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!
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Soft Pumpkin Cookies
I love pumpkin treats during the fall season, and you can’t beat these easy pumpkin spice cookies.
These cookies bake up with a cake-like texture.
They have just the right amount of pumpkin flavor, and it’s hard to keep these 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 flour 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!
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Our Tips
- This recipe makes a LOT of cookies. About 60! It’s great for the holidays when you’re expecting friends and family, and they look so pretty on a Christmas cookie tray next to my Spritz Cookies.
- 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!
- Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Sheet Cake
- Fantasy Fudge
- Maple Walnut Fudge
For another pumpkin dessert that’s perfect for Thanksgiving, try my Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping.
More Pumpkin Baking
- Pumpkin Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
- Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Cornbread
- Baked Pumpkin Donuts
- Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Cookies Recipe
Video
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
- 1 can pumpkin 15 ounces
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
Frosting
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ 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 flour 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is an estimate from an online calculator, not medical advice, and depends on your portion size.
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This recipe is the best I’ve tried..I’m always looking for recipes that are better than what I have… my next experiment will be to use this recipe to make woopie pies..
I’m so glad you liked them! Come back and let me know how the whoopie pies come out… then share the recipe with me when you get it perfected! :)
I LOVE these cookies!! This is the best pumpkin cookie recipe! My husband requests them several times during the fall season. He brings them to work and they go fast!
I’ve added chocolate chips and/ or walnuts on occasion. SO GOOD!
Trish, this makes my day! I love that your husband takes them to work and they disappear fast. Chocolate chips and walnuts sound so good in them. Thank you!
Love these!! Make them every year to share with family and friends!! Always well received!!
Thank you so much, Gerri! I love that they’ve become a yearly tradition for you to share. Happy fall baking!
The 1st time I made these was in 2013 when I started dating my now husband (just celebrated 10 years married). I “joke” that these cookies were part of the reason he fell in love with me lol
Awww, I love that!!! Happy anniversary and glad you love the cookies!!
Delicious! The dough was really sticky though so i made bars.
Bars are such a smart idea, Hanna! It’s a soft dough because of the pumpkin. If you’d like to try cookies next time, chilling the dough for about 30 minutes makes it much easier to scoop.