Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
Made with Let's Do Organic Cornstarch by @the_bananadiaries
These soft vegan pumpkin cheesecake cookies are stuffed with a dairy free cream cheese filling and rolled in a pumpkin spice sugar coating!
If you love cookies and you love cheesecake, then let me introduce you to your new favorite cookie of the fall season: vegan pumpkin cheesecake cookies!
These soft pumpkin cookies are stuffed with a creamy and rich brown sugar cheesecake filling, making it the perfect fall treat.
The vegan cream cheese filling is so simple to make: just a bit of vegan cream cheese, brown sugar, and cornstarch! When you take a bite paired with the warming spices of the pumpkin cookies, the flavors are just beautiful.
These pumpkin cheesecake cookies are entirely dairy free and eggless. Yet you’d never know!
Let's Do Organic Cornstarch is an essential ingredient in this recipe, it binds the cream cheese into a creamy yet sturdy cheesecake texture that won’t let the cheesecake seep out of the cookies when heated!
These vegan cookies don't involve an egg replacer because the pumpkin puree acts as our vegan egg substitute, pretty cool, huh?
To form the pumpkin cheesecake cookies, flatten a cookie dough ball between your palms, and place a frozen cream cheese ball in the middle. Form the edges around the cream cheese ball and round the cookie dough to seal off the cream cheese. Finally, dip the pumpkin cookie in the pumpkin spice sugar mixture and bake!
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling:- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Let's Do Organic Cornstarchc
- 1 3/4 cup (220 g) all-purpose flour or gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- ½ cup (113 g) vegan unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup (80 g) pumpkin purée, patted dry
- 2 tbsp (30 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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- 5 tbsp sugar
- 5 tbsp pumpkin spice
Instructions
- Prep: We’ll first make the cream cheese filling, followed by the pumpkin cookie dough. Pat the pumpkin puree dry if you haven’t done so already. Just a little bit to soak up excess moisture and liquid. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to start.
- Make the cream cheese filling: In a small bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the room temperature cream cheese, brown sugar, and cornstarch.
- Chill the cream cheese in balls: Use a teaspoon to measure 11-13 scoops of cream cheese and dollop them onto the parchment paper, space apart. Once you’ve scooped all of the cream cheese into little dollops onto the baking sheet, place the baking sheet into the freezer to chill while you make the cookie dough.
- Make the pumpkin cookie dough: In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the vegan butter, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract. Add in the pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and sea salt, and cream again until evenly distributed. Then add in the flour, and use a silicone spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until mixed.
- Chill the cookie dough: While the cookie dough is chilling in the fridge for 10-20 minutes, preheat the oven to 350F, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. You can use the parchment paper lined baking sheet from the cream cheese dollops once you begin scooping the dough. In a small bowl, you can whisk together the sugar and pumpkin spice for the sugar coating.
- Shape the pumpkin cheesecake cookies: Remove the cream cheese from the freezer. Use a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop, and scoop one cookie dough ball. Scoop the dough into your palm and press it flat between your palms. Then take a piece of the cream cheese and place it into the middle of the flattened cookie dough. Then form the dough around the cream cheese and roll gently into a smooth ball. Place the cookie into the sugar coating and roll it around to evenly coat. Then place the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this for the remaining pumpkin cheesecake cookies, creating about 11-3 cookies.
- Bake the cookies: Place the baking sheets into the oven, and bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove the cookies from the oven, and gently push any edges to be rounded. Then let the cookies cool for 10-15 minutes on the baking sheet.
- Enjoy! Enjoy your vegan pumpkin cheesecake cookies after cooling or store in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 5 days.
