Pumpkin Pie Cake Cookies

These pumpkin pie cake cookies bring together pumpkin, warm spices, sourdough discard, and a buttery graham cracker topping. A little pumpkin pie inspiration without making an actual pie … which sounds like my kind of baking.

The ingredient list is mostly pantry staples, and the topping is just crushed graham crackers and melted butter. Nothing fancy required.

Pumpkin Pie Cake Cookies with Graham Cracker Topping

The graham cracker crumbs go on before baking, giving the cookies a little pie-crust-inspired finish. The only reason this came to be is because I was going through the baking station to see what I needed to use up and forgot I made graham crackers over the summer for cheesecakes. I had a whole bag of crushed crackers so I tasted them and… they were STALE AF. Lucky for me, this recipe brought them back to life and now I can repurpose them in the house rather than tossing to the chickies.

Use plain pumpkin puree rather than pumpkin pie filling. The sugar and spices are already included in the recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Cake Cookies

Pumpkin spice cookies made with sourdough discard (optional- see notes!), finished with a buttery graham cracker topping.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 13 minutes mins

Chill Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 20 Cookies

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

Cookie Dough

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
• ⅓ cup sourdough discard

Graham Cracker Topping

• ¼ cup crushed graham crackers
• 1 tablespoon melted butter additional to the butter in the dough

Method

 

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
2. In a separate bowl or your stand mixer whisk the melted, cooled butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and all 2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. Mix in the two whole eggs and vanilla, followed by the pumpkin puree and sourdough discard.
3. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the additional tablespoon of melted butter.
6. Scoop the chilled dough into approximately 20 equal portions and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving room for spreading.
7. Divide the graham cracker topping among the cookies, pressing lightly to help it stick.
8. Bake for 13 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are set.
9. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Notes

All ½ cup granulated sugar and all 2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice go into the dough in step 2.

Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.

No sourdough discard? Replace the ⅓ cup discard with 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon water. Add the flour with the dry ingredients and the water with the wet ingredients. This approximates discard made with equal weights flour and water; this substitution has not been tested in this recipe.

The topping uses an additional tablespoon of butter, separate from the cup in the dough.

Graham cracker crumbs may soften in storage as they absorb moisture from the cookies. Cool completely before covering.

Any excuse to eat cake

Pumpkin, sourdough discard, and a few graham crackers … a pretty good excuse to turn the oven on. If you have more discard to use up, try my fresh-milled sourdough discard bagels next.

Looking for quality organic groceries?

I get my pumpkin puree and plenty of other pantry staples from Thrive Market … an easy way to keep the baking cupboard stocked.