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Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
October 3, 2018
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Sugar Cookies just got better with a little pumpkin! This recipe creates soft, chewy, lightly spicy glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies that are perfect for Fall!
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE a good sugar cookie. Especially if it’s soft, spicy and if pumpkin is involved in some way. Ever since I posted this recipe back in 2014, people have been going crazy for Pumpkin Sugar Cookies. Yes, there’s the classic pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars and even old fashioned pumpkin donuts, but pumpkin sugar cookies are the way to my heart.
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies Recipe
This simple recipe for pumpkin sugar cookies is a simple one, using butter, vegetable oil, pumpkin puree a mixture of two sugars, vanilla, spices and flour. Scooped and pressed onto a baking sheet, these bake up nice and soft and then get taken over the top with a sweet and spicy glaze.
They are easy to make, stay soft for days and are just the right amount of spicy and sweet. Alone they are kind of boring, but with the glaze, they are addicting. Most food is addicting to me though. These are carbs after all.
Butter and Vegetable oil? Why use both?
When testing this recipe, I used all butter, all oil and then a combination of both and found that using both butter and vegetable oil gave me the texture I was looking for while still giving that buttery flavor. Butter adds flavor and the vegetable oil keeps the cookies moist and soft all the way through.
How to make Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
This process of baking couldn’t be easier! Using very common pantry ingredients, you only need one bowl and a few minutes! A lot of the comments below say that these pumpkin sugar cookies don’t taste “pumpkiny” enough, so if you want things really screaming pumpkin, use 1 1/2 times the amount of spices in the cookie dough and glaze. I don’t recommend adding in more pureed pumpkin because that will add too much moisture to the cookie (and be super gross).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line light colored baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Stir butter, oil, sugars, vanilla, eggs and pumpkin together until well incorporated.
- Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until and stir until just combined.
- Scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet.
- Press the bottom of a small cup into granulated sugar and press each cookie down to flatten slightly.
- Bake 8-9 minutes.
- Whisk powdered sugar together with water and pumpkin pie spice to create smooth, thick glaze.
- Once cookies have cooled, glaze cookies.
Homemade Spice Mix vs Pumpkin Pie Spice
For this pumpkin cookie recipe, I use a mixture of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon in the dough, but do use pumpkin pie spice in the glaze. Either are fine and work perfectly well. Use what you have! Also, if you feel you need to add in a little ginger to make it a true pumpkin pie spice mix, feel free to add that in as well. I just didn’t have any and am partial to cloves over ginger. To each their own!
The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and a pinch of cloves. If you want to use Pumpkin Pie spice in place of these, simple use 1 1/2 teaspoons total of pumpkin pie spice.
Glaze versus Frosting
I love using a simple spiced glaze for these pumpkin sugar cookies made from powdered sugar, water and pumpkin pie spice. It hardens nicely and actually helps to lock in moisture in the finished cookie. They can stack well for easy transport and look great!
But again, there are lots of people with strong opinions in the comments section that complain about the glaze! If its not spicy enough, add in more pumpkin pie spice or a combo of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Want to take it to a whole new level? Try cream cheese frosting or a simple vanilla buttercream. Dust the frosted cookies with a little pumpkin pie spice for a beautiful presentation and extra flavor! So so delicious!
Love pumpkin sugar cookies? Try these other pumpkin recipes:
- Classic Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Pecan Cobbler
- Soft Pumpkin Bars
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
- Pumpkin Pull Apart Monkey Bread
- Old Fashioned Pumpkin Donuts
- Magnolia Bakery Pumpkin Gingersnap Banana Pudding
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Bakery-Style Pumpkin Muffins
And if you’re looking for more even more pumpkin recipes, check out my full list here.
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies just got better with a little pumpkin! This recipe creates soft, chewy, lightly spicy glazed pumpkin sugar cookies that are perfect for Fall!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree canned pumpkin
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of cloves
for the glaze-
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside. In a large bowl, stir butter, oil, pumpkin, sugars, vanilla and eggs together until incorporated and smooth.
- Slowly mix in all dry ingredients until completely incorporated.
- Scoop onto prepared baking sheet using 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop and flatten to 1/2 inch thick using the bottom of a glass. If the dough is sticking to the glass, press the bottom of the glass in granulated sugar before flattening. Bake 8-9 minutes.
- While cookies bake, stir all ingredients together for glaze until smooth.
- Once cookies are finished baking, cool 3 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons glaze over each warm cookie. Let glaze harden 2-3 hours before serving. OR eat them warm with lots of runny glaze 🙂
Video
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Nutrition
Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 29mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 623IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg
Yay for pumpkin! Love these!
These are fantastic, they stay soft, my grandson took a few to school, all his friends grabbed, they want more!!
Guess I better get busy!
Can this dough be used with cookie cutters?
I’ve never tried that, but I think it should work, as long as you’re using flour or powdered sugar to roll out the dough. You might try refrigerating the dough as well.
Can I use this recipe for plain sugar cookies and what do I need to change?
Use this recipe for sugar cookies: https://laurenslatest.com/vanilla-bean-christmas-sugar-cookies/
The video doesn’t show the vegetable oil that I can see? Thanks,
I am drooling over these cookies! They look simply irresistible!
I found an unused bag of sugar cookie mix in the pantry last night. I wanted to make them different but my brain was fried from the work day. I might have to do the whole pumpkin spice thing with that bag. and THEN make another batch from scratch. 😉 These look perfect!
