If you’re a fan of sugar cookies and pumpkin pie, you’ll love this mashup of the two in my soft drop pumpkin sugar cookies. They’re incredibly moist and perfectly sweet — and they have all of the iconic flavor that’s become synonymous with the season.
Ingredients
This soft drop pumpkin sugar cookies ingredient list is pretty standard as far as sugar cookies go, with the exception of the puree and spice blend. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Pumpkin Puree– The star of the show, this adds flavor, moisture, and color. You can buy it at the store or make your own plain pumpkin puree at home.
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
5S Philosophy 👩🏻
- Salt – I like to use unsalted butter to control the salt content of these cookies. I like to add a bit of coarse kosher salt to help bring out the other flavors of the drop pumpkin sugar cookies.
- Seasonings – We already use pumpkin pie spice, but feel free to add some cinnamon too to bring even more warmth.
- Swaps – Instead of topping with sugar and pumpkin pie spice, try adding a frosting! A maple cream cheese frosting or pumpkin cream cheese frosting would be the perfect addition to these cookies.
- Senses – Pillowy and tender, soft drop pumpkin sugar cookies release a warm spiced aroma, melt with pumpkin sweetness, and leave a sugary, cozy finish on the tongue.
Recipe Complements
Serve these soft drop pumpkin sugar cookies with anything you’d serve with pumpkin pie, like vanilla ice cream. Or spoon a little vanilla whipped cream in between two of them to make cookie sandwiches. Also try a cup of coffee or espresso martini with pumpkin spice creamer.
You can also skip rolling them in cinnamon and sugar and instead use a glaze. Just whisk together 3 cups of powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of milk and ¼ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and allow it to set before serving.
Common Questions about Sugar Cookies
Ideally, sugar cookies should be soft. To make sure your cookies turn out soft, avoid overmixing or overbaking.
You can make your sugar your own by adding spices or a glaze. You can also switch up the extract.
Adding too much sugar to your cookies can make them hard.
Soft Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies:
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup unsalted butter , room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg , room temperature
Sugar Cookie Topping:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the 3 3/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened 1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup light brown sugar. When blended, add the 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1 large egg, until fully incorporated.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until fully combined. Do not overmix.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
- After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Topping:
- In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.
- With clean hands, use a cookie scoop and roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. The dough might be sticky and not roll well, have no fear, just plop it into the sugar and coat.
- Place the balls onto a parchment paper or silicone lined cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Dip the flat bottom of a pint glass into the sugar and flatten each ball until approximately 1/4 inch thick.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cookie tops start to crack. Do not wait until cookies brown, they will be overdone.
- Allow the cookies to cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack using a spatula.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, please come back and leave a comment to let us know how it went and if you made any modifications!
Notes
- Use homemade pumpkin puree or a really good quality canned version, this will directly impact the flavor of the cookies.
- Check the freshness of your pumpkin pie spice- the flavors will naturally degrade over time and if you haven’t used it since last year, now is the time to toss it and buy a new one or whip up a batch of homemade pumpkin pie spice.
Nutrition
More Pumpkin Recipes
It’s that time of year- the time when everyone is looking for recipes that use pumpkin!
Make Sure to check out all of the fun Halloween recipes that we’re sharing this week for Halloween treats week!
- Mummy Macarons from Big Bear’s Wife
- Pumpkin Marshmallow S’more Pops from Semi Homemade Recipes
- Spider Web Pancakes from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Spiderweb Pretzels from For the Love of Food
- Candy Corn Crumb Cake from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Air Fryer Bloody Intestines Cinnamon Rolls from It’s Shanaka
- Halloween Kids Punch from An Affair from the Heart
- Monster Burgers from Palatable Pastime
- Muddy Buddy Cookies from Best Cookie Recipes
- Eyeball Skewers from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Monster Mash-mallow Cereal Bars from Savory Moments
- Marshmallow Spiderweb Cupcakes from The Redhead Baker
- Pumpkin Halloween Eyeballs from Jen Around the World
- Ghost Marshmallow Brownies from Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
- Monster Milkshakes from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Very good cookie. I had a roasted fresh sugar pie pumpkin that I substituted for the canned pumpkin. The neighbors loved them. The cookie was easy to make and a perfect introduction to the pumpkin pie spice season. The house smelled divine while the were baking. I will be adding these to the Christmas cookie plate collection this year. Thanks for the recipe.
Woohoo! That is what we like to hear and thank you so much for coming back to let us know.
These pumpkin cookies look delicious. I could almost smell them on my way to your site…Yum!
Blessings,
Shari
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A very HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your family.