As we near the end of a frigid and dry season defined by browns and reds, it’s time to finally bring out those familiar sweet-spices out of the cupboard and into the kitchen. Pumpkin roll cookies are the perfect way to cleanse your palette with a better, more familiar taste of fall. Besides, I can confidently say they’re better than pumpkin pie. You’ll impress the whole family with these soft and chewy, perfectly spiced cookies topped with velvety cream cheese frosting.

PUMPKIN ROLL COOKIES

Makes 8 large cookies

INGREDIENTS (IN ORDER)

½ cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup melted coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

½ cup coconut sugar

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup salted butter, soft

6-ounce Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese, cold

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

Pinch of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. For the cookies: In a small bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract and egg. You can substitute coconut oil with butter in equal parts, but I prefer the taste of coconut in this recipe.

3. In a separate bowl, add your dry ingredients: coconut sugar, all-purpose flour, baking soda, sea salt, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. You could substitute the coconut sugar with white sugar in equal parts. Stir together and then add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. It should stick together like dough but remain slightly wet. This is to ensure that when cooked, the cookies have a bread-like, airy consistency to them.

4. Knead, cut and form the dough into eight large balls, wetting a finger to flatten the top. Put the cookies on parchment paper and let them bake for 8 to 12 minutes.

5. For the cream cheese frosting: Soften a ½ cup of salted butter until no longer firm. If you don’t have salted butter, just add a ¼ teaspoon of salt to your regular butter. Add your butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract and sifted powdered sugar into a large bowl. Make sure to sift your sugar to avoid clumps! Last, use a hand mixer to mix until light and airy.

6. Take out your cookies and place them on a cooling rack for approximately five minutes. Then add your frosting to your cooled cookies, sprinkle cinnamon on top and enjoy them warm!