These sweet morsels are lusciously pillowy and chewy, scented with a burst of fall spices and a hint of molasses. The exterior has a subtle sugar crunch and a drizzle of simple sweet icing. Even better, the soft texture holds up for days. They really are the best: great for fall desserts, Halloween, Thanksgiving and everything in between.
Pumpkin puree: Too much pumpkin makes for cakey cookies. This recipe uses just enough pumpkin. Unsalted butter: Heat the butter until it starts to turn brown and smells nutty, then immediately remove from the heat. Using brown butter adds a deep nuance in flavor (and smells incredible). Egg yolk and molasses: Egg yolk and a bit of molasses helps to make the perfect chewy texture. All-purpose flour and granulated sugar: We don’t recommend using substitutes in this recipe because it significantly alters the texture. Cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt: These baking ingredients bring together the spiced pumpkin flavor.
Use a cookie scoop. If you have a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, it’s helpful for portioning the dough perfectly. Bake the trays separately. This is one of our biggest baking tips: bake only one tray of cookies at a time! This ensures the best consistency between the trays because the oven heat is the same for each. (This is even true with new ranges like ours.) Refrigerate the dough in between baking the trays. It’s not required, but it also yields the most consistency. When you don’t chill in between baking, the cookies have slightly more crinkles—while it looks nice, it’s appears slightly different from the first batch. If you’d like you can chill the dough longer than it takes to bake the first tray, but let it come to roughly room temperature before making the balls.
We’ve found from experimentation that Libby brand of canned pumpkin has the best dry texture for baking. We’re not affiliated with the brand; we’ve just noticed that other brands can be very wet. If you have access to this brand, we’ve found it yields the most consistent results.
Store in a sealed container at room temperature for 1 week. The texture holds up well: no need to add anything to the container. Store refrigerated for 2 weeks. Allow to come to room temperature before serving. Store frozen for up to 3 months. If you can, freeze the cookies un-iced: it doesn’t hold up as well frozen.
5 from 1 review
10 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 cups all-purpose flour (280 g) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon cinnamon 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground allspice ½ teaspoon nutmeg ½ teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon molasses 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup pumpkin puree (Libby brand is most consistent for baked goods*)
For the glaze (or Maple Glaze)
1 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons milk ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
**You can also chill the dough longer than it takes to bake the first tray, but let it come to roughly room temperature before making the balls. (Baking the dough right from chilled yields different results.) Variation: Try this Maple Glaze for topping the cookies.
Try baked goods like pumpkin cake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin bread or pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Go for sweet pumpkin bread pudding or pumpkin ice cream. Drink a pumpkin martini, pumpkin spice latte or iced pumpkin spice latte. Try breakfast ideas like pumpkin French toast, pumpkin waffles, or pumpkin pancakes.
