Soft and pillowy pumpkin cookies that are chock full of pumpkin spice and everything nice! The icing takes these cookies over the top. An EASY pumpkin oatmeal cookie recipe that does NOT require any dough chilling, making these a FAST treat to whip up!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Cooling Time45 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr10 minutesmins
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best pumpkin cookie recipe, iced pumpkin cookies, pumpkin oatmeal cookies, soft cookies with icing, soft pumpkin cookies
Servings: 48
Calories: 102kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Cookies
2cupsall-purpose flour
1 ¼cupsold-fashioned whole-rolled oatsdo not use instant, quick-cook, steel cut, or Irish
2 to 3teaspoonspumpkin pie spiceto taste* (See Notes)
1teaspooncinnamonoptional*
½ to 1teaspoonground gingeroptional*
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspooncornstarch
½teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonfine sea salt
¼ to ½teaspoonground clovesoptional*
¾cupunsalted buttersoftened
1cupbrown sugarpacked** (See Notes)
½cupgranulated sugar
1large egg
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1cuppure pumpkin puree
Icing
1 ½cupspowdered sugar
2tablespoonsmilk***See Notes
¼teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
Cookies:
Preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper; set aside.
To a medium bowl, add the the flour, oats, pumpkin spice, optional cinnamon, optional ginger, baking soda, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, optional cloves, and stir to combine; set aside.
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with handheld electric mixer, cream (verb meaning to beat, not the noun cream) together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for about 2 minutes and until combined; stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the egg, vanilla, and beat momentarily until combined.
Add the pumpkin and beat momentarily until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until just combined, without dry patches; don't overmix or the cookies will be tougher.
Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough mounds and place them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes, until no longer glossy on top and they are puffed and set. Tip - If possible, bake cookies one sheet at a time, on the middle oven rack, rotating your pans one time midway through baking.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
After the cookies have cooled completely, make the icing. Do not ice the cookies before they are fully cooled (about 30 minutes, depending on the temp of your kitchen) because the icing will melt and you'll have a mess.
Icing:
To a medium bowl, add the confectioners' sugar (sift it if it's particularly lumpy), milk, vanilla, and whisk to combine and until smooth.
Dip the tops of the cookies in the icing and place them back on the wire rack. Allow cookies to set for about 15 minutes so the icing can set.
I don’t mind storing iced, glazed, or frosted baked goods airtight at room temp for a few days if said icing contains milk or butter as the sugar acts as a preservative. However, store them how you are most comfortable including the fridge for up to 1 week. Note that cookies stored in the fridge will tend to dry out quicker. Unglazed cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
Yield: You can yield 48 smaller-sized cookies from this recipe. Although if you like bigger cookies, make your dough balls a bit bigger or double the size of them, and you'll yield 24-36 cookies. Bake longer, as necessary, until they're done. Probably just a few minutes more.*Because I love boldly flavored and aggressively spiced pumpkin baked goods, I added 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, plus additional cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. I realize pumpkin pie spice has those individual spices in it, but the three I added separately are my three favorites. If you don’t want to be bothered, just add extra pumpkin pie spice. I would go with a total of 3 teaspoons if you want additional flavor, but it’s up to you.For those who don’t enjoy the boldness as much as me and my family, go with 2 teaspoons as the recipe is written. **I used dark brown sugar in the pumpkin cookies because it has more molasses than light brown sugar, and I love the flavor of molasses paired with pumpkin. I think it gives a deeper, richer flavor to the cookies. However if you tend to keep light brown sugar on hand, it will be fine.***For the icing, I recommend whole milk, but either 2% or half-and-half will work. Don’t use skim or 1% if you can avoid it because the icing will be runnier and not set up quite as nicely.