Description
These large, soft-baked Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies feature a creamy cheesecake filling encased in a flavorful pumpkin cookie dough. They are perfect for fall and can be made with either all-purpose or gluten-free flour.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
- 1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup pumpkin purée
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 ⅔ cups flour, all purpose flour or gluten free
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- First, make cheesecake filling. Add room temperature cream cheese and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on high until fully creamy.
- Scoop out ½ inch balls of cheesecake filling. Make 12 small balls. Place on parchment lined pan. Place pan in freezer for 30 minutes.
- Then, make pumpkin cookie dough. Add cold butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a clean bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until no clumps of butter remain.
- Add in pumpkin purée, egg and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
- Add in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and sea salt. Stir until a thick dough is formed.
- Place bowl of cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- After 30 minutes, remove cookie dough from fridge and remove cheesecake balls from freezer. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Scoop out ball of cookie dough. Place on lined pan. Flatten with hands.
- Then, place a frozen cheesecake ball in the center of the cookie dough. Place another flattened ball of cookie dough on top of cheesecake.
- Then, use hands to fully enclose the cheesecake ball with cookie dough. Continue for remaining dough, baking the cookies in 2 batches.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies look set in the middle.
- Finally, remove from oven. Allow cookies to cool on pan for 15 minutes before carefully removing to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Use room temperature cream cheese. Cold cream cheese will not cream well.
- Scoop out ½ inch balls of cheesecake filling. They do not have to look perfect.
- Use cold butter right from the fridge. Do not use softened or melted butter.
- Both gluten free 1 to 1 flour and all purpose flour work well.
- The cookie dough will be slightly sticky before chilling.
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes up to 1 hour. This alleviates the sticky dough.
- See photos within the blog post for how to assemble cookies.
- These cookies are soft baked and fragile. Handle with care.
- For best results, store cookies in the fridge.
- These cookies are large!
- They freeze well.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 9-11 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American