Hi, guys! Today on the docket we have a super simple and quick, yet delicious autumn recipe: pumpkin butter cake cookies with maple cream cheese frosting.
This recipe isn’t another one of those overdone, cliche fall treats. These soft-baked cookies have the light, rich texture of a butter cake, with the subtle flavoring of everyone’s favorite fall staple – the pumpkin. Plus, we finish them off with a mapley-cinnamon cream cheese frosting for the perfect balance of bright autumn flavor.
When I baked these for the first time, Max paid me the best compliment ever. He called this cookie the “most tasty I’ve ever put in my mouth.” An unsolicited compliment from the hubs indicates a goo-o-o-d recipe indeed.
I played around with the name “Pumpkin Cakies” to describe these sweet, little treats. If you’re not familiar, a “cakie” is a dessert that encompasses the texture and softness of a cake, yet is in the easy-to-eat shape of a cookie. Fun, right?!
Well, enough with the semantics – let’s get to baking! Gather just a few kitchen materials – it is an easy recipe, after all. Then, follow the simple instructions below to enjoy the best cookies of your life – or, at least of this season. 🙂
Baking Materials Checklist
This recipe is super quick and relatively uninvolved, so you only need a few common baking items. Here’s the list of what to grab before your get started. I am an Amazon affiliate, so I earn commissions off of qualifying purchases made through my links, at no additional cost to you. Full disclosure is available on my main menu.
- Two baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Medium cookie scoop
- Wire cooling rack
- Stand or hand-held mixer
- Offset spatula
Pumpkin Butter Cake Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting – Recipe
Pumpkin Butter Cake Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Pumpkin Butter Cake Cookies
- 1 box white cake mix
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 6 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ¾ cup butter (1½ stick), softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼+ cup real maple syrup (get the good kind!), to taste
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add all of the cookie ingredients to one bowl and mix with a spoon or spatula until the dough comes together. It will be thick. Take caution not to overmix, just work the ingredients together gently until everything is combined.
- Using a small ice cream scooper, large cookie scooper, or two kitchen spoons, portion out the dough onto the cookie sheet, leaving two inches of space in between each mound of dough. The dough will be sticky, and its okay if the mounds aren't perfectly smooth. They will even out somewhat in the oven.
- Bake the cookies in your preheated oven for 10 minutes, and then check for doneness. The bottom edges should just be starting to turn golden, and when you apply some pressure inward from the bottom edge of the cookie, it will just hold its shape. My cookies took about 12 minutes, but it will depend upon the size and temperature of your oven.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, and then carefully transfer them to a wire rack once manageable. They may be fragile but will stiffen up as they cool.
- While the cookies are cooling, mix your cream cheese and butter together with a stand or handheld mixer. Add in the powdered sugar cup by cup, scraping down the sides if needed.
- Once the powdered sugar is fully incorporated, slowly stream in the maple syrup and add the salt. Start with a little less than ¼ cup of syrup, tasting, before adding more to taste. This frosting is sweet, but it compliments the simple, soft cookies just perfectly.
- Use an offset spatula or a piping bag to top each cooled cookie with frosting. Since cream cheese frosting is less stable than buttercream, your cookies need to be room temperature in order to not melt the frosting off. Once frosted, store the cookies in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Happy Fall Baking
Isn’t fall just the best time to bake? The crisp, cool air makes a warm kitchen feel so enticing. Plus, the abundance of delectable seasonal ingredients just seals the deal for me. YUM.
I hope you enjoy this easy, quick fall recipe when you’re craving something with pumpkin. I know I’m adding these to our regular dessert rotation for gifts and get-togethers (once it’s safe to be in close proximity, again, of course. #PandemicsStink.)
Feel free to find me on Instagram so we can keep in touch! I love sharing little snippets of my life and behind-the-scenes shots. Be sure to tag me in any photos you post of your baked goods! I love to see what you’re working on in the kitchen!
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XOXO
P.S.
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P.P.S
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