Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting (The World's Best!)

After getting this recipe from a friend, I have made them over 100 times for family and friends and they are always a hit, especially around Halloween and Thanksgiving! As far as the spices go, less is more; this is not a full-on pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread/cake. They’re light and moist cookies with a taste of fall in every bite!

Original recipe makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

PREP

30 mins
COOK

10 mins
READY IN

1 hr 10 mins

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and ginger together in a bowl. Beat 1 cup butter, white sugar, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and egg with an electric mixer in a separate large bowl, beating until mixture is smooth. Beat in pumpkin puree. Gradually stir dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture. Batter will be moist.
Spoon batter by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes on sheets before removing to finish cooling on waxed paper.
Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Beat in confectioners’ sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until frosting is smooth and spreadable. Frost cooled cookies with cream cheese frosting.