Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Cookies

Soft, cake-like pumpkin cookies made with sourdough discard, rolled in pumpkin-spice sugar and stuffed with a cool cream cheese center that melts into every bite. Warmly spiced fall treat that’s a delicious way to use up discard.

Ingredients

Cream cheese filling: 226g cream cheese (8 oz)

• Cream cheese filling: 50g powdered sugar (1/2 cup)
• Cream cheese filling: 4g vanilla extract (1 tsp) — or swap maple extract for a pumpkin-maple variation
• Cream cheese filling: 2g ground cinnamon (1/2 tsp)
• Cookie dough: 113g unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup)
• Cookie dough: 60g brown sugar (1/4 cup)

Cookie dough: 100g granulated sugar (1/2 cup)

• Cookie dough: 100g sourdough discard (scant 1/2 cup)
• Cookie dough: 100g canned pumpkin (6 Tbsp)
• Cookie dough: 4g vanilla extract (1 tsp)
• Cookie dough: 260g all-purpose flour (2 cups)
• Cookie dough: 5g baking powder (1 tsp)
• Cookie dough: 5g baking soda (1 tsp)
• Cookie dough: 7g salt (1 tsp)
• Cookie dough: 4g ground cinnamon (1 tsp)

Cookie dough: 1g pumpkin pie spice (1/2 tsp)

• Pumpkin sugar coating: 50g granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
• Pumpkin sugar coating: 4g pumpkin pie spice (2 tsp)

Directions

Key ingredients

Baking Soda & Baking Powder · Cinnamon · Vanilla Extract

1. Prepare the filling: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth. Pipe 18 mounds onto parchment and freeze at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (convection).

1. Mix the wet ingredients: Beat the softened butter until fluffy. Add the brown and granulated sugars and cream together. Mix in the sourdough discard, pumpkin, and vanilla until combined.
2. Combine the dough: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Add to the wet mixture and beat until incorporated. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
3. Portion the dough: Use a cookie scoop to make 18 portions, about 40g each.
4. Stuff the cookies: Press a frozen filling mound into the center of each dough portion and seal the dough around it, working quickly.
5. Coat: Roll each ball in the pumpkin-sugar mixture.
6. Arrange 9 cookies per parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Bake at 400°F convection for 10 minutes. Cool on the sheet until set, then transfer to a wire rack.

Notes

Use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling — pie filling is pre-sweetened/spiced and adds moisture that throws off the dough; homemade puree runs wetter and may need extra flour. Use young discard or fresh, active starter for best results; older discard can require a bit more flour. The dough should be workable and soft but not overly sticky. These bake up soft and cake-like. Frosting/flavor option: swap maple extract for the vanilla in the cream cheese filling to make a pumpkin-maple version. Storage: because of the cream cheese filling, store in the freezer rather than the fridge (refrigeration tends to dry the cookies out); shaped dough balls can also be frozen before baking and thawed overnight in the fridge. Adapted from Amy Bakes Bread.