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Home » Recipes » Sourdough Recipes » Soft Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Soft Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Published: Jun 28, 2022 · Modified: Mar 28, 2023 by Lynn Polito · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

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When Autumn comes around, there's nothing quite like enjoying soft Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies. Melt in your mouth and full of Fall spices, these cookies are a must make when the air starts to get crisp!

The sourdough pumpkin cookies are piled on a ceramic cutting board

When Fall comes around here in New England, I start craving all things pumpkin and pumpkin spice. These cookies are no exception! They are soft, melt in your mouth, and so full of flavor!

Baking with sourdough discard is one of my favorite things to do! You can make baked sourdough donuts, sourdough scones, sourdough discard banana bread, sourdough discard pancakes, sourdough discard waffles, sourdough chocolate chip muffins, and even sourdough crackers with herbs and olive oil crackers!

Jump to:
  • Why This Recipe Is Great!
  • What Is Sourdough Discard?
  • Ingredients in Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies
  • Do These Cookies Taste Sour?
  • Equipment To Gather
  • How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies
  • Tips and Tricks
  • Making Cookies Ahead of Time
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Other Recipes To Try!
  • 📖 Recipe

Why This Recipe Is Great!

  • There's no need to chill the dough! Mix up the dough and bake it right away.
  • They are full of pumpkin flavor! If you need a change from a chocolate filled recipe, these cookies are the perfect recipe! They are full of pumpkin and pumpkin spice!
  • It's a great use of your leftover sourdough discard! Don't throw out your extra sourdough discard. Bake with it! It adds a slight tang to the cookies that can't be beat!
A close up of the sourdough pumpkin cookies.

What Is Sourdough Discard?

Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you are not feeding. When you are "feeding" your starter to make bread with, you add equal parts flour, water, and starter to a mason jar and let it rise.

You can't feed your entire starter, as it doubles and sometimes triples in size, and that's a lot of starter to have on hand! If you are new to sourdough, be sure to check out how to keep a sourdough starter post all about how to keep your sourdough starter happy.

Ingredients in Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies

An overhead shot of the ingredients for sourdough pumpkin cookies.
  • Butter. At room temperature so it creams well.
  • Granulated Sugar. All cookies need a good amount of sugar!
  • Pumpkin. Canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
  • Pumpkin Spice. For that warmth in the cookies.
  • Baking soda and baking powder. Even though we are adding sourdough discard to the batter, the baking soda and baking powder do the hard work of making the cookies rise.
  • Sourdough discard. Unfed, or inactive.
  • All-Purpose Flour. To give the cookies structure.
  • Egg. Room temperature, if possible.

Pro Tip! Make sure you are using pureed pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling is full of sugar and spices and will overpower the cookies.

Do These Cookies Taste Sour?

No! The sourdough discard adds a bit of a tang to the cookies, but they do not taste sour. The sourdough discard adds a bit of rise to the cookies and is a great balance for the sweetness of the sugar and raisins.

If you want to up the sour flavor, chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for a few hours, or overnight. That will enhance the sour flavor of these cookies.

A hand is holding a biten sourdough pumpkin cookie.

Equipment To Gather

  • Stand Mixer
  • Measuring Cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Ice Cream Scoop
  • Silicone Mat or Parchment Paper
  • Baking Sheet
  • Wire Cooling Rack

How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin spice. Set that aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar. With a hand mixer, for one minute, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and sourdough starter. Mix again.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until fully combined. With an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are baked through.

While the cookies bake, mix together one cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice. Mix with a whisk until there are no more lumps.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven and allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack. After the cookies have cooled, drizzle the icing over the cookies. Enjoy immediately!

The dry ingredients are mixed togehter.
Mix the dry ingredients together.
The butter and sugar is being creamed.
Add the butter and sugar.
the pumpkin puree, eggs, and sourdough starter are added to the bowl.
Mix in the pumpkin, starter, and egg.
The dry ingredients are added to the bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl.

Tips and Tricks

  • An ice cream scoop ensures that all the cookies are the same size and cook evenly.
  • Parchment paper ensures that the cookies do not stick to the baking sheet.
  • If you don't have pumpkin spice, use ground cinnamon instead.

Making Cookies Ahead of Time

To make the dough ahead of time, put the dough together completely and then cover it with plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator overnight, if necessary. Bake the dough when you are ready. This will also increase the sour flavor just slightly in the cookies.

