Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Cookie Sandwiches with the Best Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Cookie Sandwiches with the Best Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Soft, tender and chewy pumpkin cookies full of pumpkin and autumn spice flavors with the best fluffy maple cream cheese filling.

Prep Time20

Cook Time12

Cooling time30

Total Time1 2

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Autumn, Baked, Butter, Chewy, Cookies, Creamy, Dessert, Desserts, Dough, Easy, Easy baking, Easy dessert, Easy recipe, Fall, Fall dessert, From scratch, holiday, Homemade, No rest, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Spice, Sweet, Warm spiced, Winter, Winter dessert, Winter squash

Servings: cookie sandwiches

Calories: 551kcal

Author: Jenna

Equipment

1 whisk
3 mixing bowls
1 large baking sheet
1 cooling rack (or use a large plate)
1 silicone spatula (or wooden)
1 hand mixer optional

Ingredients

Pumpkin Cookies

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 egg yolk (from a large egg)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp dark corn syrup (see Note 1)
2 tbsp avocado oil (or other neutral oil such as canola or vegetable)
½ cup pumpkin puree, squeezed of its liquid (see Note 2)

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

¼ cup cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Pumpkin Cookies

Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
Using a cheesecloth or paper towels, wring as much of the liquid from the pumpkin puree as possible; you should have ¼ cup of pumpkin puree after squeezing (do not skip this step - see Note 2)
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice and set aside
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar using a hand mixer or whisk until well combined and fluffy
Add the egg and egg yolk and beat again until combined
Add the vanilla extract, dark corn syrup, avocado oil and pumpkin puree and beat until smooth
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until a dough forms, but do not overmix (stop mixing as soon as you can no longer see flour)
Using your hands, roll the dough into 16 balls of equal size; if you weigh them, they should be between 40 and 45 grams each (they don't have to be perfect!)
Transfer the dough balls to the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart, and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden and the tops are visibly done
Once the cookies are baked, you can optionally place a round cookie cutter over each cookie and gently spin in a circle to ensure each cookie is round and the same size
Let cool for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool for another 20 minutes before adding the frosting

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

While the cookies are in the oven, make the frosting: in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until no lumps remain
Add the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and maple syrup and beat for 5-6 minutes until well combined and slightly fluffy
Chill the frosting in the fridge for about 20 minutes while the cookies are cooling
Spread a layer of frosting (about 1-2 tbsp) onto one side of 8 cookies and add another cookie on top
Store in the fridge for up to 5 days (see Note 3)

Notes

Note 1: I add a little bit of dark corn syrup to make these cookies extra chewy and to help them stay fresher longer. If you don't have it on hand, or you don't want to use it, you can just leave it out. There's not enough in this recipe to affect the sweetness or flavor of the cookies.

Note 2: It's super important that you squeeze as much liquid from the pumpkin puree as possible before adding it to the dough. Pumpkin puree releases a lot of water when squeezed and this can result in puffier, caky cookies. After squeezing the liquid from ½ cup of pumpkin puree, you should have ¼ cup remaining.

Note 3: Because of the cream cheese in the frosting, these cookies need to be stored in the fridge. This also helps the frosting stay in place as it will soften the longer it's left sitting at room temperature.

Nutrition Facts are calculated automatically and may be inaccurate.

Nutrition