Pumpkin Pie Cookie: The Best Fall Cookie You’ll Make This Year

Okay, so I’m gonna be honest with you. I never thought I’d be that person who gets obsessed with seasonal cookies, but here we are. Last October, I tried making these Pumpkin Pie Cookie things on a whim because I had leftover pumpkin puree from making pie, and… yeah. They’re basically all I made for three weeks straight.

My sister-in-law kept asking for the recipe, my coworkers were bribing me with coffee to bring more, and my neighbor—who’s one of those people who bakes everything from scratch—actually asked if I bought them from a fancy bakery. Best compliment ever.

What Even Is a Pumpkin Pie Cookie?

So basically, imagine if pumpkin pie and a soft, chewy cookie had a baby. That’s it. That’s the cookie.

They’ve got all those warm spices—cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger—mixed with actual pumpkin puree, and they taste like fall threw up in your kitchen in the best possible way. The texture is soft and almost cake-like, but not in a weird dry way. More like… pillowy? Is that a thing people say about cookies?

I think I first saw something like this on Pinterest back in 2019, or maybe it was a random food blog? Honestly can’t remember. But I’ve tweaked the recipe so many times that it’s basically unrecognizable from whatever the original was.

My Failed Attempts (Because There Were Several)

Version 1.0 was a disaster. Complete disaster.

I used way too much pumpkin puree because I thought “more pumpkin = more flavor,” right? Wrong. They spread out flat as pancakes and tasted like… I don’t even know. Wet cardboard? My husband took one bite and very gently suggested maybe we order pizza instead.

Then I tried adding cream cheese frosting on top (Version 2.0), which sounds amazing in theory, but they got too sweet and kinda lost that pumpkin pie vibe. Plus, the frosting melted everywhere when they were still warm. Messy.

Version 3.0 was when I finally figured out the pumpkin-to-flour ratio. And that’s the recipe I’m sharing today.

Pumpkin Pie Cookie Recipe: Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s what you need. Most of this stuff you probably already have, unless you’re one of those people with an empty spice cabinet (no judgment, but also… go shopping).

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (don’t use self-rising, learned that the hard way)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (this is important, don’t skip it)

Wet Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (I always use Land O’Lakes, but whatever brand works)
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling—there’s a difference and it matters)
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Optional But Highly Recommended Pumpkin Pie Cookie Toppings:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips (or semi-sweet if you prefer)
• ½ cup chopped pecans (I’m obsessed with pecans in these)
• A sprinkle of coarse sugar on top before baking (makes them look fancy)

Quick note about the pumpkin puree: Make sure you’re using plain pumpkin, not the pre-spiced pie filling. I grabbed the wrong can once at Target because I wasn’t paying attention, and the cookies came out way too sweet and weird. The cans look almost identical, so just… read the label.

How to Make Pumpkin Pie Cookie (Step by Step)

Alright, let’s do this.

Step 1: Preheat Your Oven

Set it to 350°F (175°C). And actually wait for it to preheat. I know, I know, we all want to skip this, but trust me—cookies bake weird if you put them in a cold oven.

Step 2: Mix the Dry Stuff

Grab a medium bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all those spices. It’ll smell incredible. Like fall exploded in your kitchen.

Set this aside. We’ll come back to it.

Step 3: Cream the Butter and Sugars

In a large bowl (or stand mixer if you’re fancy), beat the softened butter with both sugars until it’s light and fluffy. This takes about 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer. Your arm will fall off if you try doing this by hand. Don’t be a hero.

The key is—oh wait, I forgot to mention—make sure your butter is actually softened. Not melted, not cold. Room temperature. If it’s too cold, the cookies will be dense. If it’s melted, they’ll spread too much.

Step 4: Add Pumpkin and Egg

Mix in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract. The mixture will look kinda weird at this point, almost curdled? But that’s totally normal. Just keep mixing until it’s smooth.

Step 5: Combine Everything

Gradually add your dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Do NOT overmix. This isn’t bread dough. The second you don’t see any more flour streaks, stop.

If you’re adding chocolate chips or pecans (you should), fold them in now. I usually do both because… why not?

