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.
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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.