What better way to welcome fall than with pumpkin cookies?! These deliciously soft and puffy pumpkin spice cookies feature a surprise sweetened vanilla cream cheese filling and a coating of cinnamon-sugar. These decadent, melt-in-your-mouth cookies are perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or whenever you need your pumpkin spice fix. After trying these, you’ll never go back to plain snickerdoodles. Â
Makes about 3½ dozen cookies
Ingredients
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
¾ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup granulated sugar
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Filling
8oz full-fat cream cheese, softened
⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy.
Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla until combined and smooth.
Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
Once the cookie dough is made, make the filling because it also needs to chill for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for coating.
Once the cookie dough and filling are chilled, flatten 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Flatten another tablespoon of dough, place on top of the filling, seal the edges together, and gently roll into a ball. Then roll the ball into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Press the cookie ball with a heavy-bottomed glass to flatten, and sprinkle a little extra cinnamon-sugar on top. (The dough gets very sticky as it warms to room temperature. Work with the dough in small batches and keep unused dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.) Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch and the tops start to crack. (These are very soft cookies, so be careful not to over-bake.) Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Filling
In a small bowl, use a handheld electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until combined. Cover the filling and refrigerate for about 2 hours.