These Melting Moments pumpkin cookies are as cute as they are delicious. Super soft and simple to make, they’re a perfect Fall treat for anyone who prefers a sugar-cookie flavor over traditional pumpkin spice. They look like tiny pumpkins while tasting like a tender, buttery cookie.
I recently baked these with my two toddlers. They love helping in the kitchen, especially when we add food coloring. Another bonus: this recipe contains no eggs, making it easy to prepare and family-friendly.
Baking them was a fun Fall activity for us — great for little hands and a wonderful memory-maker.
How To Make These Cookies
Making the Dough
Start by whisking together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl and set it aside.
In a large bowl, cream the room-temperature unsalted butter with the powdered sugar until smooth. You can do this by hand, with an electric mixer, or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture, mixing until the dough comes together and is evenly combined.
Scoop out about 3 tablespoons of dough into a small bowl for the pumpkin stems. Add green food coloring a little at a time until you reach your desired shade and set the green dough aside.
For the pumpkin color, add yellow and red food coloring to the remaining dough. If you have orange food coloring, you can use that instead. Otherwise, start with roughly two parts yellow to one part red, then add more as needed until you get a vibrant orange. Mix thoroughly so the color is even throughout the dough.
Shaping The Cookies
To shape each pumpkin, scoop about 1½ tablespoons of the orange dough and roll it into a smooth ball. Gently press to slightly flatten, then pinch two opposite sides with your thumb and index finger to form an oval pumpkin shape. Place each shaped cookie onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
To create the pumpkin ridges, press the rounded end of a fork into the cookie four times: two indents on the left, then rotate the fork and make two on the right. This gives the cookies their pumpkin-like segments.
Pinch off small pieces of the green dough, roll them into tiny stems, and press each stem gently onto the top of a cookie.
Continue with the remaining dough and arrange the cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet so they don’t touch while baking.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 11–13 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Bake them solo or make it a family baking session — either way, these Melting Moments Pumpkin Cookies are sure to be a hit.
If you make them, tag @jessiebakestreats on Instagram and feel free to leave a review below — I’d love to hear how they turned out!
You Might Also Love
- Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
- Halloween Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
- Jack O’lantern Halloween Focaccia Bread
- Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping
- Pumpkin Crinkle Cookies
Melting Moments Pumpkin Cookies
Jessie M
Pin Recipe
30
12
20 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 C all purpose flour
- 1/2 C cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 C unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 C powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- red, yellow, and green food colouring
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
-
In a large bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
-
Stir in vanilla extract and mix well.
-
Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
-
Remove about 3 tablespoons of dough to a small bowl for stems. Mix in green food coloring a little at a time until you reach the desired color.
-
To color the remaining dough, add red and yellow food coloring (or orange if you have it). Start with a small amount and increase until you get a rich orange, mixing thoroughly so the color is even.
-
Scoop 1½ tablespoons of orange dough, roll into a smooth ball, flatten slightly, and pinch the sides to form an oval. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
-
Use the rounded end of a fork to press ridge marks into the cookie: two indents on one side and two on the other to create the pumpkin lines.
-
Pinch a small piece of green dough into a stem and press it onto the top of the cookie.
-
Repeat for remaining dough, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart.
-
Bake for 11–13 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly golden.
-
Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
-
Enjoy!
Notes
baking with pumpkin, fall baking, fall cookies, halloween cookies, melting moments, pumpkin cookies, soft cookies