on hand, you can make your own with common baking spices. To make a big batch of pumpkin pie spice, mix together ¼ cup ground cinnamon, 4 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 4 teaspoons ground ginger, and 1 tablespoon allspice. (Optional, add 2 teaspoons ground cloves.) Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 years and use in all your favorite fall baking recipes.
To keep your cookies from getting soggy, make sure they are completely cooled before sealing them in a container. Hot cookies will release steam that collects on the lid and drips onto your cookies, which then makes them soggy. You can line your container with paper towels to absorb extra moisture while keeping them soft.
While you can certainly freeze both, hands down freezing cookie dough is better than baked cookies because nothing beats a hot, fresh cookie warm from the oven! Scoop and roll your dough into balls with the pecans like normal. First freeze on cookie sheets for 1 hour, then place balls of dough in a freezer safe container. A bag works best because you can remove most of the air. Grab as many cookies you want to bake and pop them in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until edges are just set.
Variations
- Chocolate Chips: If you can find them, pumpkin spice chocolate chips would be amazing in these cookies! Of course regular chocolate chips go great with pumpkin flavor too. Swap ½ cup pecans with ½ cup chocolate chips. Press a couple chocolate chips into each cookie before baking.
- Nuts: You can switch up the type of nuts you use in these cookies, swapping them for walnuts, cashews, almonds, or hazelnuts. If you are adventurous, try flavored blends like smoked nuts, toasted nuts, or even spicy varieties.
- Cinnamon Sugar: Turn these into Pecan Pumpkin Snickerdoodles by rolling the cookie dough in cinnamon sugar along with chopped pecans before baking. Press the coated cookie dough balls gently with a fork once vertically and once horizontally so they flatten with a hatch pattern on top. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, dust with extra cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Sweet Potato: Pumpkin is not the only savory fall veggie that can be turned into a tasty holiday dessert. Just like you can make Sweet Potato Pie, you can swap the pumpkin puree with sweet potato puree. Make sure to drain any excess liquid from the puree so your cookies aren’t sticky.
- Brown Butter: Browning your butter gives your favorite baked goods recipes a rich nutty flavor. Melt a stick of butter, sliced to melt more evenly, to a skillet over medium heat. Whisk the butter frequently as it melts and cook until it is foamy with brown bits and a nutty aroma.
Related Recipes
More Fall Flavored Cookies!
These cookies are soft, cakey, and packed with autumn warmth! The spiced dough bakes up like little clouds.
Now I’m hungry for these cookies! Thank you for the kind review.