Creamy, fluffy Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting are a must have at your next fall gathering! These cookies are packed with warm spices and fall flavors that everyone will love. You can’t go wrong with a healthy serving of cream cheese frosting on top!
For as long as I can remember, my family and I have made and decorated pumpkin cookies every fall. We have always loved this one recipe, and I decided I would turn it into a sourdough cookie! Along with my sourdough brownies, this recipe quickly became on of out favorite treats.
Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies Recipe
This recipe is so simple and great for using up your discard! These cookies have a great moist texture and are so soft. I love a good soft cookie, and look forward to these every year. These pumpkin cookies taste even better when you’ve grown your own pumpkin or squash in the garden to make the puree!
I like to ferment them for 8 hours or more, but you can make this recipe in one day! You can ferment them for 15 minutes if that’s all you have. It’s up to you how long you want to ferment this dough.
I have a bit of a sweet tooth and always love putting chocolate chips in my cookies. You can get creative and put whatever you like in yours! Nuts, dried fruit, whatever your family will like best. I love this recipe because it is so easy to switch up and make it new every time. You are going to love how easy and scrumptious these pumpkin cookies are.
What You Will Need
Butter: I used salted butter because there is no added salt in this recipe. You can use whatever you have on hand.
Brown Sugar: Make sure to pack your brown sugar down in your measuring cup.
Granulated Sugar
Sourdough Starter (discard or active): This is such a great recipe for using up your discard! Because you are already using baking soda and powder, you can use discard and they will still get fluffy.
Pumpkin Puree: Homemade is always the absolute best, but canned will work.
Egg: Room temperature if you can remember to set it out. It won’t change the batter too much if it is cold.
Vanilla
Flour
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Chocolate Chips (optional)
Walnuts (optional)
How to Make Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting
Day 1
1. Begin Dough: In a large bowl or mixer, add butter, brown sugar and white sugar and cream together. Then add in the starter and mix until combined. Next, add your pumpkin puree and egg. Mix on low until completely combined. Then you will add your vanilla and lightly mix until incorporated.
2. Finish Dough: In a separate large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix them until well combined. Then add that mixture to your starter in the mixer. Before mixing, also add 2 tsp of vanilla and your pumpkin pie spice. Mix until incorporated. At this point you can add chocolate chips, nuts, or whatever you like best in your pumpkin cookies.
3. Ferment: Cover your dough with plastic wrap or a shower cap and leave it on your counter for at least 8 hours or overnight to ferment.
Day 2
4. Bake: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a spoon or cookie scoop, place your cookies on a greased baking sheet. Cook your cookies at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Tips for Making Pumpkin Cookies
These Pumpkin Sourdough Cookies are really easy to make! Here are a few ways to make them more delicious, and to make them your own!
- Decorate: If you are making these cookies for Halloween or Thanksgiving, there are lots of fun ways to decorate them! We love to put candy corn and M&M’s on top to make faces or designs. You can use your favorite candies, dye the frosting, or use sprinkles to make fun festive cookies.
- Ferment Time: You can ferment for an hour or even less if that is all the time you have. I have made them with only 1 hour of fermentation and my daughter who has gluten sensitivities did not have any issues eating them. You can also ferment them for longer.
- Cake Like Cookies, or Gooey Cookies: I have noticed that when I leave the batter in the fridge to ferment, they bake more like chocolate chip cookies. If I leave them on the counter they foam up more like a cake.
- Storing the Cookies: Keep them fresh and moist by storing them in an airtight container. Try not to stack them because the frosting will stick to the bottoms of the cookies. If you prefer you can store them without frosting which will help the cookie not get soggy on top, and makes storing a bit easier. They will last about 5 days on the counter.
Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/2 C butter, salted
- 3/4 C brown sugar
- 3/4 C granulated sugar
- 1/2 C sourdough starter, active or discard
- 1 C pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 C chocolate chips (optional)
- 1/2 C walnuts, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Begin Dough: In a large bowl or mixer, add butter, brown sugar and white sugar and cream together. Then add in the starter and mix until combined. Next, add your pumpkin puree and egg. Mix on low until completely combined. Then you will add your vanilla and lightly mix until incorporated.
- Finish Dough: In a separate large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix them until well combined. Then add that mixture to your starter in the mixer. Before mixing, also add 2 tsp of vanilla and your pumpkin pie spice. Mix until incorporated. At this point you can add chocolate chips, nuts, or whatever you like best in your pumpkin cookies.
- Ferment: Cover your dough with plastic wrap or a shower cap and leave it on your counter for at least 8 hours or overnight to ferment.
- Bake: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a spoon or cookie scoop, place your cookies on a greased baking sheet. Cook your cookies at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
