Published: October 10, 2017 · Modified September 30, 2021 by Cindy Gibbs

These soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Butter Cinnamon Icing are warmly spiced, thick, and cakey. You don’t need to chill the cookie dough either… just mix, scoop, and drop! These cookies are irresistible!

Pumpkin Pecan Cookies.

I’m so glad fall is finally here.  Now, if it would just stick around for a while. Long enough for all of us to enjoy the changing leaves, fall walks, and most of all…fall desserts. I love all fall desserts, but pumpkin is hands down my favorite. Now let’s talk about a particular pumpkin dessert, Pumpkin Cookies.

I know you’ve heard me talk about my top two cookie recipes, one of them being my Sour Cream Brown Butter Cookies.  Well, I got to thinking about what these big and soft cake-like cookies would taste like if they were pumpkin flavored, and the little wheels started turning. Oh, and in case I didn’t mention it, I love pumpkin so much that I created a category just for pumpkin recipes here on my blog.

Okay, back to these cookies. These cookies are made of pure pumpkin puree, warm spices, and coarsely chopped pecans. However, you can omit the pecans and they’re still delicious! You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now to make these big soft babies!

Did I mention I have 17 cans of pumpkin puree in my pantry right now? I’m on top of my game this year, in case there’s some kind of shortage of canned pumpkin.

Cookie Ingredients

  • 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, (1/2 cup) room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 can pumpkin puree, 15 ounce (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Things To Like About These Pumpkin Cookies

  • No chilling: The dough doesn’t need to be chilled. Just mix, scoop, and drop the dough onto cookie sheets.
  • Flavor: These cookies have the perfect fall flavors, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Not over powering, just perfect!
  • Texture: These cookies have a soft and cakey texture, and by the way, they’re big and thick too.

How many cookies does the recipe make?

I used a large 1/2 cup cookies scoop for these big fat cookies! They made 12 jumbo cookies. Feel free to use a smaller cookie scoop if you prefer and of course, the yield will increase.

Can I Use Freshly Cooked Pumpkin?

YES! However, the freshly cooked pumpkin will have more moisture in it than canned pumpkin puree. Therefore, you’ll need to drain the excess water from it. The best way is to drain it is through a piece of cheesecloth for a few minutes. If you don’t have a cheesecloth, place the pumpkin in a bowl lined with several paper towels and allow it to sit for several minutes.

Can I Use Canned Pumpkin Pie Filling?

NO! Pumpkin Pie Filling is totally different than Pumpkin Puree and it’s used only in pies. Besides, it already has sugar, spices, and other ingredients added to it. We want to use pure Pumpkin Puree in these cookies and add our own additional ingredients.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with brown butter cinnamon icing.

BROWN BUTTER CINNAMON ICING

These cookies don’t need a thick frosting on them. In fact, they really don’t need anything on them. They’re that good! However, I decided to complement them with a thin Brown Butter Cinnamon Icing.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons half & half, divided
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

ICING TIPS

  • If the icing starts to thicken, add a tiny bit more of half & half or milk.
  • Allow the cookies to sit for a couple of hours before trying to stack or layer them.

What could be better than a cookie jar full of Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Cookies with brown butter icing?

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with brown butter cinnamon icing.
Pumpkin Pecan Cookies.

More great PUMPKIN recipes…

Pumpkin Spice Pecan Pancakes

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

The Great Pumpkin Cake

Baked Pumpkin Donuts

Pumpkin Bread

Marbled Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Perfect Pumpkin Roll

If you make this recipe please rate it, and leave a comment below on how you liked it. I love getting your feedback! 🙂

Wanna see different recipes each day? Feel free to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, & Instagram.

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A plate of Pumpkin Spice Cookies.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Butter Cinnamon Icing

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Cindy @mycountrytable
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 18 1x
  • Category: Cookies
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

These big soft cookies are more like little pumpkin cakes that have a melt in your mouth Brown Butter Cinnamon Icing.

Ingredients

Scale

FOR THE COOKIES

  • 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 can pumpkin puree, 15 ounce (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

FOR THE ICING

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons half & half, divided
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

FOR THE COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  1. In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the dry ingredients and set them aside.
  2. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Lightly whisk or stir the butter until it has browned and remove from the heat. This will take up to 5 minutes. It should go from a golden color to a light brown color and you should smell the  nutty aroma. Transfer the butter to a large mixing bowl. Mix it on medium speed until it cools down. Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin. Mix on medium speed for about one minute to combine. Add the pecans and dry ingredients and mix just long enough to incorporate.
  3. Using a large cookie scoop, place scoops of cookie dough on ungreased cookie sheets, leaving plenty of room between cookies for spreading. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until cookies are set and a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

FOR THE ICING

  1. Add the butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Melt the butter, swirling the pan occasionally.  Continue until the butter has lightly browned.  Don’t over brown or you will burn it.  Allow the butter to cool for a minute.
  2. Add the butter to a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, salt, 3 tablespoons of half & half, and one cup of sugar. Mix to combine. Add the remaining half and half as needed until you have a thin icing. followed by the last cup of sugar. Mix until smooth. This is thin icing, not a thick frosting.  If it’s too thin, just add a tiny bit of sugar.
  3. Spread icing over cookies in a thin layer, (not thick like frosting). Allow icing to set before storing cookies. Store in an airtight container.
  4. Cookies will stay fresh for up to five days.

Notes

  • I used a 1/2 cup cookie scoop for this recipe and it yielded 12 jumbo cookies.  You can use a medium cookie scoop and the yield will be 18.