I can not even begin to explain how excited I am to share this Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting recipe with you!
Seriously, as soon as I took my first bite I immediately wanted to send everyone I know a dozen of these soft & chewy fall cookies!
When I shared the picture on Instagram I immediately regretted saying that the recipe wasn’t going to be on my blog until October 2. I could hardly wait to share the goodness & after the response I got from you & my husband I knew it was going to be a long wait!
The wait felt even longer & almost never ending after all of the technical drama over the last several weeks. I started to worry the only way I was going to be able to share this recipe was on social media – which would not do this recipe justice!
These Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting are so good that I am not actually allowed to tell you how much my husband loves them.
This is because the recipe has been handed down from generation to generation on his side of the family – his sister even won her universities cookie competition after entering the recipe – & I must admit that after I got ahold of it I took it to pieces & recreated it because I needed some spice to my pumpkin & who can really live without Maple Cream Cheese Frosting?
Don’t worry I had several really good reasons for recreating this family favorite.
The original was called Pumpkin Cookies & over the last 2 plus years of marriage Roger has slowly been working on getting me to like pumpkin & so far I am at the point that I greatly enjoy Pumpkin Spice but not so much just pumpkin. So the first change I made was to spice up the recipe.
The recipe called for 2 cups of raisins, so the second change is due to me not being a big fan of raisins, don’t get me wrong I love grapes, but I prefer my fruit to be a little more fresh & a lot less wrinkly!
Thirdly, I switched 1 cup of Crisco to 1 cup salted butter to be a little more healthy.
Outside of a few other minor adjustments to the recipe the final change was the frosting. Instead of a vanilla frosting, I decided to add one more fall flavor to these Pumpkin Spice Cookies by creating a Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. YUM!
I really, really, really love these Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting! They might even be my favorite cookie right now! I should probably also admit that I have been eating these Pumpkin Spice Cookies for breakfast – don’t worry I left some unfrosted for these morning treats!
You won’t be able to stop eating these perfectly soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting that are filled with some of the best flavors of fall! One cookie is simply not enough! They are so soft it is almost like eating the tops of a pumpkin spice cupcake, yet they are perfectly complimented by a moist & chewy texture with heavenly pumpkin spice flavors that leave you wanting more!
Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 320
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 35
- Yield: 36 1x
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Ingredients
- 1 Cup Room Temperature Salted Butter
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Can 100% Pure Pumpkin – 15 ounces (*1)
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
- 5 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1/8th Teaspoon Ground Cloves
- 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/2 Teaspoon All Spice
- 2 Pinches Salt
- Chopped Walnuts – Optional
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons Room Temperature Butter
- 4 Ounces Room Temperature Cream Cheese
- 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Maple Extract
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 375º & line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl cream 1 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, & 1 cup white sugar. Then with a spoon mix in the 1 can of pure pumpkin & 2 teaspoons vanilla.
- Sift 5 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon all spice, & 2 pinches of salt into the pumpkin mixture & stir until combined. (*2)
- Scoop the pumpkin spice cookie dough onto your baking sheet using a medium – 1/8 cup – cookie scoop & leave 1-2 inches between each cookie for spreading. Use your fingers press down on the top of each cookie so that the cookie dough is flat & evenly distributed. (*3)
- Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden.
- Once baked, remove the cookies from the oven & let cool. If you weren’t able to bake all of the cookies at once, let the baking sheet cool before scooping more batter onto the sheet.
- While your cookies are cooling make the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting. (*3)
- In a medium sized bowl blend together the butter & the cream cheese. Then slowly blend in 2 cups of powdered sugar by adding 1/2 cup at a time to the butter/cream cheese. Continue to blend until light fluffy – I like to blend mine for at least 5-10 minutes to ensure extra fluffiness! Then blend in 1 teaspoon vanilla & 1 & 1/2 teaspoon maple extract until combined. If need be add more powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, until you are happy with the consistency. (*4)
- Once your cookies are completely cool frost your cookies using a spatula & enjoy! (*5)
Notes
- *1. Make sure to use Pure Pumpkin, not Pumpkin Pie Filing.
- *2. If you want to add chopped walnuts to the mixture now is the time to do so, alternately I chose to press them into about half of the cookies. If you are adding chopped walnuts to only a few or half of the cookies just press a few pieces into each cookie before baking.
- *3. These cookies don’t spread like normal cookies do, if you don’t flatten the cookies you might end up with a snowball shaped cookie.
- *4. If you want your cookies to be extra loaded with frosting (like in the pictures) you will need to make a double batch of frosting.
- *5. To distinguish the walnut Pumpkin Spice Cookies I added a whole walnut to the top of each walnut filled frosted cookie. For the non-walnut Pumpkin Spice Cookies I drizzled icing on top of the maple cream cheese frosting. A combination of French vanilla creamer (or milk) & powdered sugar.
- *6. Keep your Maple Cream Cheese Frosted cookies refrigerated in a sealed container for 1-2 weeks. The unfrosted Pumpkin Spice Cookies can be stored in a loosely sealed container for up to a week at room temperature.
I’d love to see your Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting!
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With love, G
May the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13
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Don’t you need to use eggs in this recipe?
Nope! This is a special recipe! 😉
The pumpkin spice cookies sound delicious themselves but the star of this is definitely that maple and cream cheese frosting. WOW it looks incredible! Wish I could devour a cookie right about now!