Decadent Pumpkin Cheesecake Delight Cookies
These Decadent Pumpkin Cheesecake Delight Cookies combine soft pumpkin-spiced cookie dough with a luscious cream cheese filling for a two-in-one dessert experience. Perfect for fall gatherings, they deliver the best of pumpkin cookies and cheesecake in every bite.
Ingredients
- For the Pumpkin Cookie Dough:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (1 stick)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the Cheesecake Filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Optional Topping:
- ¼ cup turbinado sugar or cinnamon sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Prepare your oven and workspace. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. This prevents sticking and makes cleanup easier.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter with both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Don’t rush this step—it creates the perfect texture base.
- Add the wet ingredients to the butter mixture. Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract until well combined. The mixture might look slightly curdled, but that’s completely normal.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, mixing on low speed just until combined. Avoid overmixing to keep the cookies tender.
- Prepare the cheesecake filling. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Shape the cookies. Using a medium cookie scoop (about 1½ tablespoons), scoop dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Make a small indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb or the back of a teaspoon.
- Add the cheesecake filling. Fill each indentation with about 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture. If using the optional topping, sprinkle the edges of each cookie with turbinado or cinnamon sugar.
- Bake until perfect. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are set and just beginning to brown, while the centers remain soft. The cream cheese filling should be set but might still look slightly soft.
- Cool completely before serving. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The filling will continue to set as they cool.
Notes
- For the best flavor, use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling which contains added sugars and spices.
- The cookie dough will be quite soft. If it’s too sticky to work with, refrigerate for 30 minutes before shaping.
- These cookies will stay soft for days if stored properly in an airtight container.
- For a more pronounced cheesecake flavor, add a tiny bit of lemon zest to the cream cheese filling.
- If you like a stronger spice flavor, feel free to increase the amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.