It is no wonder that I was craving for a pumpkin dessert this past weekend. Those beautiful golden orbs are on display everywhere. As I was busy with other things, I had to settle for something store bought. The limited edition pumpkin cheesecake cookies from a very popular manufacturer would have to do until I can find time to make my own. The white chunks in the cookies tasted more like white chocolate than cheesecake. Even so, they were pretty good- soft and chewy but a tad too sweet for me.
I really like the idea of combining pumpkin and cream cheese in a cookie. Since cream cheese is soft, it can either be mixed into the dough or used as a frosting. Of late though, I have been seeing a lot of filled cookies in cyberspace which I had in mind to try. Now is as good a time as any. The cream cheese would be perfect as a filling.
- 4 oz (115g) cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup (35g) powdered sugar
- 2½ cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- 1 stick (4 oz/ 115g) butter
- ¾ cup (135g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¾ cup (190g) pumpkin puree
- Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl. Beat with electric mixer until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator. Allow it to chill at least 30 minutes.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In a large large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well blended. Slowly beat in pumpkin puree. Then add dry ingredients, beating in as much as the beater can handle/ Mix in the rest with a spatula until just combined.
- Lightly flour your hands. Scoop a rounded tablespoon of dough the size of a large walnut into your palm. Flatten and add about ¾ teaspoon cream cheese filling in the center. Wrap dough around filling. Roll into a ball to seal. Flatten the ball before placing on a cookie sheet. Repeat until all dough is used up.
- Bake cookies at 350°F (180°C) for 23 to 25 minutes. Remove and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.
These cookies are soft with a cake-like texture. Two should be sufficient to satisfy any pumpkin craving. 
The rest should be refrigerated if not eaten within a day.
