Our melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies are soft, pillowy, and piled with delicious frosting. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and you truly have the best soft pumpkin cookies recipe ever!

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Cookies - these frosted pumpkin cookies are the best EVER. Heaven I tell ya!

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

I love pumpkin treats during the fall season, and you can’t beat these easy pumpkin spice cookies.

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These cookies bake up with a cake-like texture.

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They have just the right amount of pumpkin flavor, and honestly, it’s difficult to keep these amazing soft pumpkin cookies on hand after I’ve made a batch.

My dad really loves soft pumpkin cookies and he usually makes oodles of them from store-bought mixes, so when I saw this recipe for pumpkin cookies in an old holiday issue of Better Homes and Gardens, I knew I wanted to give it a whirl.

These cookies really lived up to their name!

The pumpkin flavor in these cookies is sweet and delicious, and yes, these pumpkin cookies are so soft that they really do sort of melt in your mouth.

One really just isn’t enough!

What could be better than a yummy pumpkin cookie, you ask? Well, a yummy FROSTED pumpkin cookie, of course!

How to Make Pumpkin Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat the 2 cups of butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.

Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, the 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the nutmeg.

Beat until combined. Then, beat in the eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until combined. After that, beat in pumpkin. Finally, beat in as much of the four as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

For frosting, in a small saucepan heat the 1/2 cup butter and brown sugar until melted and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl.

Stir in milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cookies. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon if desired.

Don’t forget, we publish the full recipe with specific directions in the recipe card below!

Our Tips

This recipe makes a LOT of cookies. About 60! It’s great for the holidays when you’re expecting friends and family.

You really don’t have to use the frosting because the cookies are great on their own, but, who skips frosting?

I will say that the recipe for the frosting in the magazine did not end up matching the photos featured in the article. I think the recipe was probably printed wrong because I ended up having to add MUCH more powdered sugar to the frosting to produce a more firm, spreadable icing.

If you’re like me, your family will eat most of these pumpkin cookies in a couple days and you can share any excess with your friends or co-workers.

Sprinkle the tops of these luscious melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies and you have a really beautiful holiday cookie that everyone in your family will absolutely adore.

If you’re a pumpkin fiend like me, you’ll also definitely want to check out my pumpkin donuts and pumpkin crunch cake recipes! They are also huge hits with my family!

Ingredients

Cookies

2 cups butter softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
15- ounce can pumpkin
4 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar add until desired consistency/firmness
ground cinnamon sprinkled on top optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat the 2 cups of butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, the 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the nutmeg. Beat until combined. Beat in the eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Beat in as much of the four as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon.
Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
For frosting, in a small saucepan heat the 1/2 cup butter and brown sugar until melted and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cookies. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon if desired.

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Nutrition

Nutrition values are estimates, sourced from an online nutrition calculator. This information should never be considered a substitute for medical advice. Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: best cookies, best pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cookies

Did you make this?

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4.48 from 1494 votes (1,437 ratings without comment)

210 Comments

stephanie says:

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can you shape these cookies

1. Crissy Page says:
  
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  No, they are really too “cakey” to hold a shape.
  
Am says:

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Can this recipe the cut in half to make less cookies I don’t need 60.

1. Crissy Page says:
  
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  Yes!
  
Amy Miller says:

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These are my son’s favorite cookies and I love to make them for him in the fall. I sprinkle the top with pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon and they are delicious!

Lynda says:

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Loved the texture of the cookies. I did add 1/2 teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice to the recipe. 5 star

Jennifer Caragao says:

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These cookies are amazing! We have made them with gf flour and sugar substitutes and they are still just as yummy! We didn’t try the icing though, since the cookies were amazing on their own. The only thing we did add to the cookie recipe was mini chocolate chips, which made an awesome cookie even better! 🙂

Nicole says:

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Make these all the time for Christmas, and parties, HUGE hit. However, this year I only need about half the yield. Do I just split the ingredients portion by half?

Abby says:

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Is there a way to make them have more of a traditional cookie texture? They are so delicious

Christine Gottfried says:

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Come on now! These cookies are absolutely outstanding ! I’m making them again for game night at the club and the rest will be consumed by my son in law when he gets here for Thanksgiving. Best soft cookie ever .

Angela Neil says:

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These are incredible! This will be a yearly staple for our family, thank you so much!