This time of year I walk into local supermarkets and see pumpkin cookies with bright orange icing. They always look tempting but just a little fake to me with that bright orange hue. I want a pumpkin cookie that looks a skosh more natural.
So, I was perusing the internet and found a recipe on the website, GimmeSomeOven.com. I clicked on it and her pumpkin cookies, looked like something I would happily swallow whole, so I printed out the recipe and hoped for the best. I’m always messing with recipes to see if I can do something different that might make them better. (My mom’s brilliant addition of chocolate chips to banana bread back in the 60s showed me the wisdom in experimentation.)
These cookies have two things going for them, they’re moist, almost like pumpkin cake and they have cream cheese frosting, which would have led Adam and Eve astray way faster than that apple in the Garden of Eden.
This recipe also has something I never tried before, Pumpkin Pie Spice. I got some as a gift last year and was interested but hesitant to try it instead of my usual holy trinity of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. The Penzey’s Pumpkin Pie Spice I used has those three spices plus allspice, nutmeg, and mace. It’s a fabulous combo, I wish I’d tried it sooner in life!
I made the frosting even better by adding some cinnamon, and topping the cookies with chopped walnuts. Ali sprinkled her cookies with cinnamon. But I think incorporating it makes it taste even better. And the nuts add a nice crunch. I tried hazelnuts, but their flavor got lost in the cookie, so stick with walnuts.
I even tried brown butter frosting, but I think the cream cheese is the most perfect accompaniment.
Butterscotch would probably also be amazing because it’s delicious on the Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Icing recipe I posted on this blog a few years ago. (It was featured in the Los Angeles Times Food section many years ago. I stuck it in my battered recipe book, never making it until a few years ago. Boy, am I glad I finally did!) If you need a fabulous fall cake, bake that and complete strangers will start proposing.
I’m betting these cookies would be good with either frosting, but the cinnamon cream cheese and nuts really take them to mouthgasm level and no vaguely radioactive-looking food coloring is necessary. These are perfect for any autumnal get-together. You can make them, and freeze them un-iced until you’re ready to serve them.
As always (and definitely not mandatory) if you enjoy this blog and would like to be a supporter so I can stay out of horrendous debt while self-publishing, just click on buymeacoffee.com/FranTunno
Scrumptious Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Cinnamon Frosting
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set it aside.
In another bowl or in a stand mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium to high speed for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and continue beating at medium speed until combined. Fold in the dry ingredients until combined..
Drop onto cookie sheet with a small ice cream scoop. (These cookies don't flatten much.) Bake them for 15 to 17 minutes or until the cookies bounce back slightly when you touch them. Transfer the cookies to a foil lined tray to cool
Mix together the softened cream cheese and the softened butter. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add the powdered sugar and the whipping cream or half and half. Once fully combined and smooth, add the cinnamon and salt to taste.
Once the cookies have cooled, ice them with the frosting and sprinkle them with the chopped walnuts.
You can also place the un-iced cookies in layers lined with wax paper in an airtight container and freeze them until ready to use.
12 Comments
Pat
October 13, 2025 at 5:59 pmFranzy. I just read your blog on your Mom’s experience on Price is Right. What a joy. It reminded me of my own Mother, also a school dropout, who never believed there was anything she could not do. She instilled that in me my entire life. She was the brunt of her Sisters criticism no matter how hard she tried to please them. A devoted Catholic like your Mom. My Dad not always supportive of her and her dreams but they remained side by side till death. Your article brought me back in time to days now lost forever. Times I really cherish more now then I did then while going through my….why can’t you be like other Moms…..phase. Thank you for sharing and for giving me an opportunity to again thank God for giving me my Mom. She had a daughter and in turn created a woman eternally grateful to the very end.
Fran Tunno
October 14, 2025 at 8:40 amOh Pat, I am so touched by your beautiful response to my story. I am thrilled it reminded you of your mom with gratitude and love. She sounds like a wonderful woman and was lucky to have you as a grateful daughter. At least those days will live in your memories and you can enjoy her every time you call them forth. Thank you so much for non only reading but for taking the time to write!
Nancy Wilson
October 11, 2025 at 4:51 pmIt was a pleasure reading about your mom. My baby sister was also on TPIR in 1989. She also won the Showcase. It was a Peugeot, a 7-day trip to Paris, French cookware, and about 24 French miniature perfume bottles. It was her lifelong dream to go to Paris. She took our sister Katherine with her. Our older half sister (American/Italian) lived in England at the time and they spent another week there. She died 20 years later at the tender age of 48. Katherine passed in 2019 at 58. Thanks for sharing your mother’s story and how those memories help us keep our loved ones alive.
