Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

Get ready for fall with these soft and chewy pumpkin cheesecake cookies! These pumpkin cookies are stuffed with a cream cheese filling and loaded with gooey chocolate chips.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Low Lactose, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 11

Chill 20

Total Time 46

Servings cookies

Calories 277kcal

Author Gabby

Equipment

Baking Sheets
handheld mixer or Standing Mixer

Ingredients

Cheesecake Filling

¾ cup cream cheese, softened (regular or vegan) SEE NOTES
¼ cup powdered sugar (icing sugar/confectioners sugar) SEE NOTES if using regular (not vegan) cream cheese

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

¾ cup butter, melted (regular or vegan)
6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
2¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup white chocolate chips, or chopped white chocolate (regular or vegan)
⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (regular or vegan)
6 graham crackers, chopped into small pieces plus more for topping (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Line baking sheet or plate with parchment paper. In a small bowl, use a whisk or mixer to mix the cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth and combined.
Place 16 heaping teaspoons of cream cheese on the baking sheet or plate. Slightly flatten each ball of cream cheese. Freeze for at least one hour, or until frozen almost completely solid.
When the cream cheese is frozen almost solid, line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Add melted butter to a large mixing bowl, then whisk in the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
Add in the flour, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice and stir until just incorporated. The dough will be a bit wetter than a typical cookie dough - do not add more flour!
Gently stir the chocolate chips and and graham crackers into the dough.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Use a large cookie scoop (about 2½-3 tablespoons of dough) and scoop balls of cookie dough onto each baking sheet, allowing lots of room between each ball of dough.
Remove the cream cheese balls from the freezer and gently press one into the centre of each cookie. Cover the cream cheese ball with the dough, wrapping it around the cream cheese to cover it completely (photos are in post above for reference). Sprinkle more chocolate chips and/or graham cracker pieces on top if desired.
Once you've finished assembling one baking sheet of cookies, place them in the fridge while the oven finishes preheating, then repeat the steps with the second batch of cookies.
Once the oven has preheated, bake the cookies one baking sheet at a time for 9-12 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly brown on the edges and the top looks set. 11 minutes was perfect in my oven. If you leave the cookies in the oven for too long, they will become very brown, and the cream cheese will melt into the cookie dough! If you're unsure, you can bake one test cookie to start.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes (they will continue baking a little bit during this time). Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Please Note: I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your dry ingredients. Metric measurements are found above, under the "Metric" tab.

Properly measure your flour - I highly recommend using a $15 kitchen scale to weigh your dry ingredients (metric measurements are in the recipe card below). If you aren't using a scale, use the scoop and level method.

Cream Cheese: I don’t recommend using Daiya brand cream cheese as it tends to melt into the dough. If you’re looking for a dairy free or vegan option, then I suggest using Violife or another vegan cream cheese which has a coconut base. Depending what kind of cream cheese you use, the amount of time it takes to freeze the filling may vary.

Powdered Sugar: If you are using regular (not vegan) cream cheese, use ⅓ cup of powdered sugar. It's firmer than vegan cream cheese so more icing sugar will make the filling softer.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can use the following combination of spices: 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Storage and Freezing Instructions: These cookies taste best on the day of baking them. The cream cheese filling means the cookies will start to soften after a day. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or on the counter for about one day if it’s not too hot in your kitchen.

You can also freeze the baked cookies! Store them in an airtight ziploc bag and just thaw at room temperature when you’re ready to eat them.

Nutrition