Crunchy Pumpkin Cookies are beautifully buttery, melt in your mouth and tasting of pumpkin and cinnamon! Perfect cookie with a crunch for any occasion!
These Crunchy Pumpkin Cookies have been the labour of love! You know by now how pumpkin obsessed I am and so far I have been pretty lucky with my pumpkin puree based bakes. They all worked first time! These cookies had different idea!
The problem was that I wanted to create a crunchy cookie, one with a bit of a snap as majority of pumpkin cookies out there are the soft ones. Instead, all I was getting were cookies that were not even cakey or chewy or soft but kind of on a claggy side - not good!
Needless to say, after some experimentation I finally managed to achieve lovely, buttery, melt in your mouth pumpkin cookies with a bit of a crunch - utterly delicious!
My initial problem was down to the fact that I underestimated the level of moisture in pumpkin puree, the ratio of butter to flour for that buttery, melt in the mouth consistency and also the role that oven temperature and timings play here. I got there in the end though and couldn't be happier with these little pumpkin cookies now! They are a doddle to make and the dough itself is a pleasure to work with. It isn't sticky at all and rolls out and cuts beautifully!
Tips for baking Crunchy Pumpkin Cookies!
- Make sure that pumpkin puree you are using is really dry (I couldn't stress it enough)! Even though I'm a huge advocate of making your own puree it might be safer to use tinned version here. Although if you can get your hands on my favourite Hokkaido Pumpkin you should be ok with homemade version (read my tips and tricks on making your own pumpkin puree here).
- Chilling the dough is quite crucial as it is with majority of buttery cookies/biscuits. 30 min is an absolute minimum but if you can spare it more time please do.
- Make sure you stick to the ratio of flour to butter and don't try to make these "skinny" as they will simply not work. Trust me, I've tried it!
- These work best when baked at slightly lower temperature of 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 and for slightly longer (approx 20 min). Most of us know our ovens well though and as they can be tricky beasts at times, make sure you start watching your cookies from 15 min on to prevent them from getting too coloured.
- As soon as they're cold transfer them into a tin/box/jar to keep them as fresh and as crunchy as possible for longer! They will keep their crunch for a couple of days but after that they will slowly start going a bit softer (still lovely and melt in your mouth though).
Couple more tips...
This recipe will give you approx 37 cookies (that's what I got with my pumpkin cutter) and they were gone within a day! Feel free to use any cutter you fancy. We will be making some more of these to share out on Halloween and ghost, bat and witch's hat are waiting at the ready.
Feel free to decorate these with some icing if you want to! It could be a nice rainy afternoon project with your kids. My lot will not touch any iced cookies or biscuits hence we decided to leave these plain.
How to make Crunchy Pumpkin Cookies?
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Put all the ingredients in a bowl of food processor and pulse gently until they turn into smooth and silky, orange dough. Turn out onto the kitchen counter, divide dough in half and shape into two flat disks. Wrap them in cling film and put in the fridge for minimum 30 minutes or longer if you can.
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If you don't have food processor simply sieve your flour, icing sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl and add cold and cubed butter. Rub the butter and flour mixture together with your fingers until they start looking like breadcrumbs. Add remaining ingredients and mix them in with your hand, kneading gently until you reach smooth and silky, orange dough consistency. Proceed as per instructions above.
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After the dough has had time to chill, take it out of the fridge and onto the floured kitchen surface. Roll it out to the thickness of pound coin and cut the cookie shapes using the cutter of your choice. Re-roll the remaining dough and repeat until you've used up all the dough.
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Bake your cookies on the baking sheet lined with baking parchment in the oven preheated to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 for approx 20 min (keep an eye on them from 15 min on just in case your oven is slightly unpredictable).
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Transfer baked cookies onto cooling rack and repeat with the remaining ones. Wait for them to cool and enjoy!
📋 Recipe
Crunchy Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
- 300 g plain flour/ white rye flour/ white spelt flour more for dusting your work surface
- 200 g unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 100 g icing sugar
- 137 g pumpkin puree see notes below
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- zest of ½ orange optional
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl of food processor and pulse gently until they turn into smooth and silky, orange dough. Turn out onto the kitchen counter, divide dough in half and shape into two flat disks. Wrap them in cling film and put in the fridge for minimum 30 minutes (a bit longer would be even better).
- If you don't have food processor simply sieve your flour, icing sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl and add cold and cubed butter. Rub the butter and flour mixture together with your fingers until they start looking like breadcrumbs. Add remaining ingredients and mix them in with your hand, kneading gently until you reach smooth and silky, orange dough consistency. Proceed as per instructions above.
- After the dough has had time to chill, take it out of the fridge and onto the floured kitchen surface. Roll it out to the thickness of pound coin and cut the cookie shapes using the cutter of your choice. Re-roll the remaining dough and repeat until you've used up all the dough.
- Bake your cookies on the baking sheet lined with baking parchment in the oven preheated to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 for approx 20 min (keep an eye on them from 15 min on just in case your oven is slightly unpredictable).
