Melt in your mouth soft pumpkin cookies with caramel icing. This is a must-make for fall with pumpkin and cinnamon flavors paired with a rich, sweet caramel frosting.
The fall season just doesn’t feel right without enjoying delicious pumpkin recipes like these cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin bars!
Table of Contents
The Best Iced Pumpkin Cookies
These pumpkin cookies with caramel frosting are one of my favorite cookie recipes from The I Heart Naptime Cookbook! Whenever I take them anywhere, my friends are always asking for the recipe. I just can’t even describe the amazing flavor the sweet caramel frosting adds.
These iced pumpkin cookies are so soft (they literally melt in your mouth) and the heavenly caramel icing is worth making all on it’s own. Their taste gets even better the next day and they stay super tender and delicious. If there’s one dessert to make this fall, these pumpkin cookies with caramel icing are it!
Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Baking staples: All-purpose flour, eggs, baking soda, vanilla and salt.
- Pumpkin: I like to use Libby’s pumpkin puree for the right amount of pumpkin flavor.
- Sugar: Light brown sugar is added along with granulated sugar to add a rich sweetness, as well as give the cookies a more soft and moist texture.
- Butter: Unsalted is best. Make sure to use room temperature softened butter before creaming with the sugars.
- Spices: A combination of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon will add the perfect warm fall flavor.
Caramel Frosting for Pumpkin Cookies
These cookies taste delicious as-is, but adding the caramel icing really takes them over the top. It’s made with a mixture of butter, heavy cream, powdered sugar, light brown sugar and vanilla and is rich and sweet with an amazing caramel flavor. It’s the perfect finishing touch on top!
Variations
You could also make these pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting or mix chocolate chips or chopped nuts into the batter for a fun twist. Fee free to add more fall spices like nutmeg, cloves or a bit more pumpkin pie spice to taste.
The Secret to Soft Pumpkin Cookies
The extra soft texture is what makes these cookies so delicious. Here are a few ways to achieve it:
- Pumpkin and egg. Pumpkin can often be substituted for eggs in most desserts, so because this recipe calls for both pumpkin puree and an egg, the end result is a fluffy cake-like texture that will literally melt in your mouth.
- Line your pan. Make sure to line your pan with parchment or a silpat mat so that the bottoms don’t brown. If they brown, they’ll be too chewy.
- Don’t over bake. You almost want to slightly under bake these cookies. They only need to bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. They’ll continue baking on the pan for a few minutes once removed, then you can transfer them to a cooling rack.
How to Make Pumpkin Cookies
- Mix. Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Then add the pumpkin and mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, pumpkin spice, cinnamon and salt. Add in the wet mixture and beat just until combined.
- Scoop. Using a medium cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop dough onto a lined baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake in the oven at 350°F for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
How to Make Caramel Frosting
- Melt the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium-heat until smooth.
- Stir or whisk the mixture until it begins boiling, then let boil for 1 minute and remove the pan immediately from the heat.
- Pour the mixture in a medium bowl and let it cool slightly. Then stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar until the consistency is smooth with no lumps.
- Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing until coated. You’ll need to work fast, as the icing hardens quickly. Then place on a wire rack until the icing has hardened completely.
Expert Tips
- Make sure the cookies have cooled completely before frosting. You don’t want it to melt.
- Once the caramel frosting is ready, frost the cookies immediately. It hardens quickly, so you have to work fast!
- Sometimes I add a candy pumpkin on top to make them more festive.
- You could skip the frosting all-together and mix in 1 cup chocolate chips before baking.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice before serving for even more flavor.
Love spiced cookies? Try making this recipe for gingerbread whoopie pies, pumpkin oatmeal cookies or spice cake mix cookies next!
More Delicious Fall Desserts
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all the newest recipes!
Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Video
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar , packed
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
Caramel Icing
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream , plus more if needed
- ½ cup light brown sugar , packed
- 1 cup powdered sugar , sifted
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar together with an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in the pumpkin until smooth.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk in the pumpkin mixture until just combined.
- Using a medium cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Caramel Icing
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar over medium-heat. Whisk until it comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute then remove immediately from the heat.
- Carefully pour into a medium-sized bowl and let cool slightly. Stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Dip or frost the cookies immediately, as the frosting will begin to harden. Return cookies to the cooling rack until the frosting has hardened.
Notes
- Cream cheese frosting tastes great on top of these cookies as well.
- You can also make some of them without the frosting and stir chocolate chips into the dough before baking.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
You can! I would swap equal amounts of freshly roasted pumpkin flesh (cooled) to the canned.
You can make your own pumpkin pie spice. It’s a simple mixture of spices you typically have on hand, such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, and allspice (optional).
Store in a covered container up to 3 days. Place cookies in a single layer so they don’t stick to each other.
Yes! Cool completely, then flash freeze first on parchment paper lined pan pan and then place in a covered container. Keep the iced pumpkin cookies frozen up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge before serving.
Categorized as: American, Cookies, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Frosted Cookies, Halloween, Holiday Cookies, Nut-Free, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
These cookies have become a fall tradition for my family. Whenever I proudly bring them to a gathering people can’t get enough of them and want the recipe. The frosting alone is enough to die for but put the cookies in the microwave for a few seconds and it’s heaven!
I’m so excited to start making these! I love them!
Another amazing recipe from your blog!! Sooo yummy!!!
This is a great fall recipe! Thanks for sharing, Kelsey.
I just made these- I am currently sitting in front of just over 3 dozen, iced pumpkin cookies, having just eating my 4th? FRICKIN WOW! THESE ARE INSANE GOOD. My husband is standing in the kitchen eating them and said, ‘these taste exactly like the Starbucks pumpkin scones- except they’re BETTER and they’re cookies!’
I have never left a review on a food blog before, but I just wanted you to know, and anyone wondering- these are SO GOOD!!!!!!! Saving recipe and making these every autumn until my life is over.
Ah, so glad to hear! These are my families favorite pumpkin cookies too! I so appreciate your review :)
These pumpkin cookies had the best texture! I usually use cream cheese frosting but tried the caramel icing, and it was perfect. Thanks a ton for the great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them! The caramel icing is also just as delicious :)
I was craving pumpkin and found this recipe and new I had to make them! I’m so glad I did because they are SO good!
Yum – these cookie are so delicious! Such a great recipe 10/10!
Glad to hear you enjoyed them :)
Excellent!
Yumm
I have a question about storing these cookies. I made them yesterday–they were delicious! :) But I forgot to pop into the fridge after I frosted them, which I usually do with frosted cookies (especially with the cream in them). Do you feel they are safe/stable to keep at room temp, or should these be refrigerated? I don’t want to make anyone in my house sick, but I don’t want to waste perfectly good cookies either!!
My mouth is watering just thinking about these.
I was looking for some pumpkin cookies and these were perfect. Will make again!
Love how simple and easy this recipe is! I’ll be making it again!
These are really cute pumpkin treats!
So good! I love the idea of making a whoopie pie sandwich with these cookies….that means double the cookies and that’s ever a bad idea!
What a great flavor combo! I can’t wait to sink my teeth into these gorgeous cookies!