PUMPKIN SPICE UP YOUR LIFE cookies recipe

Author Suzanne Nelson’s PUMPKIN SPICE UP YOUR LIFE cookie recipe

Tomorrow is the first day of October. If you haven’t baked something pumpkin-y yet, now’s your chance! These cake-like pumpkin cookies are stuffed with a cream cheese filling. Think pumpkin cheesecake in cookie form! YUM!

You’d definitely find these cookies on the menu at the Snug Mug, Nadine and Daniel’s favorite fall hangout in my Scholastic book, Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life.

Order a copy of Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life!

This particular recipe has a special place in my heart. I adapted it from my grandma’s pumpkin cookie recipe. Here’s a photo of my grandma, Christine Tallman.

She had eight children and lived on a farm. She knew her way around a kitchen. My cousin put together a book of her recipes, which is one of the most treasured keepsakes in my own kitchen. I love seeing these recipes written in her own handwriting.

If you’re a fan of pumpkin desserts, give these cookies a try!

Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life cookie recipe

Ingredients

For cookie dough:

1 cup Libby’s canned pumpkin pie mix

1/2 cup unsalted butter (or 1 stick), softened

1 egg

1 Tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 Tsp. baking powder

1 Tsp. baking soda

1 Tsp. salt

Optional: 1 cup of chocolate morsels, walnuts, or pecans

Note: There is already sugar in the pumpkin pie mix, but if you want to add 1/8 cup granulated sugar for even sweeter cookies, you can.

For the cream cheese filling:

1 1/2 cups of cream cheese (12 oz)

1/2 heaping cup granulated sugar

1/8 Tsp. salt

1 egg

1/2 Tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Libby's canned pumpkin pie mix — Libby’s canned pumpkin pie mix

Making the cookie dough

Combine the pumpkin pie mix with the softened butter, vanilla, and egg.

Butter, egg, vanilla, and Libby's pumpkin pie mix — Butter, egg, vanilla, and Libby’s pumpkin pie mix

Blend with a handheld mixer.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt

Next, add these dry ingredients into the wet.

Again, blend the dough with the mixer.

The batter should now be thick and light orange (Orange you happy that you’re almost finished with this part of the recipe? Ha!)

Now, drop large spoonfuls of the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

You want these cookies to be about the size of biscuits, so you may only be able to fit about six to eight onto one cookie sheet. The dough won’t spread much while baking.

Now you’re ready to mix up the cream cheese filling to stuff the cookies!

Making the cream cheese filling

In a medium bowl, blend together the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract. If you want a thicker texture, you can add more cream cheese and less sugar.

Once the cream cheese mixture is fully blended, use a spoon or teaspoon coated in a thin layer of butter to make an indent in your cookie batter.

Slowly and carefully spoon a dollop of the cream cheese mixture onto each cookie.

Finally, your cookies are ready for the oven!

Bake your cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 15 minutes. The cream cheese mixture may spread a little, but don’t worry! That means every single bit will be like pumpkin cheesecake ambrosia!