Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies Recipe - Top Recipes (2024)

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These pumpkin sugar cookies taste much better than store-bought and are super easy to make. Pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, butter, and a few other ingredients make these pumpkin cookies sweet, chewy, and warmly spiced.

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Ingredients for Pumpkin Sugar Cookies:

  • Butter: Makes cookies moist. We will use it to make the cookies and in the frosting.
  • Granulated sugar: The main sweetener used in the cookies.
  • Pumpkin puree: Use store-bought or homemade.
  • Egg: At room temperature. Make the structure of pumpkin cookies.
  • Vanilla extract: Adds amazing flavor.
  • All-purpose flour: The base for most cookie recipes.
  • Baking powder: it will make the cookies rise and not come out tough and hard.
  • Cinnamon, Ground ginger, and Ground nutmeg: These spices add flavor and spiced notes.
  • Salt: just a pinch to balance out the sweetness of the sugar.
  • Cream cheese: Softened, used for the frosting.
  • Powdered sugar: You can adjust the amount depending on your preference. It is used to sweeten the frosting or glaze.

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How to make Pumpkin Sugar Cookies?

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, using an eclectic mixer beat together softened butter and sugar until creamy. Add the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract. Beat until combined at a low speed. Set aside.
  2. In another bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in a few additions. Beat after each addition on a low speed, and scrape the bottom and the sides of the mixing bowl to be sure that everything is combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. Prepare the sugar mixture for rolling. Mix together sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
  4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Scoop about 2 tbsp of the dough and roll it into a ball. Then, roll in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.
  5. Transfer the cookie balls to 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Leave some space between cookies. Press them down slightly using a spoon or your palm. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are ever so slightly brown. Remove the pumpkin sugar cookies from the oven and let them cool down completely

Make The Glaze:

In a bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and salt until combined. Then, add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Spread the cream cheese frosting on top of each cooled pumpkin cookie. Sprinkle them with some additional cinnamon and enjoy!

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Expert Baking Tips:

  1. Don’t overmix the dough.
  2. Always use eggs and butter at room temperature.
  3. Refrigerate the dough until set before forming the balls.
  4. Baking time may vary depending on the cookie size.

Storage & Freezing Instructions:

Store these pumpkin cookies in the fridge. Place them in an airtight container in a single layer and store them for up to 5 days.

I recommend freezing pumpkin sugar cookies without the cream cheese frosting or freezing the dough and baking the cookies at a later time. Store unfrosted cookies in a freezer for up to 3 months.

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Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies Recipe

Yield: 36

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes

The perfect recipe for pumpkin season. Kids and adults will absolutely love these pumpkin sugar cookies.

Ingredients

For the cookies:

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature;
  • 1 cup granulated sugar;
  • ½ cup pumpkin puree;
  • 1 large egg, room temperature;
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract;
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour;
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder;
  • ½ tsp cinnamon;
  • ⅓ tsp salt;
  • ¼ tsp ginger;
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg.

For rolling:

  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar;
  • ½ tsp cinnamon.

For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened;
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened;
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract;
  • ¼ tsp salt;
  • 2 ½ cups powdered sugar.

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, using an eclectic mixer, beat together the softened butter and sugar until creamy.

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  2. Add the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract. Beat until combined at a low speed. Set aside.

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  3. In another bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.

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  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in a few additions. Beat after each addition on a low speed, and scrape the bottom and the sides of the mixing bowl to be sure that everything is well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

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  5. While the dough is refrigerating, prepare the sugar mixture for rolling. Mix together sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

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  6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Scoop about 2 tbsp of the dough and roll it into a ball.

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  7. Then, roll the ball in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Transfer to 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper or bake in small batches. Leave some space between the cookies (about 1 inch in between them).

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  8. Press them down slightly using a spoon or your palm. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are very slightly browned.

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  9. Remove the pumpkin sugar cookies from the oven, let them cool down completely, and prepare the cream cheese frosting. In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and salt until combined.

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  10. Then, add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

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  11. Spread the cream cheese frosting on top of each cooled pumpkin cookie. Sprinkle them with additional cinnamon and enjoy!

