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Celebrating autumn pumpkins with these easy Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Cinnamon Brown Butter Frosting. Made with maple, spiced pumpkin butter, double the vanilla, and a little bit of chocolate. These cookies are soft, pumpkiny, and perfectly sweet with wonderful pumpkin spice flavor. They’re generously glazed with a sweet, thick, and creamy cinnamon brown butter frosting. The secret is simple – pumpkin butter. It keeps these cookies incredibly flavorful. Fun to bake, delicious to eat, these cookies make for a great homemade gift!
Cookie season is upon us and I’m starting a little early. It’s crazy to me that Tuesday is November 1st, but since I can’t slow time down, I’m embracing the season! I can already feel the holiday craze – cookies are needed!
It seems I say this every year, but it feels like Thanksgiving is often overlooked. I get it, Christmas is my thing too. But I try my best to at least have fun with Thanksgiving recipes. So we’re starting just a few days early with these cookies!
These are the perfect November cookie – though they’re great for Halloween too!
I made these just this weekend. If you follow daily, you know that we’ve had lots of cozy weather – and snow, so baking was welcomed. As with most of my holiday desserts, I always fear they might not turn out. But it’s the sweets that I make on a complete whim that I often end up loving most!
Sometimes not thinking too hard about an idea and just acting on the excitement is the best course of action. And that’s what I did with these. I had a lot of fun with them, and well, they’re pretty delicious too. I made them with my favorite pumpkin butter, which truly makes these cookies extra special.
The steps
Thankfully, if you want to bake these up tonight or this weekend for your Halloween parties, they’re easy.
As usual with most cookies, start out by beating the butter and sugar together. I love to use brown sugar for an added depth of flavor. Next, beat in the maple and pumpkin butter, lots of vanilla, and an egg.
Next comes the dry ingredients the cinnamon and nutmeg are key. Once you mix everything in you’ll have yummy pumpkin sugar cookie dough.
Roll out the dough, cut, and bake. There’s absolutely nothing fancy here.
Whenever I make any kind of cut-out cookie, I always like to roll out the dough, cut the cookies, and then freeze the cut cookies on a baking sheet for a few minutes. This ensures that the cookies hold their pumpkin shape.
Also, If you don’t want to roll out the dough, drop tablespoon size amounts of dough onto a baking sheet and bake away.
Now the frosting, it’s beyond delicious, and easy to make. Just butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Simple, yet delicious.
Drizzle the frosting over each cookie, then, if you like, decorate with chocolate and cinnamon sugar. Doesn’t get easier, but looks so cute once finished!
Make these tonight, for Halloween weekend, and then, again for Thanksgiving. The perfect sweet, soft pumpkin cookie!
Looking for other sweet pumpkin recipes? Here are my favorites:
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Latte Cupcakes
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Butter Bread
Lastly, if you make these Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Cinnamon Brown Butter Frosting, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Soft Pumpkin Sugar Cookies with Cinnamon Brown Butter Frosting
Servings: 32 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 204 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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Ingredients
Pumpkin Cookies
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup pumpkin butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Brown Butter Frosting
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- melted chocolate, for decorating
- cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- 1. In a bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the maple and beat to combine, then beat in the pumpkin butter. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, beating until combined.2. Flour your work surface. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk. Roll out the dough to 1/3 inch thickness. Make sure you are using enough flour or your dough will stick. Cut out the cookies into your desired shapes. Transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, until firm. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining dough.3. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake the cookies 10-12 minutes (for soft cookies) or until golden. Cool on the baking sheet. 4. To make the frosting. Melt the butter in a skillet. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool 5 minutes. Whisk in the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon water, the vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth, adding 1 tablespoon of water to thin the frosting as needed. If the frosting gets too thin, just add a little more sugar, and if it gets too thick, add a splash of water. The frosting should be thin enough to drizzle. 5. Frost each cooled cookie. I used melted chocolate to draw on the pumpkin "leaves". Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
Pumpkin Butter: if you don’t have pumpkin butter, use 1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree, but blot away any excess water/moisture with a paper towel to remove the added moisture.
Flour: if the dough is feeling too sticky to touch, add 2-6 tablespoons additional flour.
Delicious cookie! Only problem was the frosting . Came out too runny and buttery and I followed directions exactly. I kept adding more and more confections sugar but still too runny
Hi Nicole,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, so glad to hear that the cookie was enjoyed!! Sounds like you just needed some more powdered sugar:) I hope this helps! xT
Can they be made egg free?
Hi Ilana,
So sorry, I have not tested this recipe without the egg, it’s an important binder for the dough, but you could try a chia or flax egg. Let me know if you give the recipe a try! 🎃
Literally eating one right now- they’re delicious!
