Enjoy cinnamon roll cookies with plenty of pumpkin spice in this fall-inspired icebox/slice-and-bake-style cookie recipe. These pumpkin spice roll cookies start with a 1 bowl pumpkin sugar cookie dough that you’ll roll out and top with brown sugar and plenty of pumpkin pie spice. After rolling up into logs, chill the cookie dough before slicing and baking. Choose cream cheese icing or maple icing as the final finishing touch before serving.
These are just like cinnamon roll cookies, but with a pumpkin spice makeover. Taste testers raved about their distinctive cinnamon and spice flavors and we couldn’t choose which icing was better, so you have two options below!
Pumpkin Spice Roll Cookies: What to Expect
- Flavor: The pumpkin flavor is light, but the spice flavor is strong especially on day 2. One of my recipe testers said “the pumpkin flavor comes through and it’s just the right amount of pumpkin spice.” They’re like pumpkin cinnamon rolls in cookie form and you can choose a cream cheese or maple icing. If all of that sounds tasty to you, you’ll most definitely love these fall cookies!
- Texture: Each cookie is soft in the center with buttery brown sugar spice swirls and deliciously crisp edges. They take on a slightly crunchier texture on day 2, similar to dense shortbread.
- Ease: Once you get going, the recipe is pretty simple. If you’ve made pinwheel cookies before, the process is similar. However, since they aren’t typical drop cookies and require precise measurements, I consider these an intermediate baking recipe—definitely a fun project for a fall afternoon.
- Time: Set aside enough time to chill this cookie dough after you roll and assemble it into logs. Without chilling, it’s impossible to neatly slice the cookies and if you manage to slice a few decent cookies, they’ll lose shape and over-spread in the oven. Don’t waste your ingredients and efforts—chill this dough. After all the prep, chilling, baking, and a few minutes of cooling, this recipe typically takes a little over 3 hours.
The Trick to Working Pumpkin Into Cookie Dough
These pumpkin spice roll cookies start with a pumpkin spice sugar cookie dough. This is a great place to use your homemade pumpkin pie spice! Pumpkin puree takes the place of an egg, so these cookies are egg-free like my other naturally egg-free baking recipes, including shortbread. Pumpkin is quite wet and can ruin the texture of cookie dough, especially a dough that requires specific shaping. As you might remember from these brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies and my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, the trick to working pumpkin into cookie dough without it changing the cookie’s texture is to rid its excess moisture.
Here’s what you’ll do: Start the recipe by blotting 6 Tablespoons of pumpkin puree with a clean kitchen tea towel or paper towels. The amount of liquid could surprise you! After drawing out some moisture, you should have about 1/3 cup of pumpkin puree.
- Why Is This Important? It might seem like a silly and pointless step, but it’s crucial to the success of this pumpkin sugar cookie dough. Without doing this, the dough will be a sloppy mess that’s impossible to roll and shape.
- Do You Always Do This with Pumpkin Cookies? No, it’s not always necessary. You can skip this step when making my soft pumpkin cookies because we want the extra moisture from the pumpkin to produce soft and cakey cookies. Think about your end result and if you want chewy, dense cookies or cookie dough that can you can easily handle and shape, it’s likely best to remove some moisture from the pumpkin.
Step-by-Step Photos & Details
After you ditch some of the pumpkin puree’s moisture, it’s time to start preparing the cookie dough. Like many cookie recipes, this recipe starts with creamed butter and sugar. Remember that room temperature butter is cool to the touch—not overly soft—and you can read more about how this affects your baking’s success on my room temperature butter page. Beat the pumpkin and vanilla into the creamed butter and sugar until combined and don’t worry if the mixture appears curdled because it will all come together when you add the dry ingredients.
This is a 1 bowl cookie dough—add the dry ingredients one by one right into the wet ingredients.
The rest of the process is like my regular cinnamon roll cookies. Divide the dough in half, and then roll out each half into 10×8 inch rectangles (which is slightly larger that the regular version). The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Now you can top with melted butter and cover the butter with a brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon mixture.
