Pumpkin-Pecan Spice Cookies

Prep 1 hr 5 min
Total 1 hr 35 min
Servings 42

It’s not fall until you’ve made a batch of your favorite pumpkin cookies! These from-scratch cookies have all the delicious warming spices of pumpkin pie with the addition of pecans—talk about fall forward! If their pillow-y, soft texture isn’t enough to win you over, then the gentle drizzle of white chocolate on top will certainly do the trick. This recipe yields 42 servings, so you’ll have enough of these pumpkin-pecan spice cookies to share with your whole neighborhood! MORE+ LESS-

By Betty Crocker Kitchens

Updated March 12, 2020

Ingredients

1 1/2

cups packed light brown sugar

1/2

cup butter or margarine, softened

eggs

1/2

cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

teaspoons vanilla

2 3/4

cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

teaspoons baking powder

teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2

teaspoon salt

1/2

teaspoon ground ginger

1/4

teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8

teaspoon ground allspice

1/8

teaspoon ground cloves

Pinch ground cardamom

1 1/3

cups finely chopped pecans

1/2

cup white vanilla baking chips

oz vanilla-flavored candy coating (almond bark), chopped

Steps

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1

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray, or line with cooking parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2

In large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour, baking powder and spices. Stir in pecans and baking chips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
3

Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4

Place candy coating in small resealable freezer plastic bag; seal bag. Microwave on High about 1 minute or until softened. Gently squeeze bag until coating is smooth; cut off tiny corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle coating over cookies. Let stand until set.

Expert Tips

When buying canned pumpkin, check the label to be sure it’s not pumpkin pie mix, which contains sugar and spices.
Look for silicone baking mats at stores that sell kitchen and baking items.
Try cooked winter squash in place of the pumpkin.
This recipe calls for canned pumpkin, rather than pumpkin pie filling, because canned pumpkin is simply puree, which gives you control over spice and sugar levels.
If you’re a fan of pumpkin desserts, you’ll want to check out the Great Pumpkin Recipe List for the rest of Betty’s best.