Pumpkin cheesecake cookies made with real pumpkin puree, a cheesecake swirl baked in, warm pumpkin spices, and topped with a rich cheesecake frosting.
Every pumpkin cheesecake cookie recipe you’ve seen is probably the stuffed kind. These aren’t that. Instead, they’re a mounded pumpkin drop cookie with cheesecake swirl baked in and a cream cheese frosting dollop on top. All the cheesecake vibes mixed with pumpkin spice.
These cookies are a perfect, easy pumpkin dessert for Thanksgiving, Halloween, or any autumn gathering. If you love pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, or frosted cookies, this recipe is a must-bake!
Ingredients
- Cream Cheese
- Instant Cheesecake Pudding Mix
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Pumpkin Puree
- Butter
- Light Brown Sugar
- White Granulated Sugar
- Egg Yolk
- All-Purpose Flour
- Corn Starch
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
How to Make Pumpkin Cheesecake Drop Cookies
Cheesecake Swirl
- Mix together cream cheese, cheesecake pudding mix (optional), and vanilla. Spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Freeze for 20-25 minutes until solid. Do not remove from the freezer until cookie dough is ready in the next step.
Pumpkin Drop Cookies
- In a small saucepan, add pumpkin puree and bring to a simmer to reduce its moisture. Continuously stir until it thickens into a thick paste consistency and there is no shine left, about 10-12 minutes. Mine reduced to 3 ½ tablespoons. Set aside and let fully cool before adding to the mixing bowl in the next step.
- In a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars. Mix in egg yolk, vanilla, and pumpkin puree.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to the mixing bowl and mix until combined.
- Remove cream cheese from the freezer and cut into small squares. Add the squares to the cookie dough. It may be tacky, pull it off as best you can in small pieces. Carefully fold into the dough, but do not fully mix so it is marbled.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Using a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough into mounds onto the baking sheet.
- Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This helps the cookies keep their shape while they bake.
- After an hour, preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the cookies directly in the oven from the fridge so that they keep their shape while baking. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes, until the tops are set and the centers are still slightly underdone. Let the cookies fully cool before frosting.
Cheesecake Frosting
- In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, add heavy whipping cream. Beat on high speed until it has stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whip cream cheese for about 3-4 minutes until creamy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice, and continue to beat for 2-3 minutes on high speed.
- Fold the heavy whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to thicken.
- Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon to add a dollop of frosting onto each cookie. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Tips
Pumpkin puree vs. pumpkin pie filling: You’ll want to stick with pure pumpkin puree for this recipe. Pumpkin pie filling is already sweetened and seasoned with spices, so if you use it, your cookies will end up too sweet and the spice balance will be off. You’d essentially be doubling up on everything.
Pure pumpkin puree is just pumpkin, nothing added, which lets you control the flavor from scratch. Look for “100% pure pumpkin” on the label, like Libby’s. If the label says “pumpkin pie filling” or “pumpkin pie mix,” put it back.
Pumpkin Puree Moisture: Pumpkin puree adds a lot of water to cookies and will cause them to spread rather than stay in a mounded shape. Simply blotting with paper towels won’t get enough of the moisture out. It’s important to cook it on the stove and reduce it by half so that it’s a thick paste with no shine left.
High-heat baking: These cookies bake at 400°F, which is hotter than most pumpkin cookie recipes (most use 350°F). This gives you the mounded, set edges you want rather than a flat cookie.
Don’t Skip Chilling the Dough: To keep the dough from spreading while it bakes at a high temp, it’s important to chill the dough for an hour. The outside sets before the inside has a chance to spread.
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- Pumpkin Bars
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Pumpkin Cheesecake Drop Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cheesecake Swirl
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese room temperature
- 3 tablespoons Instant Cheesecake Pudding Mix optional
- ½ teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Pumpkin Drop Cookies
- ⅓ cup Pumpkin Puree
- 6 tablespoons Butter room temperature
- 6 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons White Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Corn Starch
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¾ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Cheesecake Frosting
- ½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese room temperature
- 6 tablespoons Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Cheesecake Swirl
- Mix together cream cheese, cheesecake pudding mix (optional), and vanilla. Spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Freeze for 20-25 minutes until solid. Do not remove from the freezer until cookie dough is ready in the next step.
Pumpkin Drop Cookies
- In a small saucepan, add pumpkin puree and bring to a simmer to reduce its moisture. Continuously stir until it thickens into a thick paste consistency and there is no shine left, about 10-12 minutes. Mine reduced to 3 ½ tablespoons. Set aside and let fully cool before adding to the mixing bowl in the next step.
- In a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars. Mix in egg yolk, vanilla, and pumpkin puree.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to the mixing bowl and mix until combined.
- Remove cream cheese from the freezer and cut into small squares. Add the squares to the cookie dough. It may be tacky, pull it off as best you can in small pieces. Carefully fold into the dough, but do not fully mix so it is marbled.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Using a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough into mounds onto the baking sheet.
- Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This helps the cookies keep their shape while they bake.
- After an hour, preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the cookies directly in the oven from the fridge so that they keep their shape while baking. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes, until the tops are set and the centers are still slightly underdone. Let the cookies fully cool before frosting.
Cheesecake Frosting
- In an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, add heavy whipping cream. Beat on high speed until it has stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whip cream cheese for about 3-4 minutes until creamy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice, and continue to beat for 2-3 minutes on high speed.
- Fold the heavy whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to thicken.
- Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop or a spoon to add a dollop of frosting onto each cookie. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.
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