Using your fingertips, carefully roll each up into a log. If your cookie dough is cracking, I have troubleshooting tips to help you listed below. Wrap up the logs and chill them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. After that, slice and bake your pumpkin spice roll cookies. It’s not too difficult, especially if you understand the process before you get started.
Maple Icing or Cream Cheese Icing?
The cookies don’t necessarily need a finishing touch, but if there’s an opportunity for glaze, let’s seize it. Now which should you choose? Taste tasters LOVED the cream cheese icing, but it covers up the pretty swirl. Maple icing was another favorite and you’ll appreciate that it eventually sets, so the iced cookies can easily be stacked, stored, and/or transported. Both the maple icing and cream cheese icing recipes are included below.
Can I Use This Dough for Pumpkin Cookie Cutter Cookies?
Yes, but I find this dough a little difficult to work with when using cookie cutters. Instead, I strongly recommend just using my sugar cookies and adding 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon when adding the flour.
If you decide to use this dough, make sure your work surface and cookie cutters are lightly floured and take your time re-rolling any scraps of dough. For specific instructions, it would be best to follow my printable sugar cookies instructions (steps 4-9) using this pumpkin cookie dough.
Troubleshooting the Dough
- Dough is Too Soft to Roll: If your butter was too soft (proper room temperature butter is cooler than you may think) or if you didn’t blot enough moisture out of the pumpkin puree, your cookie dough may be too soft to roll out in step 3. Add 1 Tablespoon of flour to the dough and beat on low speed until combined.
- Dough is Too Crumbly to Roll: A few times I tested this recipe, the weather was quite dry and I noticed that my dough was dry, too. This also could have been because I blotted *too much* moisture out of the pumpkin. If your cookie dough is too crumbly to roll out in step 3, add 2-3 teaspoons of pumpkin puree (not blotted) to the dough and beat on low speed until combined.
- Dough Log is Tearing/Cracking: First, roll the dough out thin enough—about 1/4 inch thick. Second, make sure your work surface is floured well because otherwise the dough will stick to the counter and create cracks and tears as pictured below. If the dough is still cracking/tearing as you’re rolling it, flour your hands and try to pat the tears back together. If you notice the dough is cracking because it’s too dry, moisten your fingertips with a little water to help mold the cracks back together.
Let’s avoid this! ↓↓
See Your Pumpkin Spice Roll Cookies!
So many of you have tried this recipe. Feel free to email or share your recipe photos on social media.
While we’re on the topic of pumpkin, don’t forget about my classic pumpkin pie as you map out your fall baking plans! For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ favorite pumpkin dessert recipes.
PrintPumpkin Spice Roll Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 50 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These pumpkin spice roll cookies are icebox cookies that combine a pumpkin sugar cookie dough with a brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice filling. Overall, the pumpkin flavor is faint but the spices are strong. Choose cream cheese icing or maple icing as the final finishing touch before serving. Review recipe notes and watch the video before starting.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (86g) pumpkin puree (moisture blotted, see note)*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 3/4 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2/3 cup (135g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 3/4 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing (Or Use Maple Icing in Notes)
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: pinch of salt
Instructions
- First, make sure you have removed excess liquid from the pumpkin puree by blotting it as much as you can with a clean kitchen tea towel or paper towels. This dough will not turn out properly with the pumpkin’s excess moisture. After blotting excess liquid, you should have about 1/3 cup (75g) to use in the recipe. See recipe note.
- Make the dough: In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. It’s ok if the mixture looks curdled. Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat on low speed until combined and a thick dough forms.
- Shape and fill: Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. If you want to be accurate and weigh the dough, each half should be around or a little more than 12 ounces each. On a floured work surface using floured hands, pat each into a small rectangle. Then, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll each portion of dough out into a 10×8 inch rectangle. It should be about 1/4″ thick. As you’re rolling, use your hands to help keep the sides straight as you see me do in the video. Spread half of the melted butter onto each rectangle—doesn’t need to be exactly half, just eyeball it. It will be a thick layer of butter. Mix the brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon together then sprinkle evenly over each. Using the back of a spoon, pat the brown sugar and spices down into the butter to help it stick.
