A batch of cozy Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies without pumpkin puree that is perfect for fall! These spiced sugar cookies are easy and quick to make. Generously infused with the spices that create pumpkin pie spice mix, you’ll have these cookies baking on rotation this season!
If you’re interested in more fall and Thanksgiving recipes for this season, you have got to try out these these cozy Easy Small Batch Cinnamon Cupcakes, these Pecan Shortbread Bars, this fall favorite dessert Quick & Easy Apple Crumble and of course Easy Pumpkin Scones (No Egg)
🍪 Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Quick & easy to make from scratch.
- One bowl recipe.
- Uses the spices that create pumpkin pie spice mix.
- Soft, chewy & slightly crispy.
- Make ahead.
- Freezer-friendly.
Pumpkin spice cookies made without pumpkin puree? Yes, they’re a thing, and a delicious one at that. These are pumpkin spice cookies, not spiced pumpkin cookies. They’re infused with the spices that make up the popular spice blend known as pumpkin pie spice.
This easy spiced sugar cookie recipe is just what you need for this fall and Thanksgiving. Your kitchen will smell like a cozy fall wonderland with all those warm spices wafting around!
You’ll find these cookies are chewy and soft in the middle with a slightly crisp outer crust and edges. They’re delicious to dip into your tea or coffee by the fireplace.
These are more wholesome than your traditional sugar cookie as they’re not decorated or coated in cinnamon sugar before baking. You can certainly try that though if you desire and don’t mind the extra sugar. Just like snickerdoodles but without the sugar coating!
As we come into the holiday season, I’m sure you’ll be inundated with baking recipes to try, so why not add a quick and easy holiday cookie recipe to your list? Made in one bowl with the chilling time being under 1 hour, you’ll have a batch of these ready in no time.
These pumpkin pie spice cookies are also freezer-friendly which means you can make them ahead of time. Either make and freeze the baked cookies or make and freeze just the cookie dough, you’ll find the detailed instructions further down in this post.
📋 Ingredient Notes
Below are the ingredients that you need to make these easy pumpkin spice sugar cookies:
- Unsalted butter
- Golden granulated sugar - is also known as raw sugar.
- Brown sugar - use regular brown sugar, not dark brown sugar.
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Plain flour - is also known as all purpose flour in the US.
- Cornstarch - is also known as cornflour in Australia.
- Baking soda - ensure your baking soda has not expired, here’s how to test it.
- Salt - use fine salt, such as a fine sea or Kosher salt.
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground ginger
- Ground allspice
- Ground cloves
🥣 Step By Step Instructions (with photos)
How to make cozy pumpkin pie spice cookies from scratch in 7 easy steps!
There is a full and detailed recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step one: Pour melted butter into a large mixing bowl. Whisk through both sugars until well combined.
Step two: Whisk through the egg and vanilla.
Step three: Sift over the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. Add the salt and all the spices.
Step four: Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until well combined and a soft cookie dough forms, it will be thick.
Step five: Chill dough in the fridge for 45 minutes.
Step six: Form cookies by scooping up 50g (2oz) or 3 level tablespoons. Place onto lined tray, leaving as tall balls, do not flatten. Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving a gap between each.
Step seven: Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently tap the baking tray on your bench top or stove top 3 times to slightly deflate. Allow cookies to cool on the tray for 15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
💭 Tips For Recipe Success
- Melt the butter first and then set it aside to cool down for 10-15 minutes until it’s only slightly warm. If it’s too hot, the egg will curdle when it’s added.
- Do not have to flatten the dough balls on the baking sheet. Keep them tall and they’ll spread down and out during baking in the oven.
- Give them 3-4 taps on your bench top to deflate after baking. This is what will give you those classic cookie top waves.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking tray for 15 minutes before transferring them to the wire rack. They're delicate when still warm.
⏲️ Storage Instructions
Store these cookies in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 1 week.
Freeze baked pumpkin spice cookies - by first cooling them completely. Then place them on a tray, not touching each other, and freeze them until solid. Then transfer them to a freezer-friendly sealed Tupperware container, with layers of parchment paper between layers. Or place them into freezer zip lock bags. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw baked cookies - by removing them from their container/bag and onto a plate at room temperature for several hours until defrosted. Or thaw in the fridge, still in their container/bag, overnight.
