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Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

Pumpkin cheesecake cookies with a spiced, tender cookie dough and a creamy cream cheese center. Freeze-and-fill method creates a visible cheesecake swirl effect, baked to golden edges with cinnamon sugar coating.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
freeze 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 14 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 165
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For pumpkin cookie dough
  • 2.25 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.75 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 0.33 cup pumpkin puree blotted dry
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
For cheesecake filling
  • 6 oz cream cheese softened
  • 3 tbsp powdered sugar
  • 0.5 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cinnamon sugar for rolling

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Freeze cheesecake filling
  1. Beat cream cheese filling ingredients until smooth, then scoop into 24 teaspoon-sized balls on parchment and freeze 30 minutes with a firm look before baking.
Bake cookie dough
  1. Preheat the oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment, creating a nonstick surface for even browning.
  2. Beat softened butter and brown sugar, then add blotted pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until the mixture looks cohesive and creamy.
  3. Whisk all-purpose flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt, then fold in until no dry streaks remain.
  4. Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of cookie dough, flatten in your palm, place a frozen cream cheese ball in the center, wrap dough around it, and seal so the filling is enclosed.
  5. Roll each filled cookie in cinnamon sugar so the surface is evenly coated, then arrange on the baking sheets.
  6. Bake at 375F for 12-14 minutes until the cookies are golden and set at the edges.
  7. Cool completely before eating so the filling firms as it cools, creating a thicker center.

Notes

For neat filling release, keep the cheesecake balls frozen until you’re ready to wrap them, then fully seal the dough around the center. Store baked cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 days, or freeze unbaked filled dough balls up to 2 months (bake straight from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes). For a lower-sugar option, use a reduced-sugar powdered sugar for the filling while keeping the cinnamon sugar coating as written.