Pumpkin pie spice cookies are packed with warming autumn flavours and have a deliciously tender texture. Perfect for autumn baking, these sugar coated chewy pumpkin cookies are a lovely seasonal treat.
Try one (or two) with a cosy drink such as a Cinnamon latte, Biscoff latte or spiced white hot chocolate.
🔍 Recipe Snapshot:
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🍳 Cook Time: 12 minutes + 45 minutes chilling
- 🕒 Total Time: 1 hour 17 minutes
- 👥 Servings: 10-11
- 📊 Calories: 263 kcal per serving
- 🔥 Cook Method: Oven-baked
- ❄️ Frozen Option: ✅ Can be frozen
- 👩🍳 Flavour Profile: Warming spices
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy
- 💡 Best For: Quick baking, afternoon snacks, lunchboxes
- 🥗 Pairs Well With: Warm & cosy autumn drinks.
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Why I Love This
- Quick & easy: They only take 20 minutes.
- Soft & chewy: A great textured non-crunchy cookie.
- Seasonal flavours: Pumpkin puree and seasonal baking spices - made for each other.
- Rustic appearance: The sugar coating given these chewy pumpkin cookies a welcoming rustic look.
Have you seen my recipe for pumpkin bundt cake? It has a lovely spiced maple syrup icing adorning the top - you could drizzle this over these pumpkin cookies if you wanted to..
Ingredients Notes
Pumpkin Puree: Please use canned pumpkin puree for this recipe as it has less water content than homemade fresh pumpkin puree.
Pumpkin Spice: Use your favourite pumpkin spice blend (or try my pumpkin spice or chai spice blends if you don't yet have a favourite). UK bakers could use a blend of 1½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ginger and ¾ teaspoon mixed spice.
Butter: It's best to use real butter for these chewy pumpkin cookies as it browns nicely. and provides a rich flavour. I do not recommend using baking margarine as a subsitute.
Flour: Plain (all purpose) flour is needed for this recipe. Self raising flour contains too much raising agent so must not be used.
Sugar: Use both white caster sugar and light brown sugar - the latter helps create a slightly chewy texture to these spiced pumpkin cookies.
How To Make Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies (Step-By-Step Instructions)
Full instructions and measurements are given in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Step 1. Brown the butter over a medium low heat until it foams and brown flecks appear. Set aside.
Step 2. Blot the pumpkin well on a double layer of kitchen paper.
Step 3. Put the caster sugar, light brown sugar, egg and pumpkin into a large mixing bowl.
Step 4. Give the browned butter a swirl and pour it into the bowl - let the browned specks fall into the bowl too. Beat using a handheld balloon whisk until smooth.
Step 5. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and pumpkin spice together and fold them into the wet ingredients.
Chill for 30 minutes and then divide the cookie mixture into 10-11 pieces each weighing approximately 55g.
Step 6. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and then roll in spiced sugar mixture, ensuring it is evenly coated.
Lay the prepared balls onto the baking sheets leaving a 5cm gap between each 1 to allow for spreading. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes and then bake for 12 minutes.
Storage Instructions
These chewy pumpkin cookies keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
They can also be frozen but the sugar coating may turn a little damp - you can freshen them up in the oven for 2-3 minutes at 150℃/ 300℉ but they won't be quite the same as fresh.
Expert Tips
Top Tip: You must blot the pumpkin puree well. If you don't blot, the extra moisutre will affect the final texture of the cookie.
- Skip the final chilling of the shaped dough: Do this only if you would like your cookies to spread more, resulting in a flatter cookie. They will be crisper as a result.
- Bake for longer: Cook for 14-15 minutes to allow them to crisp up around the edges, creating even more chew to your spiced pumpkin cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
I do not recommend using fresh pumpkin puree when making this recipe as the liquid content in homemade puree is much higher than in the canned variety. The extra moisture can negatively affect the texture of these chewy pumpkin cookies.
The most likely culprit is too much liquid left in the pumpkin puree. I recommend using canned pumpkin puree, which generally has much less liquid in it than homemade. It is still important to blot it well to remove some of the moisture in it though.
On a similar note, don't add more pumpkin puree than the recipe stipulates as this introduced too much moisture too.
Yes, you can. Try adding either the cream cheese frosting from my pineapple carrot cake recipe or the marshmallow fluff buttercream from my pumpkin whoopie pies.
It is possible, but I have not tested the recipe with vegan substitutes, so cannot guarantee results. You would need to replace the butter with vegan block butter (choose own that can be browned, if possible, otherwise use it melted) and replace the egg with a suitable vegan alternative.
For a more reliable result, I recommend making a dedicated vegan pumpkin pie spice cookie recipe instead.
Have you made this pumpkin pie spice cookie recipe? Please rate the recipe or leave a comment - I love hearing how you get along with my creations.
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📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies
Ingredients
- 120 g Butter (unsalted)
- 90 g Caster Sugar
- 90g Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Egg (large, free-range)
- 60 g Canned Pumpkin Puree
- 220 g Plain Flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Spice Mix
- ¾ Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda (baking soda)
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
For the Sugar Coating
- 45 g Caster Sugar
- ½ Teaspoon Pumpkin Spice Mix
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/ 350℉ and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
- Brown the butter: Cube the butter, put it into small saucepan and cook over a medium heat. Let the butter melt, swirling the pan occasionally to ensure it melts evenly. Continue to cook until it begins to foam and lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat.120 g Butter
- Prepare the pumkin: Lay 2 sheets of kitchen paper on top of each other and spoon the pumpkin into the centre. Use the kitchen paper to blot away excess moisture, moving to a dry section of paper each time until is becomes saturated. Continue until the kitchen paper is completely wet.60 g Canned Pumpkin Puree
- Put the caster sugar, light brown sugar, egg and pumpkin into a large mixing bowl.90 g Caster Sugar, 90g Light Brown Sugar, 1 Egg
- Give the browned butter a swirl and pour it into the bowl - let the browned specks fall into the bowl too. Beat using a handheld balloon whisk until smooth.
- In a seperate bowl mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and pumpkin spice together. Add into to the wet ingredients and use a large metal spoon to fold the flour in until no streaks remain.220 g Plain Flour, ¾ Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda, ¼ Teaspoon Salt, 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Spice Mix
- Cover the bowl and chill for 30 minutes.
- Mix the remaining sugar and pumpkin spice together and sprinkle over a small plate.45 g Caster Sugar, ½ Teaspoon Pumpkin Spice Mix
- Divide the cookie mixture into 10-11 pieces each weighing approximately 55g. Roll each piece of dough into a ball using the palms of your hands.
- Now roll each ball in the spiced sugar mixture, ensuring it is evenly coated.
- Lay the prepared balls onto the baking sheets leaving a 5cm gap between each 1 to allow for spreading. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 6 minutes, then rotate the baking sheets and cook for a further 6 minutes until the cookies have spead out and risen.
- Remove from the oven and tap each baking sheet firmly onto a heatproof worktop a few times to encourage the cookies to deflate. Leave to cool on the baking sheets.
Notes
- You must blot the pumpkin puree well. If you don't blot, the extra moisutre will affect the final texture of the cookie
- Skip the final chilling of the shaped dough: Do this only if you would like your cookies to spread more, resulting in a flatter cookie. They will be crisper as a result.
- Bake for longer: Cook for 14-15 minutes to allow them to crisp up around the edges, creating even more chew to your pumpkin pie spice cookies.
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