• Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until smooth. Add the egg yolk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract and mix again to combine.
  1/2 cup Butter, 1/2 cup Granulated sugar, 1/3 cup Brown sugar, 1 Egg yolk, 1/4 cup Pumpkin puree, 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• Add the flour, salt, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon, and mix just until the flour disappears. Don't overmix.
  1 & 2/3 cup AP flour, 1/4 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Baking powder, 1 & 1/2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• Using a large cookie scoop, scoop 8 equal dough balls onto the baking sheet and gently flatten each one to about 1 inch thick. Bake for 13 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 20 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.

Make the caramel cream cheese frosting

• Beat the butter and cream cheese with the whisk attachment for 3 minutes, until smooth.
  5 oz Cream cheese, 4 tbsp Butter
• Add the vanilla, caramel, powdered sugar, and caramel extract (if using). Whip for another 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
  3 tbsp Caramel, 1 tsp Vanilla extract, 3/4 cup Powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp Caramel extract
• Pipe the frosting onto each cooled cookie with a piping bag (or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off), dust with pumpkin pie spice, and enjoy!
  Pumpkin pie spice