Pumpkin Sugar Cookies: Bakery Style!

** Originally published Sept. 2019; updated June 2021 ** This recipe for Pumpkin Sugar Cookies took a few (delicious) tries to get just right. Figuring out the right amount of soft butter to use alongside the fluffy pumpkin – we tested and tested y’all. But what we came up with, in the end, are the most impossibly soft, hopelessly fluffy, warmly spiced sugar cookies that rival anything that would come out of a read-deal bakery.

Read on to learn a little more about what makes these pumpkin cookies so great, or simply jump ahead to the recipe and get to baking. Either way, we hope you enjoy!

Bakery-Style Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

There is something very darling about these cookies, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. The puffed, pillow-like appearance and utterly soft consistency is pretty charming, I think. The creamy, maple-scented glaze gives them a sort of old-fashioned appeal that is so, so nice.

But I think what I adore so much about these Bakery Style Pumpkin Sugar Cookies is the variety of sugars used. Sounds silly, I suppose, seeing as how they’re sugar cookies and all. But I just love how there is sugar every which way you can shake it with these. Firstly, there is sugar inside the dough, sprinkled all around the finished cookies, giving them a fetching sparkle that practically bewitches my children. Second, there is a powdered sugar glaze spiked with good maple syrup. Finally, a lily-gilding sprinkle of turbinado sugar, my favorite baking pantry staple ingredient.

And so you see, these sugar cookies, unassuming and utterly simple though they may be, are so very true to their name. They are sugary sugared sugar cookies, sweet and lovely all the way through. The very notion of sugar seems to send some people running straight for the hills. I get that, I guess. But a life lived in moderation, one that allows for a bit of sweet indulgence on occasion, is a life very well and very happily lived. These cookies are like a one-way ticket to a very happy life I can promise you that.

Tips and Tricks for Sugar Cookie Success

This pumpkin cookie recipe accomplishes that very nostalgic, bakery-style effect that I personally love in a cookie, while also allowing me to control exactly what goes into them. Win-win. I thought the warmth of a little pumpkin pie spice running throughout the dough was a necessity. Also, I knew that I’d like a boost of maple flavor in the simple glaze, another warm type of sweetness that goes so well in any autumnal treat, I think.

How to nail these classic sugar cookies with pumpkin

1. Firstly, the dough here is very sticky and can be tricky to work with (to roll into balls). Sugar cookie dough is soft to begin with, and when you add some canned pumpkin to the mix, you’ve got one sticky dough on your hands. But to circumvent that issue, simply coat your hands in some flour before rolling them out, and you will have no trouble at all.
2. Don’t mess with the cookies when they come out of the oven! They will be unbelievably soft and if you try to transport them from their baking sheets too soon (before they’ve cooled), you’ll risk them breaking on you. So, just let them cool and set up for you for a good 10 minutes before you move them. They will firm up dramatically as they cool. Then, you can put them anywhere you see fit.
3. To glaze or not to glaze? This part is really up to you. These cookies are delis whether you drench them in the sweet maple glaze, or leave them unadorned. Instead, you could opt to just stick with sparkly, sugar-rolled cookies, which I do often. The glaze is optional and totally up to you whether you want to whip it up or not. These cookies eat fine all on their own.

All about Pumpkin Pie Spice

Whether you call it “pumpkin spice” or “pumpkin pie spice,” we’re basically dealing with the same core flavor base. These cookies get their inherent warmth from about a teaspoon (or more) of pumpkin pie spice. I usually keep a thing of this around because it’s a bit of a time saver. Rather than reaching for five different things and messing around in in the depths of my spice drawer, it really is convenient to use a jar of the pre-made stuff.

Pumpkin pie spice, what’s in it?

• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Nutmeg
• Cloves

That’s the core of a pumpkin pie spice blending a nutshell. But the very best way to do it is to whip up a jar of your own pumpkin pie spice and/or apple pie spice and use that all season long. This way, you get to control the amounts of each individual spice as well as the quality and freshness of each.

If you’re into the sounds of this, be sure to check out our easy homemade pumpkin pie spice and homemade apple pie spice recipes. These will serve you well during your fall and winter baking endeavors, and there are about a million and one different ways to use them.

