These soft and thick pumpkin sugar cookies are a fall twist on my classic cut-out sugar cookies. They’re flavored with real pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla, and they bake up with slightly crisp edges, soft centers, and smooth tops that are perfect for decorating. Use your favorite fall cookie cutters to make pumpkins, leaves, acorns, and more!
We are so excited about these!
My team and I developed this recipe for cut-out pumpkin cookies specifically to give you the best of both worlds: real pumpkin flavor and cookies that actually hold their shape.
Pumpkin puree adds quite a bit of moisture to cookie dough, which can make cut-out cookies spread in the oven. The trick is to remove some of that excess moisture before adding the pumpkin to the dough. More on that below.
Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- Soft and thick centers with slightly crisp edges—texture is somewhere between sugar cookies and shortbread
- Made with real pumpkin and spiced with pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon
- The dough is easy to roll and cut with your favorite cookie cutters
- The cookies hold their shape in the oven
- Smooth, flat tops make them ideal for decorating
- Perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, fall parties, or cookie decorating with kids
- Make-ahead, freezer-friendly recipe
If you already love my classic sugar cookies, you’re going to enjoy making this pumpkin version in the fall!
Ingredients You Need
- Flour: All-purpose flour gives these cookies structure to roll, cut, and hold their shape.
- Baking Powder: Just enough to give the cookies a little lift without making them puff up too much.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: This is where the cozy fall flavor comes in! You can use store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice.
- Cinnamon: For an extra dose of flavor!
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances all of the other flavors.
- Butter: Make sure you start with proper room-temperature butter, which is cool to the touch (about 65°F (18°C)). Room-temperature butter creams with the sugar, which helps create the right cookie texture.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar gives these cookies their classic sugar-cookie flavor and texture.
- Egg Yolk: Pumpkin often takes the place of an egg in pumpkin cookies, but for this recipe, a single egg yolk adds a bit of tenderness and structure. We do the same thing for pumpkin crumb cake cookies.
- Pumpkin: You need canned pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling). You don’t need a whole can for 1 batch of these cookies, so here are some ideas for what to make with leftover pumpkin.
- Vanilla Extract: Always recommended!
The Trick to Working Pumpkin Into Cookie Dough
Pumpkin is quite wet and can ruin the texture of cookie dough, especially a dough that requires specific shaping. More moisture means cakier cookies. As you might remember from these brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies, the trick to working pumpkin into cookie dough without it changing the cookie’s texture is to remove excess moisture.
Blot the Pumpkin: I know it sounds odd, but gently soaking liquid out of the pumpkin puree with paper towels is a key step in this recipe.
- 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 difficult to roll and shape, and the cookies won’t hold their shape in the oven.
- Do You Always Do This With Pumpkin? No, it’s not always necessary. We want that moisture in baked goods such as pumpkin cake or pumpkin bread. You can also skip this step when making my soft pumpkin cookies because the texture we’re going for is soft and cakey. Think about your end result: if you want a dough that can you can easily handle and shape, it’s likely best to remove some moisture from the pumpkin.
How to Make Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
The process is very similar to my classic cut-out sugar cookies. If you’ve made those before, you’ll feel right at home with this recipe.
The cookie dough comes together easily with a mixer. You may find it helpful to review how to cream butter and sugar together, because that creates the base for the remaining ingredients.
Once the dough comes together, divide it in half. Smaller sections of dough are easier to roll out.
Roll each portion of dough to an even 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured work surface, silicone baking mat, or parchment paper.
Chill the rolled-out cookie dough. Chilling the dough helps the butter solidify and prevents the cookies from spreading in the oven. Without chilling, these pumpkin cookies won’t hold their shape. Place the rolled-out dough, still on the parchment, on a baking sheet (you can stack them!) and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days).
Once the dough has chilled for at least 2 hours, grab your cookie cutters. If you need a suggestion, I love Ann Clark brand, including this pumpkin cookie cutter. (Not sponsored, just a genuine fan!)
Bake the cookies until the edges are set and the centers look just barely done. You don’t want to overbake these cookies because they’ll continue to set as they cool.
How to Decorate Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
These pumpkin sugar cookies bake up with a smooth, flat top, so they’re ideal for decorating with icing. They’d be perfect alongside these Halloween chocolate cookies!
Try the pumpkin sugar cookies with:
- Cookie decorating buttercream flavored with 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (pictured)
- Royal icing
- Easy cookie icing
- The brown butter icing from these pecan sugar cookies
Or dunk in/drizzle with melted chocolate or white chocolate—have fun with it! I also have a tutorial on how to decorate sugar cookies with even more helpful decorating tips.
