Soft pumpkin cookies with cinnamon frosting

Filled with warm, seasonal spices, these soft pumpkin cookies are topped with a buttery cinnamon icing, making them the perfect fall treat. Make a batch of these melt in your mouth cookies for Halloween and top with fun sprinkles.

I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.

You may also be interested in my Halloween pumpkin cookies and my buttermilk cookies recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my cookie recipes in one place.

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Pumpkin spice cookies with cinnamon frosting

If you love soft and fluffy cookies, warm spices, and pumpkin, these are your kind of cookie! These are always a hit when I make them. They are super soft, cakey and honestly almost melt in your mouth.

The pumpkin cookies themselves aren’t terribly sweet, which is why I like them so much, but the frosting gives them just enough extra sweetness to take care of that sweet tooth craving.

I just made the pumpkin cookies. OMG – they are delicious! The recipe is so easy to follow and the cookies came out fluffy and soft.

– Elaine

What you need to know

The cookies are done in under an hour, including cooling time. While this cookie is great for Halloween, don’t limit yourself to just one day! They are a terrific treat for the whole season.

They will spread a bit, so be sure to leave 2 inches between them on the baking sheet. To keep them from spreading too much, refrigerate the scooped cookie dough before baking. Let them cool a bit on the sheet pan before transferring them to the cooling rack. They will benefit from the residual heat.

Ingredients

• All purpose flour – Flour is the backbone of the recipe, it gives the cookies structure.
• Baking powder & baking soda – These are the leaveners that help the cookies rise and spread.
• Sea salt – All baked goods need salt. I used fine sea salt.
• Ground cinnamon & ground nutmeg – The spices that make these pumpkin cookies taste delicious.
• Unsalted butter – Unsalted butter lets you control the amount of salt in the recipe.
• Sugar – Sweetens the cookies just the right amount.
• Egg – Eggs provide structure and help bind the cookies.
• Vanilla extract – You can substitute with vanilla bean paste, if you have it.
• Pure pumpkin puree – I use Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin (NOT pie filling)

How to make soft pumpkin cookies

Here’s a quick summary of how to make soft cinnamon pumpkin cookies. Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe. 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. First, whisk dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl, then beat butter and sugar together in a separate bowl. Add the remaining wet ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated.
2. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix. Scoop and bake. I use a size 40 scoop for these cookies – it holds 1.5 tbsp.
3. Let the cookies cool slightly, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
4. Make frosting by combining all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beating until light and fluffy. Then frost cookies (I use an offset spatula) and top with sprinkles.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies FAQ’s

Variations and substitutions

• Sprinkles – I used orange and black Halloween-themed sprinkles to decorate them, but you can switch it up with autumn colored sprinkles, or leave the sprinkles off and serve them with a light dusting of cinnamon sugar on top of the frosting for a sprinkle-free option.
• Frosting – The recipe calls for milk or cream to make the frosting for the cookies. I have made it with apple cider instead of milk, and it was so good. A great variation!
• Spices – Instead of using individual spices, you can substitute with 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
• Ideas for mix-ins – 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or dried cranberries.

Helpful tools and equipment

• Heavy duty sheet pans that hold up to high temps without warping.
• Parchment paper sheets are MUCH easier to use than tearing pieces off of a roll.

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Originally published 9/26/23, most recent update 10/22/25.