What you’ll need to make these Bakery Style Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

The thing about these cookies is the fact that they’re a very close approximation of a classic, poofy-floofy sugar cookie, but with a very clear and sharp nod to autumn. There’s warm spices, sweet pumpkin, and sparkling sugar going on here, and it all comes together beautifully. You’ll wind up with the most soft, fluffy sugar cookies ever. they’ll be reminiscent of the kind you get at a bakery, but this way, you get a whole dozen, warm from the oven. Can’t beat that.

Because I love the idea of them so much, I wanted to create a cookie that resembles those giant, soft, mega-frosted cookies you see in supermarket bakery sections. Admittedly, I always tend to pass on them because there’s just a lot going on there, ingredient wise.

This recipe accomplishes that same effect, while also allowing me to control exactly what goes into the cookies. I thought the warmth of cinnamon running throughout the dough was a necessity, and I knew that I’d like a boost of maple flavor in the glaze, another warm type of sweetness that goes so well in any autumnal treat, I think.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for your hands
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (see note)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup turbinado sugar (optional, but delicious)

For the glaze

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• ¼ cup maple syrup

Baking breakdown: The “why’s” behind each ingredient

This is the part of the post that a lot of people would just skip right over – the detailed explanation of each ingredient. But, as an avid home baker, I do find it interesting to take a second with each recipe I make and really make sure I wrap my head around the whole of it. It’s nice to understand why each ingredient is there, and what their various purposes are.

Baking, as we know, is a science. It’s not like we’re just whipping up a pasta sauce and can toss things in the pan, willy nilly, with nary a care as to the chemistry of it all.

No. We can’t do that when we’re baking. So, let’s just take one little minute and break down the reasons behind some of the key ingredients here, shall we?

1. All-purpose flour. There is bread flour. There is whole wheat flour. There is cake flour. And then there is the universal baking flour (at least that’s what I call it) – good ole’ all-purpose. The protein level is such that your baked goods will have structure but will still be tender. Higher protein flour (like bread flour) create a more rigorous structure, and are better suited to things like pizza doughs and well, breads.
2. Baking Soda. When you add baking soda to your cookie dough, it immediately will start to release carbon dioxide (gas) which will help to leaven your cookies. This means the baking soda helps your cookies to rise. It helps establish soft, fluffy cookies.
3. Salt. Does it seem strange to you that I call for salt in almost every cookie dough recipe on this site? The intention isn’t to make things salty (well, sometimes it is). Actually, the point of salt in any sweet recipe is to balance out all of the sugar. All of that sweetness needs a helping hand to really be all it can be. All of this to say, baking is really just one big balancing act. The ingredients in any given recipe work with each other in all sorts of ways, and when it comes to salt – it’s all about that balance. It amplifies flavor and helps to eliminate any chances of your cookies being bland.
4. Two kinds of sugar in the dough. You’ll notice that I’ve called for both granulated AND brown sugar in this recipe, which is also true of all my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes as well. The granulated sugar sweetened the dough perfectly. The brown sugar carries notes of caramel-like molasses, which complements the warm spices in the cookies. These are sugar cookies after all.

How to make these cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and adjust your oven rack to the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and pumpkin together until the mixture is nice and fluffy; about 5 minutes (a good long while). Add the sugar and whip for an additional minute. Add the egg and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the butter/pumpkin mixture, and mix just until everything is well combined. NOTE: The dough will be pretty sticky (thanks to that pumpkin), so I like to coat my hands in flour before forming each cookie.  
4. Roll the cookie dough into balls, allotting about ¼ cup of dough per cookie. Roll each ball in some of the extra granulated sugar and place them on the baking sheets, allowing about 4 to 5 cookies per sheet (they’re large and need room to spread).
5. Bake one sheet at a time, for 12 to 15 minutes, or just until the cookies are puffy and done in the middles. 
6. Cool them completely before drizzling on the maple glaze and sprinkling some sparkly turbinado sugar over their tops. They will firm up significantly as they cool. 
7. To make the glaze: Combine the confectioner’s sugar and the maple syrup in a small bowl, stirring until smooth and well mixed. 

If you like the looks of these Pumpkin Sugar Cookies, you might also enjoy:

Homemade Danish Wedding Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Print