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Spiced Buttercream
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (including chilling)
- Yield: 24 3-inch cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft pumpkin sugar cookies with pumpkin spice buttercream are a fall twist on my classic cut-out sugar cookies. Refrigerating the rolled-out dough in step 4 is imperative. See step 10 for exactly how I decorated the pictured cookies. Instead of the buttercream, try decorating with royal icing, easy cookie icing, or the brown butter icing from these pecan sugar cookies.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 6 Tbsp (86g) canned pumpkin puree, moisture blotted until reduced to 1/4 cup (60g)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Spiced Buttercream
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30g/ml) heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- optional: gel food coloring, for tinting
Instructions
- Make the cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and blotted pumpkin and beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. The dough should be soft. If it seems too soft and sticky for rolling, beat in 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Divide the dough in half. Place each portion on a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use a bit more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4 inch thick.
- Lightly dust one of the rolled-out dough portions with flour. (This prevents sticking.) Place the second rolled-out dough portion, still on the silicone baking mat or parchment paper, on top of the first. Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Carefully remove the top piece of dough from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Gather the scraps, reroll, and continue cutting until all the dough is used. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you reroll.) Repeat with the second piece of dough. Arrange the cookies 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 11–13 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are very lightly browned and set. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheets halfway through bake time. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Make the buttercream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream (or half-and-half or milk), vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 2 full minutes.
- Decorate the cookies (see next step for how I decorated the pictured cookies): Tint the buttercream with gel food coloring, or leave it white. You can spread it on with a knife or icing spatula. To pipe the frosting, fit a piping bag with a piping tip, and use a coupler if you plan to switch tips.
- For the cookies pictured: Divide the prepared frosting between two bowls. Tint one portion orange and leave the other white; you can also set aside a small amount to tint brown or green for the pumpkin stems. Using a Wilton 4B piping tip, pipe curved lines over each pumpkin-shaped cookie to create the ridged texture shown in the photo. I used a Wilton 21 piping tip with brown frosting for the stems.
- Cover and store decorated cookies at room temperature for 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Frosting “soft-sets” on the cookies after a few hours, meaning it will slightly dry on top.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Undecorated pumpkin sugar cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough (before rolling it out) for up to 3 months. Prepare the dough through step 2, divide in half, flatten each half into a disc (like we do with pie crust), wrap each disc in plastic wrap, place both wrapped discs in a freezer-safe container, and freeze. Thaw the wrapped discs in the refrigerator overnight, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 3, then chill the rolled-out dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Scale | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Rolling Pin | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack | Gel Food Coloring | Piping Bags (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 4B Piping Tip | Wilton 21 Piping Tip | Couplers
- Pumpkin: Measure the pumpkin before blotting it. With paper towels, 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 1/4 cup (60g) to use in the recipe. Use pure pumpkin (such as canned pure pumpkin), not “pumpkin pie filling.”
- Icing: Instead of the buttercream, try decorating these cookies with royal icing, easy cookie icing, or the brown butter icing from these pecan sugar cookies.
- Can I Double the Recipe? Yes. Double all of the ingredients and divide the dough into 3 or 4 portions in step 3.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Sally, You mentioned that you are a dog lover! Is there a way to make this recipe dog-friendly (obviously no sugar or pumpkin pie spice, but what else?)?
Thanks as always!
Hi Robin, we’re unsure how best to make these dog-friendly, but there are many pumpkin treat recipes online! Or, you might enjoy trying these two dog treat recipes on our site: peanut butter carrot dog treats and peanut butter bacon dog treats.
Can i make these as drop cookies?
Hi Laurie, these are best as cut-out style cookies. For a pumpkin drop cookie, you might enjoy these pumpkin snickerdoodles, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, or brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies instead.
I would love to make these as slice and bake instead of cut outs. I know to roll and chill the dough. Would 1/4 inch be a good thickness for these cookies? The recipe sounds delicious!
Hi Lynn, 1/4-inch thickness should work perfectly. For another slice-and-bake option, you might like these pumpkin spice roll cookies as well!
What does it mean by blotting the pumpkin puree?
Hi Lila, see the above post under “The Trick to Working Pumpkin Into Cookie Dough” for a visual and explanation on why we blot the pumpkin here. Hope this helps!
Making this weekend!! Would these be a good choice (dah – of course they will..) with just sugar like a traditional sugar cookie instead of adding the icing?
Hi Georgia! Do you mean topping them with sugar before baking?