- Transfer baked cookies onto cooling rack and repeat with the remaining ones. Wait for them to cool and enjoy!
Notes
- Calories are approximate and per cookie/biscuit.
- Make sure you use really dry pumpkin puree for this bake. The less moisture the more crunchy and melt in your mouth final result.
Nutrition
Other recipes you might enjoy:
Chocolate Fork Biscuits (Vegan)
Easy Chocolate Gingerbread Biscuits
Chocolate Shortbread Biscuits with Mini Eggs
Salted Peanuts & Peanut Butter Millionaire's Shortbread
Dark Chocolate Cranberry Chestnut Cookies
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This post has been included in the Twinkl Halloween Guide. Why not have a look at the pumpkin patches available near you for next Halloween?
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Ally says
I can't thank you enough for this recipe. I have been searching for months for a crunchier, crispy Pumpkin-based cookie. Thank you for all the hard work and research you put into creating this recipe!
joskitchenlarder says
That's so kind of you Ally.😊 I'm so pleased you are happy with the cookies.
Judith says
I always make half recipes the first time. My first effort I did exactly as written (non-food-processor method) and probably didn't cook them quite long enough because I felt they were a bit doughy. The second try, I doubled the sugar (accidentally used granulated), I used a "flax egg" instead of the two yolks, and used half oil and half butter. I did them the more common way of using my hand-held mixer to beat together the butter/oil, sugar, "egg", and pumpkin, then beating in the flour. Because the dough was quite soft, I decided to put it into a piping bag with a fat decorator's tip and piped them onto the cookie sheets. I sprinkled the tiniest bit of coarse clear decorator's sugar before baking. I used the full cooking time this time and they held their shape and look so pretty. I put two together with a cream cheese icing piped in between for some of them, but plain they're really tasty enough. The pumpkin flavour comes through beautifully. Every Christmas when I have canned pumpkin puree to use up, I try one new pumpkin sugar cookie recipe. I'm so glad I chose this one this year, it's the best yet and definitely will make it onto cookie gift plates!
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Judith, Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I'm super pleased that you're happy with your recipe choice this year. 🙂 I find it super helpful to get such detailed feedback on my recipes as well as some tips, ingredients substitutes etc. It's great to hear that these cookies work well with the flax egg! I think the softness of the dough might have been down to the use of oil but it sounds as piping the cookies instead of cutting them out works as well which is great. 🙂 Thanks again and I hope you have wonderful Christmas! x
Judith says
Yes, maybe the avocado oil made the dough ever so slightly softer as I certainly did stick to the weights (thanks to your recipe being given that way) including estimating the amount of "flax egg" to substitute for egg yolk, but the great thing is they hold their shape even with the minor changes. I do think version 2 would've firmed up with fridge chilling as it wasn't much softer than my first unaltered try, and I was probably being a bit impatient or maybe just a bit lazy to not pull out the rolling pin, but they really turned out so pretty, like Danish butter cookies. Today I baked the rest of the dough that I'd left in the piping bag overnight and I made a buttercream/whipping cream icing that is much nicer than my cream cheese icing for the (completely unnecessary) filling between two cookies. My friend loves them both with and without the icing, as do I! Thanks again. I'll be exploring more of your recipes!!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks again Judith 🙂 and the cookies sandwiched together with buttercream sound fantastic. Enjoy!
Rachel Cochran says
Not sure what I’ve done to make this happen but my cookies are super duper greasy :/
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Rachel, Sorry to hear that but I've never found these greasy. Perhaps the ingredients weren't measured accurately?
Lisa says
Hi, I'm looking forward to trying this crunchy pumpkin cookie recipe! Is the 137g weight of.the pumpkin puree before or after water is removed? Thanks!
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Lisa, It is the amount of dry puree. If you are using canned puree (which I recommend for this recipe), you should be able to use it straight from the tin. Hope that helps. 🙂
Melissa says
Crispy and with lots of pumpkin flavor. I solved the dampness of pumpkin by using 1 cup of my homemade pumpkin butter in the recipe. I also reduced to one egg yolk and 3/4 (from 1 cup) cup icing sugar. Everything else was the same. I baked a about 5 minutes longer. Crispy!
I also froze these for a week and the dough worked up just fine.
Cook down 14/15 oz can of plain pumpkin and 1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar mixed in on low heat stirring occasionally. Takes about an hour. I added 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice also. Cool before adding to recipe.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Melissa, Thanks so much for lovely feedback and for sharing your tips as well! 🙂
Michelle Adams says
Made these today and followed the recipe exactly. My cookies were beautiful and flat but not completely crisp in the middle. If I make them again I will put the purée in a nut bag and get all the moisture out and I would extend the cooking time just a bit
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Michelle, I'm super pleased you've made these! 🙂 Dry pumpkin puree is definitely the way to go. I find tinned puree works best with this particular recipe.
Kathryn says
These were lovely! Not too sweet and Perfect with coffee. I put gold sprinkles on them for Thanksgiving—Served along with Pecan Pie. I made and refrigerated the dough ahead of time. This recipe is a keeper!
joskitchenlarder says
That's fab Kathryn! 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know. Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂 x
Carol says
can you use regular sugar?