- Working slowly using your fingertips, tightly roll up each rectangle into a 10-inch log. If the dough is cracking at all, use your fingers to smooth it out. (See troubleshooting above if needed.) Wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap, parchment paper, or aluminum foil. Chill the dough logs for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days in the refrigerator. (Or freeze for up to 3 months, see freezing instructions below.) The pictured cookie dough logs chilled in the refrigerator for 1 day.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Remove dough logs from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife, cut each into slices that are slightly less than 1/2 inch (between 1/4 and 1/2 inch is perfect). You’ll have around 24-26 cookies per log. Arrange sliced cookies onto baking sheets 1.5-2 inches apart. If the slices have lost their round shape, use your fingers to help mold them into perfect circles again. Not necessary of course, but you can see me do it in the video.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until very lightly browned around the bottoms. (As the cookies bake, you can make the icing in the next step.) Remove finished cookies from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 full minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack.
- Make the cream cheese icing (or the maple icing listed in the recipe notes): In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the butter and beat until smooth and combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract, and then beat on medium speed until combined. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if desired.
- Spread cream cheese frosting (or drizzle maple icing) on warm or cooled cookies.
- Cover plain or iced cookies and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked cookies (with or without icing) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. As noted in step 4, you can chill the rolled up cookie dough logs for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or freeze the logs for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen logs in the refrigerator, then continue with step 5. You can also freeze the cookie dough after step 2 (before rolling/shaping it) for up to 3 months. Prepare the dough through step 2, divide into two portions, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. Thaw completely at room temperature, and then continue with step 3.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Rolling Pin | Pastry Brush | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Pumpkin: Measure the pumpkin before blotting it. Blot as much of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree as you can before using in this dough. See photo in the post for a visual. Less moisture is a good thing here! After blotting excess liquid, you should have about 1/3 cup (75g) to use in the recipe. Use pure pumpkin (such as canned pure pumpkin), not “pumpkin pie filling.”
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves. You need this amount in both the dough AND the filling. This is in addition to the cinnamon you’ll add in the dough and filling. (Don’t leave out the cinnamon!)
- Maple Icing: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter with 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in 1 cup (112g) sifted confectioners’ sugar. Taste. Add a pinch of salt, if desired. Drizzle over warm or room temperature cookies. Icing will set after about 1 hour.
I already did this recipe and I had to add more flavour. I think my homemade puree was more liquid than the recipe. But the result it’s fantastic! So crispy and delicious! Thanks!
Good recipe and they are really tasty. I had to adapt the recipe by adding more flour (probably double) as my homemade pumpkin puree probably had too much moisture despite me squeezing it all out. We don’t really have pumpkin puree available in the UK
These got rave reviews and are so delicious! Very easy to make & I will definitely be making them again! Thank you!
Excellent fall cookies! They were tasty, beautiful and loved by all!
These are so good! I will definitely make more of these!
These were great! The spice was right on for that bite of fall. I chopped mine a bit thin, so the first batch came out a bit crisp, but still tasty! The second, thicker batch was perfection. The dough was easy to roll and work with too- I was nervous about it, but it ended up being perfectly fine!
My local supermarket was all out of canned pumpkin so I had to roast my own from a Hokkaido. Once it was done cooking there wasn’t much water to dry out with paper towels. The cookies turned out perfectly but I did have to cook them a bit longer than the 13-15 minutes.
Loved this recipe! I still need to work on my rolling technique, but the flavor is SO GOOD! I did the cream cheese frosting but added a teaspoon of maple syrup for a little extra flavor.
These are delicious cookies!! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free flour instead of all purpose flour and they turned out great. I did chill the dough before rolling it out to make it easier to work with and I used the maple glaze so you could see the pretty swirls. These will definitely join my fall baking list every year!
These cookies are great! Like some other reviewers, I had issues with rolling the cookies because either my butter was too warm or there was still too much moisture in my mix, but I was able to compensate by adding a bit of flour to the dough while rolling it. I think chilling the dough for an hour two before rolling would have helped too. The flavor is so tasty and complex that my family didn’t even want icing. One of my logs completely fell apart as I was rolling it despite my best efforts to salvage it, and it was a delicious mess that I still want to devour in one sitting.
