Okay, I know I have been in fall mode for about two weeks, but yesterday was the official first day of Autumn. I thought I would celebrate by baking pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing! If you follow my blog, you may recognize these bad boys from last year…yep, same cookies…different icing!
As I said on Monday, I am dedicating this week to recipes that deserve recognition for being so good I found it necessary to make them over and over again! These cookies are a perfect example: they are soft, cake like while being a little chewy and oh so perfect for fall. Last year I made them with caramel icing and again with maple icing. This year I switched them up yet again and loaded them with cream cheese icing! What could be better?
I hope you had a great first day of Autumn. Now get in your kitchen and make these cookies! Thanks for stopping by. Come back later this week for another recipe worthy of repeating! Hint: chocolate is involved!
Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
Adapted from allrecipes
Yield: 24 Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup unsalted butter; softened
2 cups white sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin (solid; not pie mix)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
1. Cream shortening, butter, white sugar and pumpkin. Add eggs and mix well.
2. Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
3. Drop from spoon to cookie sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (extract will also work)
2 tablespoons milk
Method
Mix the cream cheese with the butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl. Heat in a microwave for 15 seconds. Drizzle spoonfuls over the cooled cookies and smooth with the back of a spoon or a spatula.
Notes
I wanted big cookies, so I measured each cookie out to 1/4 cup, I shaped the cookies into circular blobs and smoothed the tops with dampened finger tips.- When the cookies were just slightly warm, I spooned on the cream cheese icing, smoothed the surface and tossed on some fall inspired sprinkles.-This icing recipe does not harden!
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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my, these sound so yummy and look beautiful. I cannot wait to make these cookie. Yay, for pumpkin and fall recipes.
Oh, yum! My 11 year old daughter is my little pumpkin queen. I might just have to make these for her.
They sound delish!
Of course the addition of cream cheese to make my growing waistline even thicker!
I love the theme here – my son keeps complaining whenever I bake something new "Why make anything new when X, X and X are perfect and we all love them?" There are some great recipes that deserve to be highlighted over and over again. Great-looking cookies!
Pumpkin cookies are on my list of things I want to bake asap. These look so good!
Oh these look amazing. I've been trying to find canned pumpkin all over Atlanta and EVERYONE is out!!!
I'm told it may be November before we get any. (Libby had a bad pumpkin crop last year apparently!)
The minute I find some I'm making these…
Hugs~Robin
All Things Heart and Home
I wish, oh, how I wish we had some hint of Autumn but alas it won't happen.
I don't remember these but am printing out the recipe. They look perfect for sending into school.
~ingrid
They are perfect for this time of year. Love the frosting and sprinkles!
I just love, love, love fall! These might be just the thing to heal my cold!
Ooh I think I made similar cookies last year using a Martha Stewart recipe. You've just reminded me of them! Love the way you decorated yours.
I would love some of these cookies, autumn or not!
Great way to celebrate fall! I love how cakey they look. Delicious!
Oh yum, I'm going to have to make these when I get back from BlogHer Food. Have you ever had pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips in them? Those are the best!
I bet the frosting just puts these bad boys over the edge!!!!!DELISH
OMGosh, those look so good! I'll definitely be making these…
These look so delicious. I have a pumpkin cookie recipe that uses maple frosting and those are wonderful too.
Since I left Maine this summer, I've been missing the perfect (giant) pumpkin chocolate chip cookies made by the local store. If this recipe is worth repeating over and over, it just might be the one to bring Maine memories to Georgia realities!
I just made these Jamie and LOVED them! Thanks for the recipe!!
I can't wait to make these cookies. What is your opinion on the best frosting for them, the caramel, or the cream cheese frosting?
Made another one of your fabulous recipes, Jamie. Thanks so much! Of course, when I blogged about it I gave all the credit to you…thanks for sharing.
http://nagle5.blogspot.com/2009/10/autumn-pumpkins-pumpkins-terrific-baked.html
just made these! thank you! they are fab! I posted the recipe on my blog linking back to yours fyi.
i made these yesterday for thanksgiving. a few notes. i am horrible baker and never attempt anything. the icing came out perfect however. and make sure you cook them long enough. if you dont they wont harden up and fall right apart, even while letting them sit for a long time. when i mastered them they were great and i couldnt get my family to stop eating them as i iced them, even the ones that were falling apart.
These looks amazing! I love pumpkin!
I’m having my first linky party on my blog and the theme is pumpkin. I’d like to invite you to come link up your favorite pumpkin recipe. The link is open until Wednesday at midnight, so please stop by and say hi.
http://cookincowgirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/pumpkin-blog-hop.html
~Cookin’ Cowgirl
How did you make the maple icing last year? I’d love to try that one. Is it an icing that hardens? Thanks!
I’ve made these cookies twice in the past 3 days. THAT is how good they are! I made one batch with giant cookies and the other with small because I was taking them to a party. I like the bigger ones better! Thanks for sharing!
I made this over the weekend for a Packers party and the cookies were a huge hit! I made my cookies smaller and probably had nearly 4 dozen cookies! Delicious!
Mmmm…this is a good recipe! We enjoyed them…it is my new favorite pumpkin cookie recipe!!
I just made these, and my 4-year-old kids can’t get enough! We haven’t even frosted them yet, and they’re gobbling them up faster than if they contained chocolate! Thank you!
I made these last night, yeilds twice the number listed when using rounded spoonfuls rather than 1/4 cup measures but they are DIVINE!!!
I powdered sugared a dozen to send to my daughter’s God Father in Afghanistan (I didn’t think the cream cheese icing would ship well) but iced the rest and took them to work.
It is 10:30AM and they’re ALL gone!!!
Oh, I increased the vanilla in the icing by a teaspoon also.
i juss came across your blog i usually never look into them but im so glad i did and im here in ur blog & im loving it!
ur recipes look delish and i cant wait till i try them tomorrow!
a true inspiration thanks so much! <3
keep doin ya thang=)
Such a great cookie! I was worried the spice amounts would be too much but they turned out perfect and full of flavor where other cookies I have made didnt have any flavor. I followed the cookie and icing recipe exactly only using reduced fat cream cheese. My 2 year old didnt like the icing but ate the cookies plain and my 4 year old and 12 month old gobbled them up too! Next time might try adding mini chocolate chips and making a cream cheese frosting that is more whipped n fluffy just so its not as messy. My icing was pretty runny but I think thats the reduced fat cream cheese. Usually it tends to be softer. Glad I found a keeper. Thanks for the recipe!