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Carol, I have only ever made these cookies with icing sugar so I don't know how they would come out with regular sugar but you can certainly give it a go. Please do let me know if you try it. 🙂
Jodie says
No matter how thin I rolled them they were more like round blobs that were doughy in the middle...
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Jodie, I'm sorry to hear your cookies didn't come out right. Have you used really dry (preferably tinned) pumpkin puree and followed the recipe, ingredients and tips exactly? It took me quite a few goes to get these right but I know this recipe works providing it's followed exactly to the letter.
Nikky says
Did the recipe exactly as it say and my dough was so sticky that I had to work the dough to make it ok to spread and shape the cookies. It was a mess . Now the taste, it doesn't taste very much pumkin, my daughter prefer the taste of the dough before cooking. For me they are ok.
Patricia says
Is it possible to omit the egg yolks and increase the pumpkin puree amount? Do you think it will still turn out fine? Since egg yolks will likely contribute to moisture in the cookies, I'm thinking if I can omit it and use pumpkin puree instead, so as to elevate the pumpkin flavour... do you have any advice for me please?
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Patricia, I've never tried baking these cookies without egg yolks and with more pumpkin puree instead. Egg yolks not only contribute moisture here but have impact on overall texture as well. Cookies without yolks might be more like shortbread and quite crumbly. I would also be careful with adding more pumpkin puree unless you don't mind softer cookies. Hope that helps a bit. Feel free to experiment, sometimes that's half the fun! 🙂
Patricia says
I've made it according to your recipe but halved it.. took me sometime to blot out all the moisture from the homemade pumpkin puree.. many paper towels used! they tasted fine but I might have added too little cinnamon.. I will try this again but increase the sugar.. It's not easy to find a pumpkin cookie recipe that yields crunchy cookies, so thank you for sharing!
Oh I won't consider dropping the egg yolk anymore.. I can't blot more pumpkin puree to make up for it.. that's like the most tedious part of the recipe for me.. lol
joskitchenlarder says
Homemade pumpkin puree is fantastic but for these cookies I do advocate tinned one which is definitely of perfect consistency and would save tons of bother with trying to dry it out 🙂
jenny paulin says
I love the look of these pumpkin shaped and flavoured cookies Jo. They caught my eye a few weeks back when you first posted them to co-incide with Halloween. I love the styling in your photos too - really eye catching. thank you for sharing with #Bakeoftheweek x
Corina Blum says
These sound delicious and they look so cute too! I know my kids would love them and they'd probably love icing them as well. However, they have seriously overdosed on sugar after Halloween so I'm going to stick to healthy things for a while now! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook says
The dough looks so perfect and the cookies look so adorable! Thanks for sharing, Jo! x
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
I hate it so much when the recipe in my head doesn't turn out the way I wanted. It's the WORST! These look so buttery and yummy: I can't wait to give them a try!
joskitchenlarder says
Perseverance is the way to go! lol 🙂 I so so hate it when recipes are not perfect first time around though. I'm not the most patient of people (something I keep working on to no avail lol). I'm super chuffed you like the sound of my cookies Michelle, thank you! 🙂
Mayuri Patel says
These cookies are so so so cute.. Very festive. I wouldn't have thought of using pumpkin puree for cookies.
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Mayuri! 🙂 Perfect for this time of year and also as a less scary and healthier Halloween treat 🙂
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
They look just perfect love the pumpkin shape
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Jacqui! 🙂 Couldn't resist pumpkin shape for pumpkin biccies 🙂
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
These sound and look absolutely delicious. I think when a recipe takes a few goes before getting it perfect, it is even more satisfying 🙂 Thanks for sharing with #CookBlogShare
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Cat! 🙂 I know what you mean. It definitely feels very satisfying once you crack the recipe but can also be a bit frustrating in the process lol Nobody said developing recipes was easy 😉 x
mimi rippee says
Such pretty photos! I don't know where you live, but Whole Foods has an organic pumpkin puree in an aseptic carton that is the most water-free product of pumpkin i've ever come across. So I've been using it a lot. Love these cookies!
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Mimi and thank you so much for your kind comment! We do have Whole Foods in the UK but nowhere near where I live (that's a great tip for the US readers though)! I do find the puree from my favourite Hokkaido pumpkin perfect for these (that's what I used for this particular batch) as it's very dry so much so that the spoon will easily stand up in it! 🙂
Antonia says
These are so cute! I love a good crunchy cookie, and you can't beat pumpkin! Your photos are so pretty and are perfectly autumn! I'm so glad you could bring your delicious fall cookies to the party! Happy Fiesta Friday!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Antonia! 🙂 I'm a huge fan of soft and chewy cookies but I do like a challenge and I wanted to make delicious and snappy pumpkin cookies on this occasion and I'm glad I did! Happy Fiesta Friday to you too!
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
They're so cute and they look absolutely scrummy!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks so much Kat! 🙂