Step 6: Scoop and Bake

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Trust me on this one—these cookies can stick.

Use a cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons worth) and drop dough onto the sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. They’ll spread a little, but not too much.

Here’s where I sometimes sprinkle that coarse sugar on top. Makes them look bakery-level.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. They’re done when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly soft. They’ll keep cooking on the pan after you take them out. Set your timer for 12 minutes and check them—then add more time if needed.

Step 7: Cool

Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes (I know it’s hard to wait), then transfer to a wire rack.

And now the hardest part: trying not to eat them all immediately.

Tips I’ve Learned from Making These Way Too Many Times

Storage: These actually get better the next day. Something about the flavors melding together? Store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll last about 5 days, but let’s be real—they’ll be gone way before that.

Freezing: You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Or freeze the dough in balls and bake them fresh whenever you want. I do this all the time now.

Pumpkin Pie Cookie Age Question: Someone asked me how long these stay fresh, and honestly, they’re best within the first 3-4 days. After that, they start getting a bit dry.

The Spice Situation: Don’t have all those individual spices? Just use 2 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. It’s basically the same thing pre-mixed. I keep both on hand because I’m extra, but you don’t have to be.

Texture Issues: If your cookies come out too cakey, you probably added too much flour or pumpkin. If they’re too flat, your butter was too soft or you didn’t measure your flour correctly. Use the spoon-and-level method for measuring flour, not the scoop-directly-from-the-bag method.

Different Ways to Eat These (Because Variety Is Cool)

Look, you can just eat them plain and they’re amazing. But here are some other things I’ve tried:

• Make ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream (did this for my daughter’s birthday last year, was a hit)
• Drizzle with cream cheese glaze (mix powdered sugar with cream cheese and milk)
• Dunk them in coffee (life-changing)
• Crumble them over yogurt for breakfast (don’t judge me)

My 6-year-old likes to eat them with a glass of cold milk, which is very traditional and pure. My teenager spreads Nutella on them, which is chaotic but I respect it.

The Pumpkin Pie Cookie Run Kingdom Thing

Okay, random tangent—but people keep asking me if these are related to that Cookie Run game character. Apparently there’s a Pumpkin Pie Cookie character in Cookie Run Kingdom? I had no idea until someone mentioned it in the comments last time I posted about these.

So no, these aren’t based on a video game character. They’re just… cookies. That taste like pumpkin pie. But if your kid plays that game and wants to make cookies based on their favorite character, I guess this recipe works? The internet is weird.

Why This Pumpkin Cookies Recipe Works

Here’s the thing: the texture is perfect because we’re using both baking powder AND baking soda. The baking soda reacts with the brown sugar to give them that slightly chewy edge, while the baking powder helps them puff up a bit in the middle.

The pumpkin puree keeps them super moist without making them dense or heavy. And the spices? Chef’s kiss. It tastes like you’re eating actual pumpkin pie but in a more socially acceptable format (you can eat like six cookies and nobody judges you, but eat six slices of pie and suddenly you’re “concerning”).

I’ve made probably seven different versions of pumpkin cookies over the years, and this is the only one I keep coming back to. Some recipes use cake mix (weird), some use oats (not bad but not the vibe), some have maple syrup (too sweet). This one hits all the right notes.

Final Thoughts on These Pumpkin Pie Cookie Things

Is this the fanciest recipe ever? No. Will it impress your mother-in-law at Thanksgiving? Probably. Will you make them multiple times this fall? I mean, I can’t force you, but yeah, you probably will.

They’re just really good. Soft, flavorful, smell incredible while baking, and they make your house smell like a Pinterest board come to life.

My neighbor Sarah (the fancy baker I mentioned earlier) now makes these every Halloween for trick-or-treaters instead of buying candy. The kids actually prefer them. Which says something.

Anyway, try these and let me know what you think! Seriously, come back and tell me if you added anything different or if your cookies came out better than mine. I’m always looking for ways to improve them, even though I think they’re pretty perfect already.

Happy baking! (And may your kitchen not end up covered in flour like mine always does.)