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!

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.
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!
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Sheet Cake
- Fantasy Fudge
- Maple Walnut Fudge
Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Cookies Recipe
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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These cookies are so delicious!
I added about a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. I will be making these again. Everyone who tasted them, loved them. Thanks for a great recipe.
These are absolutely delicious! Iโve been making them for yrs now & always raved about by whoever eats them! ONLY thing is I have to be more skimpier on icing the last 1/3 of cookies because I always run out & I use 4 cups of confectioners sugar. Otherwise, I also love how many this makes.
I randomly chose this recipe several years back. I took some to work and gave some to family. Everyone absolutely loved them!! Family now requests them as soon as it starts to look like Fall. They are easy to make and absolutely delicious. Light and fluffy like cake, frosting is delicious! This recipe is now in the holiday favorites and a must make every year – several times if family gets their way!!
Hello!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Thank you!
These are some of the best cookies Iโve ever made! They are soooooo soft and literally melt in your mouth. The recipe makes so many that I normally give a bunch away but everyone whoโs tried them has raved about them and asked for more!
Im not a huge pumpkin fan normally, but this cookie definitely changed my mind.
I made them exactly as the directions said with no substitutions and they turned out perfect.
I made half the recipe since I wasnโt sure how theyโd come out. They are delicious! My husband rated them 9.6.
Easy to make and frost.
My sons favorite fall cookie. We enjoy them cold,just out of the refrigerator.
So yummy. Thanks for sharing.
These are without a doubt the best cookies ever. I’ve been making them for years and get special requests for them! I don’t veer from the recipe at all (which is actually a rarity for me!) and they are perfect every time. I love that it makes a bunch, that way I can freeze some (sans icing) and have them throughout the fall season. They truly never disappoint!
Please unhide the comments, why are they hidden?
The comments are not hidden! There are over 200 comments on this post!
Wish I could read other peopleโs comments! I didnโt do the frosting but added 2.5 cups semi sweet chocolate chips. I donโt know if my altitude affected the cookie but 4 cups of flour didnโt hold up. They dissolved as I picked it up. Hence the chocolate chips! They are delish!