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Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 178Total Fat: 8.9gSaturated Fat: 5.5gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 73mgCarbohydrates: 23.9gFiber: 0.4gSugar: 16.7gProtein: 1.7g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies Recipe - Top Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why are my sugar cookies not soft? ›

If you add too much flour, your cookies won't spread at all and won't be soft or chewy. Baking powder – This gives the sugar cookies lift, without adding too much spread or browning.

Why is my sugar cookie dough so soft? ›

If you incorporate too much milk, eggs, or another liquid, you can add a proportionate amount of the dry ingredients to the cookie dough to account for the excess liquid. Chill the dough. If the butter became too soft during the mixing process, it can sometimes result in a thin cookie dough.

How to make box cookie mix soft? ›

If you like a chewier texture in your cookies, toss in an extra egg yolk to your mix. Adding extra egg yolks works wonders to enhance the moisture content in a cookie, making it super soft and gooey. As a family that loves a soft cookie, this is one of our favorite hacks!

Why are my pumpkin cookies sticky after baking? ›

Pumpkin cookies can be sticky after baking due to the pumpkin puree's high moisture content. If pumpkin puree isn't drained slightly before mixing into the batter, the pumpkin puree can lead to more of a cakey texture than a cookie texture.

How do you soften sugar cookies? ›

Microwaving them. If you cover your cookies with a wet paper towel and nuke them for a few seconds, they should soften up enough to eat.

What happens if I put too much butter in my cookies? ›

Too much butter makes cookies turn out just as you'd expect: very buttery. This batch of cookies was cakey in the middle, but also airy throughout, with crispy edges. They were yellow and slightly puffy in the middle, and brown and super thin around the perimeter.

How do you soften sugar cookie dough? ›

Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 15-30 minutes. This allows the fats in the dough (like butter) to soften, making the dough more pliable. Gently knead the dough with your hands. This helps distribute warmth and encourages the fats to soften.

What can I add to sugar cookie mix to make it better? ›

You can add citrus zest, cinnamon, or almond extract to the dough. You could also ice them with a tasty frosting and add some nuts or toasted coconut. I already made lemon cookies but i don't think I added enough lemon extract they are tasteless.

What do you add to Betty Crocker cookie mix to make it better? ›

Easy Add-In: After creating the dough according to the sugar cookie mix instructions, Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream to create a tangier, cakier and all-around more flavorful cookie. Flavor Twist: For a punchier twist, swap the water in the sugar cookie mix instructions for rum, bourbon or coffee liqueur.

Why did my pumpkin cookies turn green? ›

A post on O Chef discusses the chemical reaction that turned my cookies green: All plants contain chlorogenic acid, mostly in the stems and leaves, but sunflowers also have it in the seeds. A spokeswoman for Red River Commodities says that SunButter does indeed turn cookies and other baked products green as they cool.

How do you know if your cookie dough needs more flour? ›

If the dough is too sticky, it may need more flour. Check the texture of the cookies: If your cookies are spreading too much in the oven, they may need more flour to help them hold their shape. If the cookies are too dry or crumbly, they may have too much flour.

What can I add to sugar cookie dough that is too sticky? ›

When cookie dough is too sticky, you may have an imbalance of wet and dry ingredients. You can fix this by adding a teaspoon of flour or cornstarch at a time until your dough is just how you want. The added flour or cornstarch will absorb the excess liquid and reduce the dough's overall stickiness.

Why are my sugar cookies always hard? ›

Over-working the dough yields a tough cookie, which is not at all what you want. The very best sugar cookies are soft and tender. → Follow this tip: One of the keys to great sugar cookies is mixing the dry ingredients only until they're just incorporated, and not a second longer.

Why are my sugar cookies not hard? ›

But if you roll the dough out too thick, then they won't cook through and become dense and, honestly, pretty gross. The ideal thickness to roll out your sugar cookie dough is about 1/4"--that way, they'll be tough enough to be handled and decorated, but thin enough to stay a little crunchy.

What causes sugar cookies to be hard? ›

If your cookies are rock hard, the site explains that it's likely due to an over-abundance of sugar, which hardens, darkens, and flattens the cookies as they bake. Bake or Break adds that over-mixing your dough can be the culprit, too.

Why are my sugar cookies not crunchy? ›

Soft cookies have a water concentration of 6% or higher – moisture being the variable in texture. To make cookies crispy, add less liquid or bake it in the oven for longer to dry out the dough.

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