Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Name: Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 300 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (softened (but not melty!) (226g)); 1 ½ cups granulated sugar ((300g)); 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 ½ cups all purpose flour ((315g)); 1 teaspoon baking powder; ¾ teaspoon salt; Orange food coloring (I prefer gel food coloring and used Amerigel electric orange, which I’ve linked to in the equipment section); Green food coloring

October 14, 2020 Updated April 21, 2021 BySam 26 Comments

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These Pumpkin Sugar Cookies are made slice & bake style! They’re much, much easier than you might think and are the perfect Thanksgiving, Halloween, or Fall-time treat! I’ve included a how-to video to show you exactly how to make them at home!

slicing a log of pumpkin sugar cookie dough

The Cutest Cookies of Fall

I’m sure you’ve seen these cookies before in the supermarket. You know that holiday-themed cookie dough you can buy at the grocery store with cute Easter bunnies or Christmas trees or pumpkins inside?

They’re adorable and my grandmother always makes them around the holidays and as a kid I ate them right up. As an adult, I tend to avoid them and reach for some of her homemade treats (like her apple cake or hot milk cake). But rather than write off those (adorable) cookies forever, I decided I would just make my own! Everything is better from scratch, and these pumpkin sugar cookies are no exception.

I used my icebox cookies as the base for today’s recipe, the dough is super simple to make and the technique is easier than you might think. Let’s get to it!

Using the Simplest Method Possible

I toyed around with a few options for getting the design in the center of the cookie. First I tried dying part of the dough orange, rolling it out, and using a cookie cutter to cut out dozens of mini pumpkins (finding a pumpkin cookie cutter that was small enough was hard to do!). This worked just fine and would be a good idea if you were trying to do a more intricate design, but let’s be real, pumpkins are just… round, so we don’t really need a cookie cutter to get that shape.

So, rather than use a cookie cutter, I dyed about one fourth of the dough orange and simply formed it into a round log and made it slightly flat on the bottom.

This is how we make our pumpkin!

Pressing a wooden skewer into an orange log of cookie dough

Details Matter!

Of course, at this point it’s hard to really tell that it’s a pumpkin, so we need to add another key feature, like a pumpkin stem!

To make the stem I used a wooden skewer (though you could use almost anything, like a butterknife or the edge of a ruler) and make an indent that I’ll place my “stem” into.

Then we make the stem! Take a small bit of the uncolored dough (you only need 1-2 tablespoons) and dye it green (I use gel food coloring because it’s very vibrant, I linked to the colors I used in “equipment” section of the recipe). Roll this into a series of thin ropes (I found that if you try to make one long rope it breaks and can be difficult to manage) and lay it into the indent you just made.

Tip: Don’t bury the stem completely into the indent, you want it protruding from the top of the pumpkin some, like a real pumpkin stem would!

adding green cookie dough stem to pumpkin shaped cookie dough

Once you’ve formed your pumpkin log (you’ll actually make two, this is easier to work with than one super long roll of dough) you’ll want to chill it in the freezer until it’s firm enough to be handled without losing its shape.

I usually place mine on a small baking sheet and place them in the freezer for at least 15-30 minutes.

Tip: You don’t want the plain dough to be as cold/firm as the pumpkin-shaped dough, it should be a bit warmer so it’s pliable and easy to wrap around the pumpkin without ruining its shape. Keep it at room temperature, or, if it’s too sticky, pop it in the fridge for about 15 minutes while your pumpkin dough is in the freezer!

wrapping sugar cookie dough around pumpkin shaped cookie dough

Getting A Pumpkin In A Cookie

Once your pumpkins are prepped and very, very well chilled, it’ time to wrap them in the remainder of your dough. In the photo above, I flattened the uncolored dough quite a bit, more than you really need to. This works just fine, but after making these pumpkin sugar cookies a few times I found it was easier to just wrap the dough around the pumpkin-shaped log the way I did it in the video.

The important thing is that you keep the pumpkin in the center of the dough, so that it has an even perimeter of uncolored cookie around it.

It’s very important that the pumpkin sugar cookie dough chill completely after you form it into logs. It will need to chill for several hours, but you can make it up to a week in advance of slicing and baking (just keep the logs tightly wrapped in plastic wrap!).

Tip: Place the cookie dough logs on a plush kitchen towel to keep them from getting a flat bottom from sitting on the hard refrigerator shelf!

pumpkin sugar cookies on black cooling rack

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use liquid food coloring?

Yes, I just prefer gel food coloring because it is more vibrant and you need much less of it than you do liquid.

Can I freeze this cookie dough?

Yes! After forming the complete cookie dough logs, the dough can be frozen for several months. Thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator the day before baking, then bake as instructed in the recipe.

Can I make other shapes?

You can do this recipe with basically any design, so long as you can shape the design! Small cookie cutters would work (using the method I discussed earlier in the post) or, if it’s a simple shape like a ghost or a Christmas tree, you can form the shape yourself based off of the tips here and otherwise follow the instructions in the recipe.

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Enjoy! If you try this recipe (or if you get creative and use this method to make cookies with a different shape!) please make sure to leave a comment or share a picture on Instagram and tag me! 💜

Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!

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