They were yummy! Chillin’ that dough is critical-patience……will definitely keep this recipe and put it in the fall rotation!
Really enjoyed these! The pumpkin spice flavor was just right and the cookies weren’t too sweet (I didn’t add any icing). A bit tricky to roll out initially but got the hang of it quickly.
I ABSOLUTELY did not expect these to be this amazing. Your recipes never stop amazing me!! My dad and brother could not get away from these cookies!! This is going to be a popular dessert around here. Taking a few into school to let some people try them out too!
Yum! I made these with vegan by using Earth Balance buttery sticks, and I think that made the dough harder to work with – it was very soft, and I had to do some troubleshooting: rolled it out on silpats (there’s no way it would have rolled up otherwise) and chilled for a bit before rolling into logs. But they tasted great!
They turned out a bit drier than I’d hoped, but I think I didn’t incorporate enough butter and filling. But my family loves them. Thanks for the challenge!
These cookies are excellent! Perfect blend of sweetness with the warm spice in the swirl. These were a big hit with my family. I highly recommend the maple glaze.
I made the dough yesterday and baked one log today. I thought they were good – loved the maple glaze. I’m definitely more of a drop cookie person – but these were not difficult if you follow Sally’s great instructions. Wonderful fall flavor – and not too pumpkin-y.
These cookies are amazing! I was a little bit nervous about the rolling step but I didn’t have any trouble at all! I found them easy to make and they are so tasty!! They go great with a cup of coffee 😉
These were pretty simple to put together but look like they took a lot more time and effort. I had let my butter get a bit too soft and had difficulty rolling the dough at first. But of course Sally had the answer to that in her instructions so I just added some more flour and problem solved!
Wow, yeah these are really good!
I cut the recipe in half with no problems. The maple drizzle is a great compliment to the flavor. I’ll be making these again for sure!
So fun, festive, and delicious! I made both frostings (I couldn’t pick between the two!) and did half and half. We preferred the taste of the cream cheese, but the maple looked so pretty. The size of the cookies is quite small, but they’re sweet and rich enough to last for a little while anyway!
They were outstanding! They were like Thanksgiving in my mouth, and made our whole house smell wonderful!!!!!
This challenge was delicious and easy-to-follow as always! I really liked how spicy they were. Perfect with a cup of tea. My kids think they taste like perfect Christmas cookies. I added the cream cheese frosting too.
Delicious cookies. Nice for the fall. My family loved the outcome and enjoyed eating them!!
Very easy to follow recipe. As always, I appreciate all of the extra hints/tips included with the recipe. These cookies have a good, spiced flavor. My family especially enjoyed them with the addition of the cream cheese icing. I chilled my dough for approximately 3 hours before slicing and baking. I baked them for 14 minutes and that was perfect for my oven. Thank you for another delicious challenge that definitely tastes perfect for fall!
These cookies are quite tasty! I had to make myself stop eating them so there’d be some left to ice and share. Another great recipe from SBA!
These cookies were fun to make and turned out better than I expected! I read the recipe, recipe notes, watched the video yet still made a mistake. I put the brown sugar and spices into the melted butter. I spread it as best as I could, but there were bare spots. The good news is once you put the cream cheese frosting on no one knows!
These were so amazing!! I loved being in the competition!
I had some issues with mine – I think my butter was too soft and I didn’t squeeze enough liquid out of the pumpkin because I had to add a significant amount of flour in order to get it to a workable consistency. Luckily, I don’t think it compromised the taste too much. Also, I think that I rolled one half of the dough too thin because it fell apart once I cut it and did not hold the shape well during baking. Despite them looking a bit sloppy and being a bit of a challenge to make they were delicious! I made the cream cheese frosting but also added some maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice because my husband doesn’t like the flavor of cream cheese.
This cookie is DELICIOUS! The only thing I would change about the recipe is to chill the dough before rolling it out but overall very tasty cookie. I only rolled up half my cookies and rolled the outside of the second log in the sugar mixture. Love them both
My family and I loved this recipe! I wasn’t too precise with measuring my rectangles of dough so I ended up with WAY! more bite size cookies, but I’m not complaining!