Soft and fluffy Frosted Pumpkin Cookies are filled with warm pumpkin spices and finished with a rich, brown sugar penuche frosting that melts in your mouth.
These cookies are easy to make, use a full can of pumpkin, and get even better on the second day. Add them to your fall baking must-make list!
If you’re looking for chewy cookies, you’ll want to try these Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Table of Contents
Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting
One of my first jobs out of college was at a local bakery, where I spent my days frosting cookies, piping buttercream swirls onto cupcakes, and making some pretty killer caprese paninis.
The place always smelled like fresh baked bread and chocolate cake, and on the best days the pepperoni bread flopped and the employees were forced to destroy the evidence by stuffing our faces with its cheesy, spicy goodness. All in all, not a bad gig.
The bakery specialized in elaborate, towering specialty cakes and a variety of cupcakes, pies, cheesecakes, and their famous morning glory muffins, but in my mind, the true star of that bakery was always the Penuche Frosted Pumpkin Cookies.
In case you’re wondering, penuche is just a fancy name for the best brown sugar frosting you’ll ever consume in your life. The texture lies somewhere between an icing and a frosting, and it has a rich caramel and butterscotch flavor that pairs perfectly with warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
These Frosted Pumpkin Cookies are reminiscent of our maple pecan cookies, but with caramel and pumpkin being the star of the show instead of maple.
My kids can be iffy about new kinds of baked goods, but my youngest loved these so much, he requested them for his birthday! Big, soft, puffy and spiced Frosted Pumpkin Cookies are simply impossible to resist.
CourtneyKey Ingredients + Substitutions
- Baking staples, including flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using two different leaveners makes these extra puffy!
- Pumpkin spices– I use my own blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, but you can feel free to substitute a store bought pumpkin pie spice or use more or less of your favorite spices.
- Butter– These cookies use unsalted butter to make a moist AND super flavorful cookie, with just the right amount of salt.
- Sugar- I use a blend of brown sugar and granulated sugar for the best flavor.
- Eggs– I recommend large eggs for baking.
- Pure pumpkin– These cookies use a whole can of pumpkin puree, which I love! The pumpkin is what makes these cookies so unbelievably moist and almost cake-like. Be sure to look for 100% pure pumpkin–it shouldn’t include any added sugars or spices.
- Vanilla extract– I like to use real and not imitation vanilla, but either will work in this recipe.
How to Make Frosted Pumpkin Cookies
Step 1: Whisk dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
Step 2: Beat wet ingredients. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium high speed for 4-5 minutes, until lighter in color and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the pumpkin puree and vanilla. It will look a little like gobbledy goop, but that’s ok!
Step 3: Combine. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed until well combined, being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl a few times.
Step 4: Scoop and bake. Scoop 2 Tablespoons of dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets, about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
Step 5: Frost the cooled cookies with penuche frosting and serve.
Brown Sugar Frosting for Pumpkin Cookies
The penuche frosting pictured here is made on the stove top with just four simple ingredients: salted butter, brown sugar, milk, and confectioner’s sugar. Here are some tips to make the best frosting:
- I recommend salted butter for frosting and icing. I can’t explain why, but the flavor of the salt seems to better infuse the frosting when I use salted butter rather than adding table or sea salt. That said, using unsalted butter and adding a pinch of salt at the end is totally fine!
- Sift your powdered sugar for the smoothest results.
- Keep your penuche frosting warm in a double boiler. I nestle the sauce pan I made the frosting in into a larger, shallower pan filled halfway with water. Keep the water at a low simmer, and your penuche will stay nice and soft and spreadable.
- For full step by step photos and tips, be sure to visit my Penuche Frosting recipe tutorial.
Storage and Make-Ahead Instructions
- Storing pumpkin cookies: These keep very well stored at room temperature in a covered container for 4-5 days (if you can resist eating them all before then!). I think the pumpkin flavor gets even better on days 2 and 3!
- Freezing baked cookies: Place the unfrosted, baked cookies on a baking sheet and flash freeze for 1 hour, then transfer to a container or freezer bag, placing parchment paper between the layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature overnight, preferably in a single layer, then frost before serving.
- I do not recommend freezing the unbaked pumpkin cookie dough.
Tips for the Best Pumpkin Cookies
- Prep your pans. Line your pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats so the cookies don’t stick. I love these heavy duty aluminum baking sheets.
- Properly cream the butter and sugar. It takes 4-5 minutes to incorporate all the air we want in the cookies. This makes them super fluffy!
- Fully bake. Unlike chewy cookies, these soft pumpkin cookies should be fully baked and removed from the oven when the tops are set. To test, lightly press the top of a cookie with your finger. If the dough springs back, it’s done! If your finger leaves an indent, give it another minute or two!
- Swap the frosting. These would also be fabulous with the cream cheese frosting from our Carrot Sheet Cake or Zucchini Cake.
- Make the cookies big (or small!). We love this jumbo cookie scoop, but you can use a standard size scoop to make smaller cookies. One batch will make 36 cookies of that size.
FAQs
These particular frosted cookies don’t have to be refrigerated. I recommend storing at room temperature.
Of course! Cream cheese frosting would also be wonderful on these.
To test for doneness, gently press the top of the cookies with your fingertip. If the dough pops back up, they’re done, but if your finger leaves an imprint, they need a few more minutes.
More Pumpkin Recipes to Try
- Easy Pumpkin Bread– This is usually the first thing I make when the temperatures start to drop! It’s made in a single bowl and is perfectly spiced and super moist.
- Pumpkin Dirt Pudding– A delightfully creepy and fun take on our classic dirt pudding recipe.
- Pumpkin Pinwheels– One of our favorite Thanksgiving desserts made with fluffy pumpkin cake wrapped around a cream cheese filling.
- Pumpkin Crumb Cake– Perfect for breakfast or dessert, this crumb cake is dense and moist, with a brown sugar streusel running through the middle and on top.
- Ideas for Leftover Pumpkin Puree– Still have a can of pumpkin in the cupboard? Make one of these other great recipes!
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Frosted Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pinch ground cloves
- ½ cup butter (softened (1 stick))
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 15 oz. can pumpkin purée
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the penuche frosting:
- ½ cup salted butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup hot milk (2% or whole)
- 2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium high speed for 4-5 minutes, until lighter in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, beating after each addition, then stir in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed until well combined, being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl a few times.
- Use a jumbo cookie scoop (about 2 Tablespoons of dough) to scoop 12 cookies onto each tray, spacing them about 1 ½ inches apart.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the tops are set. If you pat the top with a finger, it should spring back rather than leave an indent). Allow the cookies to cool a few minutes on the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the frosting:
- While the cookies bake, prepare the frosting. Melt butter in a sauce pot over medium heat.
- Add brown sugar and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once the mixture reaches a rolling boil, lower the heat to medium low and maintain a gentle boil for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat, then cool for 15 minutes. At this point, the frosting will look thick and slightly grainy.
- Whisk in the hot milk until smooth. The mixture should turn smooth and glossy.
- Whisk in the sifted powdered sugar until the mixture is thick and spreadable. Use an offset spatula to spread frosting on the cooled cookies.
Notes
- If you don’t have salted butter for the frosting, just add a few pinches of salt at the end.
- If you want to make smaller cookies, use a standard size cookie scoop and subtract 2 minutes from the baking time. This should make about 36 cookies.
- The cookies keep well cooled completely then stored in an airtight container at room temperature. I put parchment paper in between the layers. After 5 days, the frosting will start to get soft and soak into the parchment, so I recommend eating or sharing before then!
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