These cake-like cookies are usually made with canned pumpkin puree. And while you can substitute that in, I do enjoy using a homemade puree instead.

Of course a little frosting makes this a sweet dessert, but don't overlook the option to leave them plain - they go great with a little coffee or bourbon.

And if you love the paisley icing, I have a few tips at the end of the blog post.

Recipe

Pumpkin spice cookies

Veronica T

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Calories135

Ingredients

COOKIE INGREDIENTS:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves **feel free to substitute 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves**
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter 1 stick, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 ¼ cups pumpkin puree see note
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces low-fat cream cheese 1 brick, room temperature
3 tablespoons butter room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

COOKIES

PREP: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
MIX DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves. Set aside.
STAND MIXER: In a stand mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 1 minute until light and fluffy.
Add in the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat on medium-speed until just combined.
Set the mixer speed to low and add in the dry ingredients until just combined.
MAKE THE COOKIES: Use a heaping tablespoon of batter per cookie and drop them on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. The cookies smooth out somewhat while baking, but will hold part of their shape, so smooth them out a bit.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are cooked through and bounce back slightly if you touch them. Cool on a wire rack. Frost when they are cooled.

TO MAKE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

With an electric mixer or in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla together on medium-high speed until smooth. Set the speed to low and gradually add in the powdered sugar until it is all combined and the frosting is smooth. To thin it, add 1 tablespoon of milk or water at a time. Add more sugar to thicken it.

Notes

To make pumpkin puree: follow instructions from Tastes Better From Scratch. Use 2 small or 1 larger sugar pie pumpkin. Cut in half & scoop out seeds. Bake, cut side down, for 35-45 minutes at 375F. Remove from oven and cool, then scoop out flesh and puree in a blender.

Nutrition

Making this recipe?Let me know how it was! (which helps anyone else who drops by!)

Paisley Pumpkin Cookies Icing

I used a very small tip squeeze bottle (the small ones in this picture from amazon). I thinned the frosting a tiny bit, you want it to flow well but hold it's shape (and not spread/flatten when put on the cookie).

Next, use google image search to find a paisley pattern you like. And if you mess up, the frosting wipes off the cookie pretty easily (or just frost over the whole cookie!)

Recipe Inspiration

After going 5 years without making pumpkin cookies, I was looking for an updated version to fill an autumn craving. I am a big fan of Ali's recipes over at Gimme Some Oven and found her recipe for pumpkin cookies there. They were delicious, as expected 🙂

Then I adapted the recipe to use fresh pumpkin puree and they still turned out great.

More recipes & resources

Looking for other fall cookies? Try my pawpaw cookies with a cream cheese frosting, my pecan maple shortbread-style cookies, or some soft & chewy peanut butter blossoms.

Pawpaw cookies with cream cheese frosting

The flavor of these pawpaw, cake-like cookies will be unmistakable by pawpaw fans. They are moist, tender, and the frosting really highlights the fruit's flavor.

Check it out