If you would like to freeze the cookies, do not ice them until you are ready to serve them. These cookies will last in a Ziploc bag up to 4 days. You can also keep them in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

The sourdough pumpkin cookies are piled on a cermaix cutting board

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use active starter instead of inactive starter?

Yes! You can use active starter in these cookies instead. It will add even more air and texture to the cookies.

What can I add to these cookies?

Mini chocolate chips will take these cookies to a whole new level! You can also add your favorite nuts, such as walnuts or pecans, just make sure to chop them into very small pieces.

Do I have to refrigerate the dough before I bake it?

No! This dough can do straight from the bowl to the oven without refrigerating it.

Other Recipes To Try!

Did you love this Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies Recipe? If you did, don't forget to tag me on social media on Instagram or Facebook and share this recipe on Pinterest! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and enjoy these delicious recipes!

More Sourdough Recipes

  • The sourdough discard bread is in a Dutch oven on a cutting board.
    Easy Sourdough Discard Bread (No-Knead!)
  • A sourdough lemon poppy seed muffin is on a cutting board, unwrapped.
    Tangy Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
  • A piece of sourdough irish soda bread is on a plate next to the cast iron skillet.
    One Bowl Sourdough Discard Irish Soda Bread
  • A hand is grabbing a sourdough breadstick.
    Simple Sourdough Breadsticks (No Yeast!)

📖 Recipe

The sourdough pumpkin cookies are piled on a ceramic cutting board

Soft Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cookies

When Autumn comes around, there's nothing quite like enjoying soft Sourdough Pumpkin Cookies. Melt in your mouth and full of Fall spices, these cookies are a must make when the air starts to get crisp!
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes
Servings: 36 Cookies
Calories: 78kcal
Author: Lynn Polito

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer
  • Measuring Cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Ice Cream Scoop
  • Silicone Mat
  • Baking Sheet
  • Wire Cooling Rack

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups Flour
  • ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Spice
  • ½ cup Butter Room Temperature
  • ¾ cup Sugar
  • ½ cup Sourdough Starter Inactive
  • 1 Egg Room Temperature
  • ½ cup Canned Pumpkin

For the Icing

  • 1 cup Powdered Sugar
  • 2 tablespoon Milk
  • 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Spice

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin spice. Set that aside.
  • In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar. With a hand mixer, for one minute, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg, pumpkin, and sourdough starter. Mix again.
  • Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until fully combined.
  • With an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are baked through.

For the Icing

  • While the cookies bake, mix together one cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice. Mix with a whisk until there are no more lumps.
  • Take the baking sheet out of the oven and allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack. After the cookies have cooled, drizzle the icing over the cookies. Enjoy immediately!

Notes

  • To thicken the icing, add more milk.  If the icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar.  The consistency should be drippy and easily drizzled.
  • An ice cream scoop ensures that all the cookies are the same size and cook evenly.
  • Parchment paper ensures that the cookies do not stick to the baking sheet.

Nutrition

Calories: 78kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 44mg | Potassium: 17mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 617IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @LynnsWayofLife or tag #lynnswayoflife!
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Meg

    October 09, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    5 stars
    What an absolutely genius way to use up all that discard when I’m concentrating more on fall flavors!! 10/10

    Reply
  2. Robin

    October 09, 2022 at 9:57 am

    5 stars
    These cookies were amazing!

    Reply
  3. Jennifer

    October 09, 2022 at 7:18 am

    5 stars
    These were amazing! Thanks for a great recipe.

    Reply
  4. laura

    July 07, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    5 stars
    Such a cool way to use sourdough! I never thought to make cookies from it!

    Reply
  5. Claire

    July 04, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    5 stars
    We love everything pumpkin spice, and these cookies were no exception. I had left some unglazed as I wanted to try freezing some. But they didn’t last long enough to try that! The kids turned them into ice cream sandwiches with some caramel ice cream! And then declared themselves geniuses because they were so good 😂

    Reply
    • lynnswayoflife

      July 05, 2022 at 7:30 am

      I love that idea! That sounds so good!

      Reply
  6. Glenda

    June 29, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    5 stars
    These are so homey and satisfying. A perfect bite of fall flavors!

    Reply
  7. Alisa Infanti

    June 29, 2022 at 9:19 am

    5 stars
    I have never had a sourdough cookie before... life changing!

    Reply

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Hey there! I'm Lynn and I'm based just outside of Boston. I'm a wife and mom of two with a passion for cooking and creating homemade food for my family.

Whether it's creating new recipes, or exploring tried and true classics, I am constantly trying to show that homemade doesn't have to be hard

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