Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies
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These Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies are flavored with brown butter, covered in a buttery cinnamon crumb topping and drizzled with vanilla icing!
These Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies are such a fun cookie to bake this fall! They’re soft, thick and flavored with plenty of pumpkin spice and brown butter. PLUS they’re covered with a buttery cinnamon crumb topping and drizzled with vanilla icing!
Looking for more coffee cake cookie recipes? Try my Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies or Cinnamon Coffee Cake Cookies!
Ingredient Breakdown
All-purpose flour – this gives the cookies structure.
Baking soda – helps the cookies spread. Do not use baking powder!
Cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger – needed to help give the cookies their pumpkin spice flavor.
Brown butter – provides flavor and structure. I always recommend using unsalted butter but salted butter works if that’s all you have on hand, just be sure to omit the 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Granulated & brown sugar – sweetens the cookies.
Pumpkin puree – make sure to use pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin puree has 100% pumpkin while pumpkin pie filling already has spices and sugar added to it.
Egg yolks – binds the ingredients and provides structure without making the cookies cakey.
Vanilla extract and salt – enhances flavor. Always use pure vanilla extract instead of imitation for best flavor.
How To Make Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies
1. Brown the butter: cut the butter into cubes and place into a small pot. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally. The butter will bubble and foam until it reaches a light brown color, has little browned bits on the bottom and smells nutty and delicious. This happens quickly so don’t walk away from it! Pour browned butter into a heat proof bowl then set aside to cool for about 25 minutes.
2. Make the Crumb Topping: in a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add melted butter and mix until well combined. Use clean hands to break into crumbs. Set aside.
3. Make the Pumpkin Cookies: in a small bowl whisk the all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl combine the brown butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
5. Whisk the pumpkin puree, egg yolks and vanilla extract into the butter sugar mixture.
6. Add the dry ingredients all at once and fold until just combined.
7. Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough onto lined baking sheets. Make a slight indent onto each dough ball with the back of the cookie scoop then press about 1 tbsp of the crumb topping into the center of each ball (be sure to adjust the baking time if your cookies are smaller/larger).
8. Bake cookies at 375°F for 10 minutes then cool on the baking sheet.
9. Make the Vanilla Icing: in a small bowl mix the confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla extract. The icing is thick but you can add a little bit of water at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Store Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
Pro Tips For Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Don’t over mix the dough! Only mix until the dry ingredients are just combined. Over mixing = more gluten development which means tough cookies. We don’t want any tough cookies here!
- Bake one tray at a time on the middle oven rack. This ensures that there is even heat circulation.
What To Do With Leftover Pumpkin Puree?
Make one of my other pumpkin recipes! Some of my favorites are:
- Mini Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Sweet Pumpkin Galette
- Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze
- Pumpkin Hand Pies
- Small Batch Pumpkin Muffins
Did you know that you can also freeze leftover pumpkin puree? Simply transfer it to an airtight container or a zip-top bag and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight when you’re ready to use it!
If you try this recipe then please leave a rating/comment below to let me know how you liked it and feel free to ask any recipe questions you may have! 🙂
Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies
Equipment
- Baking sheets
- Cookie scoop (I use a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop)
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 120 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 66 g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 70 g (5 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies
- 300 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ginger
- 226 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, cubed
- 200 g (1 cup) brown sugar
- 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 120 g (1/2 cup) pumpkin puree
- 2 egg yolks save the whites for another recipe!
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla Icing
- 60 g (1/2 cup) confectioners' sugar
- 2 tsp water
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Brown Butter
- Cut the butter into cubes and place into a small pot. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally. The butter will bubble and foam until it reaches a light brown color, has little browned bits on the bottom and smells nutty and delicious. This happens quickly so don't walk away from it! Pour browned butter into a heat proof bowl then set aside to cool for about 25 minutes.
Crumb Topping
- In a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add melted butter and mix until well combined. Use clean hands to break into crumbs. Set aside.
Pumpkin Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl whisk the all-purpose flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the brown butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- Whisk the pumpkin puree, egg yolks and vanilla extract into the butter sugar mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once and fold until just combined.
- Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough onto lined baking sheets. Make a slight indent onto each dough ball with the back of the cookie scoop then press about 1 tbsp of the crumb topping into the center of each ball (be sure to adjust the baking time if your cookies are smaller/larger).
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes then cool on the baking sheet.
Vanilla Icing
- In a small bowl mix the confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla extract. The icing is thick but you can add a little bit of water at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies.
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter. You can use salted butter, just be sure to omit the 1/2 tsp salt.
- Store Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
- Nutrition: the provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Please read my Nutrition Disclaimer for more information.
