Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodle Cookies
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These Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodle Cookies are a chewy pumpkin cookie made with fall spices and stuffed with a cheesecake filling. You will love each bite of the soft pumpkin cookie, the cozy fall spices, the creamy cheesecake filling, and the crunchy bits of cinnamon and sugar coating the cookie. This pumpkin cheesecake cookie is the perfect treat to bring to your fall gatherings! Best part? You can make a bunch of these up and freeze the dough, then just bake whenever you’re ready. Keep them in your freezer all fall!
When fall rolls around each year – it kind of feels like the New Year for me. Kids are back to school, I love to clean and organize my house after summer, the weather is cooler, and I love to start baking more again. Some of my all-time favorite desserts are Fall Treats! And you know I love all things Pumpkin. My kids get really excited when they start seeing all the fall baking begin.
This year I’ve been wanting to make a more complex fall cookie – one that is rich and decadent but also simple to put together. I’ve seen a lot of recipes going around for these stuffed cookies, so I got to testing and have made some changes to improve the texture of these cookies (no cakey cookies please!) and improve the baking method. There are a couple things I’ve learned to make these Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodle Cookies turn out great.
Tips for making these cookies great:
- Dry out your pumpkin! This step is essential to a chewy pumpkin cookie. You’ll simply do this with paper towels – just a 2 minute step. If you don’t do this, the cookies will puff and turn cakey.
- Freeze your dough before baking: If you don’t freeze the dough with the cheesecake filling before baking, the cookies will spread too much.
- Don’t skimp on the pumpkin pie spice: The depth of flavor in these cookies comes from lots of pumpkin pie spice – don’t skimp or substitute! This adds a richness to the cookies and to that outside crunch.
- Give yourself enough time to make: Give yourself time to freeze the cheesecake filling, then stuff the cookies, then freeze the dough.
This recipe makes a lot of dough because it will take a bit of dough to cover each piece of the cheesecake filling. I like to make these cookies pretty big, but if you’d like them smaller, just create smaller scoops of the cheesecake filling before freezing them.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodle Cookies
Equipment
- a good amount of paper towels (for drying out the pumpkin)
- cookie scoops (small cookie scoop for the cheesecake filling, large cookie scoop for the cookies)
- parchment paper
- several rimmed baking sheets
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling
- 2 blocks (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Cookie Ingredients
- 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree (preferably Libby's brand)
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, softened (3 sticks)
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 4 egg yolks
- 3½ cups white flour
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cookie Sprinkling Sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
Cheesecake Filling
- Line a small rimmed baking sheet or large flat tupperware container with parchment paper (make sure it will fit in your freezer).Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a medium-sized bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.
- Mix on medium speed until well-incorporated and fluffy (or mix by hand until completely smooth).
- Using a small cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons), scoop the cheesecake filling onto the parchment lined baking sheet or tupperware.
- Place in freezer and freeze the cheesecake filling scoops until frozen solid.
Pumpkin Cookies
- The first step of these cookies is to dry out your pumpkin puree. If you don't do this, your cookies will be puffy and cakey. To do this, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop all the pumpkin puree out of the can onto this baking sheet, and use the back of a spoon or spatula to flatten the pumpkin puree into a thin layer.Using 2 layers of paper towels, cover the pumpkin and gently press until the paper towels are completely wet from the pumpkin puree.Remove those paper towels and keep repeating the process (about 10 times) until the pumpkin puree looks dry (and almost a little shriveled!) and until it is reduced by about half. Once dried out, set aside.
- Start making the cooking dough by creaming the softened butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer). Cream until fluffy and well mixed (about 2 minutes).
- Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and cream again on medium speed until well mixed.
- Next mix in the pumpkin puree, and mix on low speed until well incorporated.
- Next, combine the dry ingredients (flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Mix them well.
- Add the combined dry ingredients slowly to the wet mixture with the stand mixer on low speed. Mix until just combined.
Making the Cookies
- Make the cookie sprinkling sugar by combining the white sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. Mix well. Set aside.
- Line another baking sheet with parchment paper for placing the cookie dough balls.
- Scoop the cookie dough into approximately 1/3 cup dough balls.
- Once you've scooped all the dough, you can begin to assemble the cookies. Remove the cheesecake filling scoops from the freezer (make sure they are solid).Flatten each dough ball using the palm of your hand and place a frozen cheesecake filling scoop into the center. Form the pumpkin cookie dough around the cheesecake filling. Try to form it evenly into a ball.
- Roll this dough ball in the cookie sprinkling sugar and set back on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Continue this with all the cookie dough balls until they are all filled with a scoop of the cheesecake filling and then rolled in the sprinkling sugar.
- Freeze all of these until solid (you can keep in the freezer for up to a month!).
- You will bake these cookie directly from the freezer, so when you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F. Then place the frozen cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes until slightly golden and puffy on the edges, and still slightly domed in the middle.
- When you remove from oven, leave them on the cookie sheet, and use the back of a flat spatula to gently press the domed part of the cookie flat (this will evenly distribute the cheesecake filling in the cookie so it's not all in the center).
- While the cookies are warm, sprinkle with a little more of the sprinkling sugar mixture, and leave on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes so the cookies can set. Then enjoy!
- (These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days.)
I hope you get a chance to make these Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodle Cookies – they are such a great addition to your fall recipe lineup. Be sure to tag me @plumstreetcollective if you get a chance to make these.
