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Pumpkin Cream-Filled Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

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Updated May 7, 2025
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We’ve taken the best flavors of the fall and winter and rolled them into an amazing cookie that you’ll be craving all season long.

Developed in the test kitchens for our Cookies cookbook, this gingerbread thumbprint cookie recipe boasts soft and spicy gingerbread cookie wrapped around a creamy, dreamy pumpkin filling, for a unique take on thumbprint cookies that might just become your next tradition.

Scratch gingerbread thumbprint cookies are sweetly scented with the flavors of molasses, cinnamon, and a double-hit of ginger from both the ground spice and the chopped crystallized version that are stirred into the cookie dough. Unlike many gingerbread cookie recipes, this dough doesn’t need to chill before shaping it. You know what that means—you get to enjoy freshly-baked cookies even faster!

After the thumbprints have baked and cooled, they are filled with a cinnamony pumpkin cream cheese filling for a flavor pairing that’s a match made in heaven. Our experts swooned when they tried them at taste panel.

When is the best time to enjoy these comforting cookies? We’d vote for every fall and winter day we can get our hands on them. They’re great after a day at the apple orchard, any eye-catching addition to your Halloween party spread, or a beautiful upgrade to the selections on your holiday cookie tray.

Pumpkin Cream-Filled Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

  • Prep Time 45 min
  • Total 1 hr 45 min
  • Servings 48
  • Ingredients 18
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Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup dark molasses
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (from 3-oz package)
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Pumpkin Filling

  • 4 oz (half of 8-oz package) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    Heat oven to 350°F. Line large cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper.
  • Step 
    2
    In large bowl, beat brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, molasses, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add remaining Cookie ingredients except crystalized ginger; beat until dough forms. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the crystallized ginger until well mixed.
  • Step 
    3
    Shape rounded tablespoonfuls dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar. On cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Press thumb into center of each cookie to make indentation, but do not press all the way through the bottom of dough.
  • Step 
    4
    Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set. With back of round measuring teaspoon or end of a wooden spoon, remake indentation in center of each cookie. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
  • Step 
    5
    In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter and pumpkin with electric mixer on high speed until well blended. On medium speed, gradually add powdered sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Beat filling until smooth and creamy. Spoon heaping 2 teaspoonfuls of the pumpkin mixture into indentation in each cookie. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons crystallized ginger.

Nutrition

130 Calories
4g Total Fat
1g Protein
23g Total Carbohydrate
15g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Cookie
Calories
130
Calories from Fat
35
Total Fat
4g
6%
Saturated Fat
2 1/2g
12%
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
20mg
6%
Sodium
60mg
2%
Potassium
75mg
2%
Total Carbohydrate
23g
8%
Dietary Fiber
0g
0%
Sugars
15g
Protein
1g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
6%
6%
Vitamin C
0%
0%
Calcium
0%
0%
Iron
4%
4%
Exchanges:
0 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 1 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
1 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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