Pumpkin Coffee Cake Cookies

Thick and soft pumpkin coffee cake cookies loaded with buttery, spiced streusel--these are sure to be a new fall favorite! No chilling the dough or pastry cutter needed.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 13

Total Time 33

Servings large cookies

Calories 428kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Ingredients

Cookie

½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
⅓ cup (82 g) pumpkin puree
1 large egg yolk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (226 g) cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt

Streusel

6 Tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter
1 ⅓ cups (150 g) cake flour (see note)
½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon table salt

Glaze

⅔ cup (86 g) powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons milk

Instructions

Cookie Dough

Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together butter, sugars, and pumpkin spice until creamy and well-combined.
½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Add pumpkin puree, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until well-combined. The mixture might look piecey/separated, this is fine.
⅓ cup (82 g) pumpkin puree, 1 large egg yolk, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2 cups (226 g) cake flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon table salt
Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet ingredients in several parts, stirring after each addition until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Set aside while you prepare the streusel.

Streusel

Melt butter in a microwave-safe dish and set aside.
6 Tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt.
1 ⅓ cups (150 g) cake flour, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon table salt
Check that the butter is not very warm to the touch, then drizzle butter over mixture and use a fork to toss and claw together until you have a crumbly streusel that clumps together.

Assembly (see streusel note)

Using a 1 ½-Tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop one level portion of dough onto the prepared baking sheet.
Portion a generous, heaping Tablespoon of streusel (closer to 1 ½ Tablespoons, though streusel is simply difficult to measure well!) and lightly press onto the top of the cookie dough. Scoop another level 1 ½ Tablespoon sized scoop of dough and drop onto the streusel. Top with another generous portion of streusel (about 1 ½ Tablespoon) and lightly press onto the top of the dough, slightly flattening the cookie to make the streusel stick and all of the layers gently press together.
Repeat with remaining cookie dough, spacing cookies at least 2” (5cm) apart.
Bake in the center rack of preheated oven for 11-13 minutes, until the edges of the cookies just begin to turn a light golden brown. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet (they’ll be fragile when warm!) before drizzling with glaze.

Glaze

Prepare glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and 1 Tablespoon of milk until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add additional milk as needed until the glaze ribbons smoothly off the whisk.
⅔ cup (86 g) powdered sugar, 1-2 Tablespoons milk
Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies and allow glaze to set before enjoying.

Video

Notes

Flour in the cookies

The cookie bases are best with cake flour (gives them a finer, more coffee-cake-esque texture) but if you don’t have it you can substitute 1 ¾ cup (218 g) all-purpose flour plus 1 Tablespoon (10 g) cornstarch.

Flour in the streusel

It’s fine to use either cake flour or all-purpose flour for the streusel. For all-purpose flour, you would use 1 cup + 3 Tablespoons (150 g) all-purpose flour.

Dividing the streusel

Streusel is difficult to measure by the spoonful because the size of the clumps vary. Aim to divide all of it evenly among the 11 cookies, using about 18 g in the middle and 18 g on top of each cookie. It may seem like you’re using a lot as you’re portioning it, but you want to use all of the streusel, so don’t be afraid to use a lot and if your streusel has very large clumps don’t be afraid to break those up.

Storing

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Nutrition