Fran Tunno
October 11, 2025 at 5:32 pmNancy! Thank you so much for such a lovely story. I’m so glad your sister had her dream come true. I agree sharing the stories lets people we love live on. I realized that after a memorial service for a friend where hilarious stories were told. I saw that once the memorial was over, those fabulous stories would perish like my friend did unless someone told them. It left me convinced that sharing my Mom stories was not only something fun to do but important because they let her live on, plus they give people a smile and a boost. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to write!
Linda LaFrenierre
October 11, 2025 at 4:30 pmFran, great story! I am so happy you could do this for your Mom, and then she wins! This warmed my heart. ❤️.
Quick question about the Pumpkin cookies. I live at an altitude of 7300 feet in Colorado. Do you have any idea how much flour and water to add to the dry mix to compensate for the difference in air pressure? Many recipes call for 1/4-1/2 cup flour, and 2 tablespoons of water. If you’re not familiar with high altitude cooking, that’s okay, if I make this recipe I’ll wing it. Thanks 😊
Fran Tunno
October 11, 2025 at 5:28 pmOh wow Linda, I honestly don’t know. I suppose Google could give you the best educated guess. Here is a link to King Arthur Flour’s tips: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking. I wish you luck! I use Gold Medal all purpose unbleached flour. Let me know how they turn out!
Laura herlovich
October 11, 2025 at 1:07 pmFran – just read your story about your mom and price is right – I so loved it and your mom’s tenacity and your hopefulness (and novenas😂) perhaps I loved it so because I worked with celebs and in Las Vegas (where winners happen almost ever minute of some jackpot or another) – when my sister was terminally ill and a huge fan of Michael Bolton -🤷🏻♀️go figure? – I tried to make it happen – I bought her tickets to shows in Fla where she lived and she chased after his limo and got a glimpse of him closer, I flew her out to Vegas numerous times and we sat front and center with signs and were promised a meet n greet (I had worked w Micheal previously and had contact info for he and his team) – those meet n greets never happened – I had arranged for people to meet Jon Bon Jovi, ‘nsync, nkotb, Paul McCartney, eagles, Grateful Dead you name it – how was it of all celebs and certainly Michael not being a huge name – that I couldn’t get my terminally ill sister to meet him? It seemed so unfair, she was dying for God’s sake? – finally a show happened in Vegas and I pulled out all the stops and asked all my contacts who worked on that show to help me and her and it worked – God bless all of those angels who pitched in – she was so happy – fast forward to her final weeks on earth – I’m at her hospital bed (family took turns staying with her and she would sometimes be alert and other times not with us and they didn’t know if we would get her back?) and we played Michael on a little ghetto blaster 24 hours a day – she wasn’t with us at this time but began moaning under her oxygen mask – I thought she was in pain and ran for a nurse and as the nurse removed her mask she wasn’t in pain but singing along to Michael (his music had become slightly painful for us during this time 😂) and we got her back (for me the final visit I’d see her) – she believed and we believed (just like your mom and you) and it came to pass –
After reading your story I had to share – have a great weekend!!
Fran Tunno
October 11, 2025 at 5:24 pmOh my Laura! What a great story! Honestly, believing is 90%. Hard work is five percent and luck and maybe a novena or two round out that other 5%. I love your story. Mom always said, where there’s a will, there’s a way! I will always believe that. I’m so happy my story conjured up good feelings for you. Thank you so much for taking the time to share! The book and audiobook will be out soon, so stay tuned.
Sue D
October 10, 2025 at 6:03 pmHi Fran
Always enjoy your blogs and yes I look forward to them!!
Fran Tunno
October 10, 2025 at 8:46 pmThanks Sue, I so appreciate that you look forward to them and take the time to respond. I hope all is well!
xo
Dawn Wilkins
October 10, 2025 at 4:38 pmWe were lucky to try these fab cookies and they are truly delicious. But that Pumpkin Cake recipe Fran mentions and offers the link to is also a real winner and a must-make for the Fall.
Fran Tunno
October 10, 2025 at 8:45 pmDahlink! Thank you so much for the props and for reading and responding! Yay, it worked! Glad your trip back was uneventful! Come back any time!