You need a batch of Pumpkin Pie Thumbprint Cookies in your life. These lightly sweet shortbread cookies filled with spiced pumpkin were inspired by Pop Tarts. Pull up a chair, and I’ll tell you why.
I know I’ve told you a whole bunch of times that my kids (and now my cat!) wake up early. Really early. Lately it has been taking its toll on me. I can get by on 5 or 6 hours of sleep for a day or two, but when it’s interrupted sleep and goes on for several days, I turn into a mess. I feel grumpy, teary, and sleepy all at the same time and am desperate for a nap all day. The trouble is, I have too much to do to nap, so I keep pushing on through the sleep deprivation as best I can.
By Friday of last week, I knew I needed to catch up on sleep a bit. Sleeping in on Saturday sounded dreamy, and by sleeping in, I mean staying in bed past 7 am. My boys are 7 and 3, so I decided they could fend for themselves one morning. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to be self sufficient for a couple hours, so I bought a rare treat: Pop Tarts. These weren’t just any old Pop Tarts mind you but Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts!
On Friday night, I coached my oldest about getting his little brother to the bathroom, feeding the cat, distributing Pop Tarts, and watching cartoons the next morning. I asked them to let me sleep until the decadent hour of 7:30am. It worked! Mostly. There were some unfortunate cat interruptions, but the kids didn’t come get me until 7:05, surely a record at our house. Once I got up, I looked at that box of pumpkin Pop Tarts enviously. I wanted one of those “breakfast pastries” (that aren’t at all like cookies) so badly I could taste it, except I couldn’t actually taste it, which was the sad part. Since they are made with wheat and wheat and I broke up a few months ago, all I could do was stare at that colorful box while eating some gluten-free cereal.
Then I got the idea that I could make my own pumpkin Pop Tarts! Then I felt a little baffled about how to easily make them wheat free, and my friend Paula from Call Me PMc already did Homemade Pumpkin Pop Tarts last fall. After some day dreaming about pumpkin, I came up with this thumbprint cookie idea. I made mine with spelt flour, which is my baking BFF, but you could use regular flour if you can eat wheat like a normal person. I hope you enjoy these pumpkin cookies as much as we did. I dare say they are even better than Pop Tarts!

Prep Time | 15 minutes |
Cook Time | 15 minutes |
Servings |
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- 1 c. canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- dash of ground cloves
Ingredients
Pumpkin Filling
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- With an electric mixer or vigorously by hand, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and 1/3 c. sugar until fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla until smooth. Stir in flour and baking powder until dough forms.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all pumpkin filling ingredients until well combined.
- Using a medium disher or heaping tablespoon, place balls of dough about 2" apart on prepared baking sheets. Press the back of a round teaspoon measuring spoon into each ball to flatten the cookie a bit and leave an indentation. (You can spray the measuring spoon with cooking spray a couple times during this process if the spoon sticks to the dough.)
- Fill the indentations with pumpkin filling. (You will probably have some filling leftover, which you could stir into pancake or waffle batter within a day or so if you like.)
- Bake cookies in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, until bottoms are a little brown and filling has set. The pumpkin will remain soft, but a toothpick inserted in the filling will come out mostly clean.
- Cool on a wire rack before enjoying.
I prep the second sheet of cookies while the first one bakes, but if you choose to bake both baking sheets at once, rotate them halfway through to ensure even baking.
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Here’s even more pumpkin goodness for you:
Terrific recipes, easy & delicious! THANKS
Thanks so much, Pauline!
I really dont celebrate mine.
That’s too bad, Michael. I hope you at least enjoy a good dinner, but I like to do that every day of the year :)
Born Day after Christmas, so I am usually ready for a break from all the Celebrating… Im OK with it LOL…
I hope you at least eat some cake :) Thanks, Michael!
My birthday, my father’s birthday, and my mother in laws birthday are all within 5 days of each other…and always land right at father’s day weekend. We started hosted a big Father’s Day Birthday Bash for both sides of my family at our house every year. It’s a lot of work since it is always at least 25 people (and that’s just when it’s all direct family) but this way everyone gets celebrated with no hurt feelings.
That’s fun to have one big bash, and in the end it’s probably less work than having get togethers for three birthdays and Father’s Day!
For my birthday I usually go out to dinner once with just my husband and I usually go out once with my Mom and other family members. My birthday is ten days after Christmas, so I don’t really do a lot of celebrating. We also try to go away for a long weekend around my birthday, somewhere within driving distance (like St Augustine, FL or Sarasota, FL).
It’s tough having a birthday so close to Christmas, but two birthday dinners and a weekend away all sound so nice! Glad you get a little spoiled too :)
Going out with my mom to our special birthday restaurant
Sounds nice, Ronald!
Oh! I love thumbprint cookies and REALLY love the pumpkin pie idea! Sounds delish!
Thanks so much, Patricia! Glad to connect with you today :)
Birthdays tend to be hit or miss…depending on finances. Lots of warm fuzzies, but not much else to count on.
At least you can count on that! Feeling loved is a gift for sure.
most of the time i have few bottles with friends :)
Sounds like a good party, Raymond :)