The most incredibly soft and thick pumpkin sugar cookies with finger-lickin-good cream cheese frosting!
Want more pumpkin recipes? Look no further than my 3 Ingredient Baked Pumpkin Donuts, Best Easy Pumpkin Pie Recipe, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.
When my husband and I got married, we took a 3-day honeymoon to Park City Utah, about 45 minutes away from home. We originally thought we would take a trip to somewhere warm and sunny and tropical where we could stay in swimsuits for 18 hours a day and sip bottomless fruity somethings on a sandy beach. But the hubby had to report to Chicago right away for work so after a quick jaunt down to PC we took off for Illinois, then headed down to Dallas, and then finished up the business trip in Washington D.C.
Even though we didn’t get our tropical vacay, there’s something totally awesome about honeymooning 45 minutes away from home. Namely, we get to visit our honeymoon destination pretty often and keep creating new memories in a favorite place. I basically love it.
We’ve been spending this lovely Labor Day weekend in Park City and it’s been nothing short of delicious. I mean wonderful. Whatever, it’s been delicious. We had lunch today at a place on Main Street (officially, world’s cutest Main Street) called Bandit’s Grill. We shared a tri tip + bacon + cheddar sandwich that was mega-yummy, as well as a southwestern wrap with tri tip (again and so worth it) and a spicy ranch dressing. Both so good that I think I’m going to have to replicate them at home, and then share them with you of course. And we indulged in not one, but two kinds of fries. I heart fries. Oh my gosh I love them so much. We had sweet potato fries, always a favorite, and garlic herb fries which, I am not kidding, seriously had a gallon of minced garlic dumped on top of them.
Alright maybe not a gallon. But the mound of garlic was probably 2 inches tall! Shoulda been called 10 clove garlic fries if you ask me. But oh my gosh they were good. Dipped in ranch, ahhhhhhh! But really, everything is ahhhhhh-good when dipped in creamy restaurant ranch.
On a less foodie, yet equally delicious note, we spent about 20 minutes sniffing every single new scent in Bath & Body Works last night. They have a whole new pumpkin line I’m dying over. Cinnamon, caramel, marshmallow, cider… everything Fall-ish you could ever want! In candles and lotion and body wash and chapstick and I was in my own personal Autumn pumpkin heaven. Um yes, I’ll take one of everything, thanks.
Speaking of pumpkin. THESE COOKIES. Stop whatever you are doing and make a batch of these cookies. You NEED them. I have no idea if you want them or not but that is irrelevant, what matters is that they are crucial to your well being and you absolutely must whip up a batch immediately. They are so soft and dense and mind blowingly deliscioso one single bite will bring tears to your eyes. And the frosting. Ohhhhh the frosting. It’s my favorite-ever cream cheese frosting and I am positive you will adore it as much as I do. Enough to eat it with a spoon.
Not that I’ve been doing that or anything…..
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter - softened
- ½ cup canned pumpkin puree - (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Frosting
- 4 tablespoons butter - softened
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese - softened
- 3 tablespoons sour cream - or plain greek yogurt
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together butter, pumpkin, sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla, and eggs until smooth.
- In another bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until incorporated. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Roll dough into 2-inch balls and place on baking sheet. Use the bottom of a tall glass (or a small jar) to flatten the dough balls to 1/2 inch thickness. Bake for 10-14 minutes until cookies start to look “dry”. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- To prepare the frosting, cream together butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Mix in sour cream. Gradually mix in powdered sugar. Store in airtight container.
- Store cookies in an airtight container (separate layers of cookies with wax paper or parchment paper) Frost cookies immediately before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Lauren’s Latest.
Hi
If you want to give these as a gift, how would prepare them so the frosting don’t come off the cookies.
Hi Jackie! If you wanted to give these as a gift, I would prepare the cookies and the frosting, then box up the cookies separately from the frosting. I’d put the frosting in a cute container (maybe a jar with a bow) and give it with the boxed cookies. 🙂
Hi! I just made a batch of these cookies. Very easy…thank you for the recipe! They are coming out quite cake-like though, and I’m wondering if you know what I could do to make them more dense. I’m using real pumpkin…but I can’t imagine that is so much different from canned, especially since you’re not using pie filling. Also, how “pumpkiny” would you say yours are? Any thoughts would be helpful! Thanks!
I’m pretty disappointed, mine also came out very cakey, which was not what I wanted, and why I looked for a recipe that called itself a sugar cookie.
Hello,
I was wondering how “immediately before” you have to frost these cookies, like how long they would last with the frosting on them? My mom is having an open house this weekend at her shop and wants me to make these cookies for her guests. Could I frost the morning of and have the frosting last through the day? Or would you have a suggestion of an equally good cream cheese frosting that would hold longer? Thank you!
Hi Kaylene, you can definitely frost these in the morning and have them last throughout the day, the frosting stays soft though so you wouldn’t be able to stack them to transport them. If possible, I would frost them in the morning and keep them chilled or in an airtight container until you’re ready to serve them. The frosting will last all day, they can be frosted in advance!
Could you add some meringue powder to “harden up” the icing?
Hi Traci, I haven’t worked with meringue powder so you might just want to try a different icing if you want it to be hardened. 🙂
Hi,
I was wondering if it is safe to use Baking Powder as a substitute for cream of tartar and baking soda? Will it affect the recipe?
Thanks!
I made these cookies last night modifying them to be gluten free and they are WONDERFUL!!! The Cream Cheese frosting is amazing. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!