Name: Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 78 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature; 2/3 cup brown sugar; 1/3 cup granulated sugar; 1 egg; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 3 cups all purpose flour; 1 tsp baking soda; 3/4 tsp salt; 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice; 2/3 cup pumpkin puree* (once strained, it will be 1/3 cup pumpkin puree); Cinnamon Sugar (1/2 cup sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon); 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature; 1/3 cup granulated sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract

These soft and chewy Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies are cinnamon sugar pumpkin cookies filled with cream cheese and baked until they are gooey and perfect.

The Best Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cookies

A cookie is such a humble dessert, but it is one of the most comforting desserts in all of its unassuming glory. During the fall season, there is nothing better than combining the quintessential flavor of fall (pumpkin) with the modest, classic cookie.

Pumpkin cookies are one of my favorite fall desserts. Before these Cheesecake Pumpkin Cookies, I would have said these Soft Pumpkin Cookies and these Pumpkin Marshmallow Cookies were duking it out for top spot in my heart, but honestly, there’s no contest now. There is nothing like the combination of pumpkin and cream cheese.

As a devoted cheesecake girly, there is absolutely nothing like a pumpkin cookie stuffed with cheesecake filling. The whole cookie is rolled in cinnamon sugar giving off pumpkin snickerdoodle vibes, but it’s significantly better due to the cream cheese baked inside.

Pumpkin cheesecake meets chewy pumpkin cookies meets a buttery snickerdoodle to make the ultimate pumpkin dessert.

Four Reasons These Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies Work Every Single Time:

Frozen Cheesecake Batter: The batter needs to be frozen in balls to make sure it’s easy to wrap the cookie dough around and to ensure it bakes properly.
Pumpkin Puree: The most important thing about this recipe is wringing out the pumpkin puree to remove as much moisture as possible. This keeps the cookies perfectly soft and chewy without being cakey pumpkin cookies.
No Chill: This pumpkin cookie dough does not need to be chilled! It makes for the best thick pumpkin cookie that holds up perfectly to the cream cheese filling.
Big: These pumpkin cookies are really, really big. The pumpkin dough is about 3 Tbsp and it’s filled with about 1 Tbsp of cheesecake filling. Thick pumpkin cheesecake cookies are dreamy!

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter: I prefer unsalted butter in most of my baking recipes, because I like that I get to control the salt content better.
Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar
Egg
Vanilla Extract
All Purpose Flour
Baking Soda and Salt
Ground Cinnamon
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Pumpkin Puree: The pumpkin puree needs to be squeezed or drained in order for these to be soft and chewy pumpkin cookies rather than cake-like pumpkin cookies.
Cream Cheese
Cinnamon Sugar

How To Make These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cookies:

Cheesecake Filling: The best part of these pumpkin cookies is the dreamy cream cheese filling baked right inside. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar and vanilla extract together. Once completely smooth, use a small cookie scoop to scoop out 12 cheesecake balls. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze the cheesecake balls for at least 30 minutes.

Dry Out Pumpkin Puree: First things first, wring out the pumpkin puree. We need 1/3 cup of dried pumpkin puree, so we’re going to put 2/3 cup pumpkin puree in a tea towel (or paper towel or cheese cloth), and gently squeeze out all of the extra moisture until you get 1/3 cup of pumpkin.

Pro Tip: If you’re using paper towels, they might break on you so just be prepared that you will likely need a few to wring out all of the water from the pumpkin.

Cookie Dough: Beat unsalted butter until light and fluffy. Add in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat until combined. Add in the egg and mix until combined. Next, add in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix the dough until combined. Lastly, add in the dry pumpkin puree and vanilla.

Assembly: Scoop the dough into 12 portions with a large cookie scoop. Take a pumpkin cookie dough ball and flatten it in your hand. Place one of the frozen cheesecake balls in the center, and then wrap the dough completely around the cream cheese. Roll in cinnamon sugar. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Pro Tip: Do 6 cookies per cookie sheet.

Bake: Bake the cheesecake filled cookies for about 15-18 minutes, or until they are lightly golden on top and look set on top.

Cool: Allow the cookies to cool about 15 minutes at least before serving. They can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Storage Tips:

Due to the cheesecake filling in the cookies, these really should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. If you want to freeze them, you can freeze them before they’re baked or after they’re baked.

Other Favorite Cream Cheese Pumpkin Desserts For Fall:

Final Tips and Tricks To Making These Stuffed Cheesecake Pumpkin Cookies Perfect:

Dry Out The Pumpkin: The easiest way to dry out the pumpkin is to put it in either a tea towel, cheesecloth, or paper towel. Then you just want to gently squeeze out all of the excess liquid. If using a paper towel, it will likely break so be prepared to need to use a few.
Cookie Scoops: I use a small cookie scoop for the cheesecake filling (about 1 Tbsp to 1 1/2 Tbsp in size) and a large cookie scoop (about 3 Tbsp to 3 1/2 Tbsp of dough).
Yields: This makes 12 large cookies.
No Chill Dough: Plus, while the cream cheese filling needs to be frozen, the pumpkin cookie dough is a no chill dough! So the cheesecake filling can freeze while you’re making the pumpkin cookie dough.