Zero issues rolling out and cutting. I did chill the dough for about 30 minutes and generously floured the work surface with a dusting on top of the dough. Rolled out perfectly!
Thank for this perfectly soft, delicious, fall-inspired cookie!
Hey Rebecca,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xx
Hi Tieghan! We made these yesterday, adapted to be gluten-free (Bob’s one-to-one flour) and vegan (flaxseed eggs, Miyoko’s plant-based butter, and dairy-free chocolate chips), and they were amazing! We added in homemade vegan white chocolate to the frosting, and topped the chocolate stems with fleur de sel, and this is definitely going to be in our fall rotation forever now.
To those who are having trouble with the dough being sticky, use a very generous amount of flour when rolling out, and the cookies come out wonderfully soft.
Thank you so much, Tieghan, for HBH being the best site on the internet. We love your recipes, your family love, the positive vibes, beautiful photography, gorgeous scenery, stylish trips, and cozy cooking.
Hi there,
Thank you so much for your kind message and making this recipe:) I am so glad it turned out for you and thanks for sharing what worked well for you! xT
These are SOOO good. I didn’t have time to cut them out so I opted for the tablespoon drop cookie option and wow…possibly the perfect fall cookie. I didn’t do icing this time but plan to the next time I make them.
Hey Taylor,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xx
These are really good-after reading the reviews I did reduce the maple syrup to 2T, and chilled the dough and then it rolled out fine. I made your recipe for pumpkin butter and these cookies taste great! Thanks for the inspiration you share to cook and bake.
Hi Susan,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xx
These were so delicious!! I made them for a Halloween potluck in my cul-de-sac and everyone loved them! I didn’t do the cinnamon sugar or melted chocolate on top, but I don’t think it even needed anything else. And now I have leftover pumpkin butter in the fridge – win win! 😊
Hey Carissa,
Happy Halloween! 🎃 I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xT
These are SO good!! Mine didn’t look as fancy as yours, but they taste amazing and are a big hit with the kids!!
Hey Em,
Happy Halloween!! 👻 I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for trying it out! xx
When measuring flour, do you scoop it into the cup and level or do you put it in the cup a spoonful at a time? Or is there a specific method you use? Probably overthinking it, but I always worry about putting in too much or too little.
Hi Sarah,
I just scoop with the measuring cup and level it out. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Hi Sarah! The proper way to measure flour is to gently spoon it into a measuring cup and then level it. Since Tieghan scoops her flour with the measuring cup instead of spooning it you’ll most likely need to add extra flour for them to turn out like hers.
Not only that, but don’t forget the step of sifting/fluffing the flour before spooning it!
These are really yummy but there is no way they could’ve been rolled out. Too wet and sticky. I dropped them with a tablespoon and pressed down a little to flatten them out. Frosting is a win too!
Hey Rebecca,
Happy Monday! 👻 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! Sounds like the dough needed to be chilled for a bit! Happy Halloween! 🎃
Eating these as I type! I didn’t have any cookie cutters, and didn’t want to bother with rolling out the dough, so I decided just to use a cookie scoop and bake. These are delicious and the frosting is a must as they turned out quite cake-y. Fun and festive!
Hey Kaylyn,
Happy Sunday! 🎃 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it and sharing your feedback! xx
I usually LOVE HBH baked goods (and everything else for that matter), however, this cookie did not come out right. I followed the instructions to a T and was unable to roll the dough. It very sticky. I still froze my dough circles pressed by hand, however they melted all together in the oven. Bummer. Will try another recipe again soon!
Hi Loren,
Ohh no!! So sorry to hear this! Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? Sounds like they needed slightly more flour or to have allowed the dough to chill a bit before rolling out. Let me know how else I can help! xx
You can start by posting recipes that work?
They look so yummy and I did print the recipe; unsure when we will try this at home. Thank you for sharing!
I hope you love the recipe!
It is nice to talk to you! Where did you get the pumpkin cookie cutter? I would like to know; I like the stems on them
Thanks Donna! Here is the link for the cookie cutter:
https://shopstyle.it/l/bNvwy
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Made these yesterday and they were delish! Followed recipe exactly. I usually struggle with cutouts but these came together so easy! Your holiday recipes never disappoint. Thank you for another awesome recipe ☺️
Hey Sonia,
Happy Tuesday!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it turned out tasty for you! xT
These look delicious. Cute too! I need to make these to use some of the pumpkin butter I made from your pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I made.
I am not much for rolling out cookies. HA!! Easier to scoop and drop. Ha!!
Thanks Charlotte!! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT