If you wanted to put all of fall into a cookie, this is it! Pumpkin, pecans, spiced cream cheese, brown sugar and streusel topping! I’ve been feeling extra festive for fall this year and these cookies were my expression of my excitement for the season. A decadent brown sugar oatmeal cookie base dressed up with chopped pecans and pumpkin all topped with pecan streusel and a cinnamon cream cheese layer hidden inside. I’m drooling just thinking about these. They’re a hearty cookie for sure and border the size of a scone, but I dare you to want to share one of these!
Creamcheese Stuffed Pumpkin Pecan Cookies with Pecan Streusel
Ingredients
- Ingredients for cookies:
- 1 Cup or 1 Stick butter
- 1 Cup not 1 can pumpkin
- 1 ½ Cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Teaspoons pumpkin spice
- ½ Teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Teaspoon salt
- ½ Teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ Cups quick oats not instant or old fashioned
- 1 Cup finely chopped pecans
- Ingredients for Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 oz Cream cheese
- ¼ Cup brown sugar
- ¼ Teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ Teaspoon cinnamon
- Ingredients for Streusel Topping
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 4 Tablespoons flour
- 4 Tablespoons brown sugar
- ¾ Cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Make cream cheese filling; combine softened cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and place in freezer to chill.
- Next, in a food processor pulse the 1 cup of pecans until finely ground, do not over grind. If you don’t have a food processor you can finely chop.
- Begin cookies; combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat at medium speed until well mixed. Beat in eggs, pumpkin and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, spices, salt and baking soda
- Mix the flour mixture into the creamed butter, pumpkin and sugar until just blended. Then Stir in the oats and pecans
- Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper or silpat
- Make the streusel; in a bowl melt the butter and mis in the sugar and pecans
- Next, prepare the cookies to bake; remove the dough from the fridge and using a cookie scoop portion out the dough
- Line up half of the scoops on your prepared baking sheet and flatten them out
- Remove the cream cheese filling from the freezer and place roughly 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each of the cookies
- Place the other half of the scoops on top of the cream cheese and seal the edges
- Using your hand as a guide top each cookie with some of the pecan streusel and lightly press to ensure it sticks to the top of the cookie
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until lightly browned and cracked looking on top. Test with your finger or a toothpick, these cookies should have a somewhat soft texture.
- Cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet as initially they are a bit fragile. Remove to a cooling rack
