Pumpkin Cookies

There are a plethora of pumpkin desserts to pick from, but I’m here to say this is not only one of the easiest ones, but one of the best. I bake a lot of cookies, so when one surprises me with how good it is, it’s exciting. These cookies are soft and chewy with just a subtle warm spice to them. They aren’t cakey like a lot of pumpkin desserts tend to be thanks to a simple way of getting rid of the excess moisture from the pumpkin.

These cookies get rolled in cinnamon-sugar to complete them, but honestly are just as good without it. I recommend chilling the dough before rolling it in cinnamon-sugar to make it less messy, but it only needs a quick 30 minutes. The dough is pretty soft and a bit sticky beforehand, but this contributes to their incredible chewiness. Try them once, then come back to them all fall long.

How To Make Pumpkin Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• Pure Pumpkin Puree: I prefer to work with Libby’s brand of pumpkin puree. Other brands tend to be more watery, and since we need as much moisture out as possible, this isn’t helpful. Also make sure to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie puree or mix as these are both presweetened and have extra spices. Choosing a pure pumpkin puree gives us better control of the flavor of the cookies.
• All-Purpose Flour & Baking Soda: This is the ideal flour for cookies as its protein levels won’t create a dense cookie, but a soft and chewy one instead. Baking soda will also help the texture of the cookies, giving them a little bit of a rise while also helping them to spread and not remain puck-like after baking.
• Cinnamon: This will add just a bit of warmth and extra flavor to the cookie that we typically associated with pumpkin recipes. While I'm just going for cinnamon here, other spices like pumpkin pie spice, cardamom, nutmeg, or others could also be used and yield a nice cookie as well. Feel free to experiment!
• Unsalted Butter: Since we’re adding salt to the recipe, we don’t want to use salted butter—this is a tip to remember in almost all baking recipes. Make sure it’s just softened to room temperature. Too cold and it won’t mix properly into the batter. Too warm and your cookies will spread more than they should and not get as much air.
• Light Brown Sugar: This adds sweetness and softness to the cookies due to the moisture content in brown sugar. Brown sugar provides more of a caramelized flavor than granulated sugar because of the molasses content. Dark brown sugar can also be used, but will provide even more of a molasses flavor, so choose according to your preferences.
• Granulated Sugar: This will help the edges of cookies get a bit of crispness for that perfect slightly soft and chewy, slightly crunchy bite.
• Egg Yolks: Since the pumpkin puree already has a lot of moisture, I’m skipping the egg whites, but keeping the yolks as the extra fat will help make the cookies chewier and less cakey.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Spread the pumpkin puree out into a thin layer on a plate. Place a paper towel over the pumpkin and press down, covering the entire surface. Repeat this process 3 to 4 more times, removing as much moisture as possible. There is still going to be some moisture, so a good way to know that the puree is ready is to check that the pumpkin puree is reduced by about half its original volume. It will look visibly drier, but the paper towel will never be completely dry. Then, in a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients to make sure everything is combined and the baking soda is evenly distributed throughout the mixture without any clumps. This will ensure consistent texture in the finished cookies.

Next, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until creamy. This should only take 1 to 2 minutes on medium speed. There shouldn’t be any big lumps of sugar, but you don’t want it to be fluffy. Then add in the egg yolks and beat the mixture until everything is well combined—there shouldn't be any streaks of yolks. When the mixture is cohesive, add the pumpkin and vanilla and beat until combined.

Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula before adding the pumpkin to make sure the butter and pumpkin combine evenly. Now it’s time for the dry ingredients. You don’t want to mix this for too long, just until there are no dry streaks of flour visible. Overmixing at this point can make your cookies tough, so take care to just combine. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again to make sure there are not especially wet or dry pockets of dough.

Scoop the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and let them chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will make rolling your cookies in the cinnamon-sugar easier.

Preheat the oven to 350°, and as the oven comes up to temperature, combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll each cookie in the mixture. You can do this twice to make sure the cookies are well coated in cinnamon-sugar. When each cookie is well coated, return them to the baking sheet.

Pop the baking sheet into the preheated oven and bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are just set. The cookies should flatten and wrinkle slightly and should also look a little underdone because as they cool on the hot baking sheet they will continue to cook. After 5 minutes on the hot baking sheet, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before eating.

Full list of ingredients & instructions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• Press the puree dry. Drying the pumpkin might feel like a tedious step but will make such a big difference in the cookies. Pumpkin has a lot of moisture in it and that is what causes a lot of baked goods to feel cakey. Great in a cake, not so much in a cookie. Pressing it with a few paper towels is quite easy and the least messy way of doing it. I attempted to wring it out in a paper towel, but the towels always bust causing you to lose some of the pumpkin. You could place it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the moisture if you don’t want to use paper towels.
• Save the egg whites. Since we are only using egg yolks for the recipe, we don’t want to waste perfectly good egg whites, and since there are only two, the best way to use the whites is to add them into scrambled eggs in the morning. However, you could also make a batch of meringue cookies with them or whip up some fluffy buttermilk pancakes.

Storage

The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To keep them softer, longer, throw a slice of white bread into the container. The extra moisture of the bread will seep into the cookies.

You can also freeze the dough or the baked cookies. To freeze the dough, prescoop the dough into a freezer-safe container for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, let thaw slightly, but not completely room temperature, and then roll in cinnamon sugar. For baked cookies, let cool completely and then freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 1 month.

Unbaked dough can also be kept in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.