Freeze pumpkin spice cookie dough - by following the recipe up to forming the cookies. Still chill the dough for 45 minutes in the fridge then form the cookie balls and place them onto the baking sheet, with a small gap between each ball, do not flatten them. Refrigerate for 1 hour until solid. Then place the cookie dough balls in freezer zip-lock bags or into a freezer-friendly sealed Tupperware container, labeled with the date and recipe name. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To bake frozen cookie dough - remove them from the container/bag and onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet according to the recipe instructions, leaving 10cm (4 inches) between each cookie ball. Sit them on the counter at room temperature while you pre-heat your oven according to the recipe instructions. Bake cookies per instructions, adding 1-2 minutes onto the baking time as the dough was partially frozen.
💬 Recipe FAQ's
Yes, you can make this cookie dough the day before and keep it in the refrigerator, covered, overnight. To bake the next day, remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes until it's pliable enough for you to form the cookie dough balls. If you can form the balls straight from the fridge, do so and follow the recipe instructions.
Yes! Still, chill the dough for 45 minutes in the fridge then form the cookie dough balls and place them onto the baking sheet. Refrigerate for 1 hour until solid. Then place the cookie dough balls in freezer zip-lock bags or into a freezer-friendly sealed Tupperware container, labeled with the date and recipe name. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Bake from frozen by removing them from the container/bag and onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet according to the recipe instructions, leaving a gap between each. Sit at room temperature while the oven preheats. Bake cookies according to the recipe instructions, adding 1-2 minutes as the dough was partially frozen.
Cookies that don’t spread and flatten out in the oven can be caused by having too much flour. When you add additional flour, it will dry out the cookie dough and there will be too many dry ingredients compared to wet ingredients. Make sure you measure your ingredients correctly. There is no need to add extra flour if you think the dough might be too wet and sticky.
Yes! Add ½ cup - 1 cup of either chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or chopped dried fruit to the cookie dough after you mixed through the dry flour ingredients and just before chilling. Bake as per the recipe instructions.
🥄 Related Recipes
If you enjoy this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️ star rating and a comment review below. I love to hear what you think and it's much appreciated. Thank you! Your email address will not be published. Sam x
Easy Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies (without pumpkin puree
Ingredients
- 160 g unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup golden granulated sugar
- ¾ cup lightly packed brown sugar, not dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, weighing approx. 55g-60g in shell
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (225g) plain/all purpose flour, scoop & leveled
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch, or cornflour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt, or Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Melt butter then set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes until it’s only slightly warm. Don’t let it firm back up again.
- Pour butter into a large mixing bowl. Add both sugars and using a handheld whisk, whisk for 20 seconds until well combined, it will slowly start to thicken and the longer you leave it, the thicker it will get, so be sure not to leave it sitting for too long as it will be harder to whisk through your egg in the next step.
- Add egg and vanilla, and whisk until well combined, about 15 seconds.
- Sift over the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. Add the salt and all the spices.
- Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until well combined and a soft cookie dough forms, it will be thick.
- Transfer bowl with cookie dough inside to the refrigerator and chill for 45 minutes. You can also chill your dough overnight, if do you, remove your dough from the fridge 30 minutes before you create the cookies. TIP: If your bowl is too large for the fridge, just wrap your dough directly and place it in the fridge without the bowl.
- Whilst the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Line a large flat baking tray with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Remove dough from the fridge.
- To create, weigh out each cookie to be 50g (2oz). If you don’t have a food scale, measure each cookie to be 3 level tablespoons. I highly recommended you use a food scale to measure each one.
- Place onto lined tray, leaving as tall balls, do not flatten.
- Repeat with remaining dough, leaving a gap of 10cm (4 inches) between each cookie ball on the tray to allow for spreading, also leaving a bit of gap between the balls and the edges of the tray. You will have to bake your cookies in batches as they won’t all fit on one baking tray.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges and cracks have appeared on top. The center of each cookie will still look slightly under-baked which is great, that’s what makes them soft and chewy.
- Remove from the oven and gently tap the baking tray on your bench top or stove top 3 times to help slightly deflate. Allow cookies to cool on the tray for 15 minutes.
- Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. They’ll still be soft and delicate so handle them with care to avoid breakages.
- Cool completely on the rack or allow one to firm up a little to enjoy a warm cozy cookie, delicious!
- Store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 1 week. Refer to notes for the freezing instructions.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you enjoy this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️ star rating and a comment review below. I love to hear what you think and it's much appreciated. Thank you! Your email address will not be published. Sam x
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!