A perfect cookie for fall. Love the glaze.
Saw these on Pinterest and had to stop by! They look absolutely divine! I followed you on Facebook! : )
Oh my gosh, they look like lofthouse cookies but PUMPKIN!
Well these are just perfect! They don’t look as cakey as most pumpkin cookies so YAY for that!
Has anyone made these eggless? If so what did you use as a substitution?
You are the cookie champion, for [email protected]!
[…] See the full directions and recipe here. […]
These look divine! Im gonna pick up a can of pumpkin and try them this weekend!
These are EXACTLY the kind of cookies I want today!! How did you know? 😉
Mmm, I’m just all over this!
Ooooh, I saw these on pinterest and jumped up to make them right then. They are just cooling on the counter and they are wonderful!
I’m busting out the pumpkin for baking this weekend. These cookies may have to make an appearance!
These look so good! Pumpkin cookies are sooooo good!!
[…] I’m craving from around the web These Soft Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies from Laurens Latest are on my list to bake this weekend! They look simply […]
They look so good! I made some soft pumpkin cookies earlier in the week but didn’t put frosting on them…you’re the smart one 🙂 Pinned!
These look amazing and absolutely perfect!!
I made these cookies today. They are incredibly soft and the glaze is wonderful. I liked them…..but I found the cookie not very pumpkiny….Maybe it’s just my preferences….I think I am going to try to tweek the pumkin amount a bit. But these cookies are beautiful and soft!
mmmmmm. So what did you come up with? Roselyn? How much extra Pumkin?
I found the same thing… very soft and moist but not very pumpkiny… I thought I had accidentally added too much flour at first!! I’m glad I’m not the only one!
Absolutely need more pumpkin. Next time I will double it.
I agree it needs more pumpkin flavor
They are very soft but not much pumpkin flavor….I was a little disappointed
I agree with adding more pumpkin and mine also came out more dry than I expected/liked, which was kind of a bummer, but that glaze was amazing!
Agreed. Mine are a nice soft texture but not very sweet. I used plain canned pumpkin and think I should have used pumpkin pie filling instead. Maybe that’s what the recipe intends?
I’m totally a soft cookie kind of gal! Love these!
Made these tonight & they are really good. I added an extra 1/4 of pumpkin pie spice to the glaze. & if you make them you just have to start off light when glazing the cookies because it will run..But if you put them in the fridge right after glazing then it will dry faster.
Ooh, thanks for the tip!
Yup, & thank you for this recipe! They didn’t come out cakey like other recipes so these are perfect 🙂
Sugar cookies make me happy. PUMPKIN sugar cookies make me squeal like a little girl!! Thanks so much for the link back Lauren! 🙂 Pumpkin Spice fo’ LYFE!!
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Wow! These look good, Lauren! They just made the top spot on my “must make” list! 🙂
these look amazing!
I have all the ingredients for these cookies on hand pretty much all the time … LOVE recipes like that! Making these this October fo sho!
King Arthur makes a “Glazing Sugar” you can use that sets up quickly, so you don’t have to wait for it to harden. Just go to their website.
[…] Soft Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies […]
Oh yes! Pinning to a few boards 🙂
I made these to take to an event at work. “Amazing” “Oh my gosh!” “Incredible” Those are the reactions from my coworkers. My husband cannot stay away from them and took some with him. He got the same reactions at work. I haven’t tried them because I am currently on calorie restriction but they smell wonderful!! I am making another batch today to take to a Community Sing at church tomorrow. I love to bake things that “wow” people. Thanks for the recipe.
This was a wonderful recipe. I need to bring the rest to work tomorrow so that I don’t eat them all.
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Dear Lord! These look freakin FANTASTIC!!
I’m going to try converting them to a gluten free version. I just love pumpkin season.
Oh please send me your GF version, would greatly appreciate it. I am not good at converting recipes.
I made these gluten free tonight. The texture is great. They don’t have much of a pumpkiny taste. Will try adding just a bit more pumpkin and spice. Love a recipe that converts easily to gluten free.
I made this recipe with gluten free flour and they were terrible. Very little pumpkin flavor and texture was soft as in crumbly and fell apart. Will not try again!!
I’d love to have your recipe for gluten free if you find one or come up with one
.
Does anyone know how to package and mail these cookies so that they don’t fall apart? I need to send 120 of them to one of my friends.
Thank you!!
Amy, how about a pringles can or cans?
These look delicious, Lauren! A nice change from a straight up pumpkin cookie!!
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These had a nice soft texture, but for me, had very little pumpkin flavor.
OMG …I just made these and they are THE BEST PUMPKIN cookie EVER !!!! Everyone LOVES them !!!! I used regular Crisco instead of butter and they turned out YUMMY ! Def will be making these again ! Thank you !
For those who added more pumpkin, what other changes did you make to the recipe?
Yum, I love pumpkin and soft cookies. These look amazing.
I just made these and they are DELICIOUS! So soft and perfect! I only used 1/4 teaspoon of pupkin pie spice and for the glaze only 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar and added 2 tablespoons creamcheese. Yummy(:
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Just made and these are so good! I also used half whole wheat flour and a bit more pumkin and still delicious. Thank you!
Mine turned out very dry & no flavor
II was thinking about doubling the pumpkin to replace the oil so they have a more pumpkin flavor. Has anyone else tried this?
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