These pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are chewy and soft with crispy edges, filled with fall spices and pumpkin, and coated with cinnamon sugar. These are the perfect cookies for fall time!
We LOVE making pumpkin recipes in fall and thanksgiving time, like our pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin cheesecake.
Fresh pumpkin or canned pumpkin in pumpkin snickerdoodles?
We like making our cookies with fresh pumpkin puree, but this is a personal preference.
Before adding the pumpkin puree to the mixture, squeeze out excess liquids. We used paper towels, but you can use a strainer as well. Canned pumpkin puree and homemade pumpkin puree will give you pretty much the same result.
These cookies are:
- Extremely easy to make.
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Perfect to make when you need a fall-themed dessert.
- Has a light pumpkin flavor and is filled with fall spices.
- Made in under an hour from start to finish.
- The perfect dessert for Thanksgiving, fall, and winter.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Pumpkin puree- we like making our own pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkins. You can use either canned pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree, make sure that you strain the extra liquids from your fresh pumpkins.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Baking powder and baking soda – to allow the cookies to rise.
Cream of tartar- for the classic lightly tangy snickerdoodle flavor.
Cornstarch- cornstarch helps to create a crumbly and tender texture for these cookies.
Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.
Brown sugar- adds a caramelly flavor and chewy texture to the cookies.
Cinnamon- we love adding cinnamon to pumpkin-flavored desserts, it adds so much flavor that compliments the pumpkin flavor.
Ginger- use ground ginger for this recipe. You can add any of your favorite fall spices like cloves, allspice, and pumpkin spice.
Nutmeg- use either ground nutmeg or fresh nutmeg in this recipe.
Egg yolk- you will need 1 large egg yolk for this recipe. Make sure that you use room-temperature eggs in this recipe.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Instructions
Start by adding the dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix with a whisk until combined and set aside.
Into a separate big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until the mixture is creamy and light.
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and the pumpkin puree, and mix until combined.
Then add half of the flour mixture and mix until almost combined. Add the other half and mix until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 180c (350f). In a small mixing bowl, add the cinnamon and sugar and mix until combined.
Use a cookies scooper to scoop out the cookies, roll each cookie into a ball, and roll each cookie dough into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, making sure that the cookie dough is covered with cinnamon sugar.
Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 11-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and milk. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Use pure pumpkin puree in this recipe! It is very important that you use pure pumpkin puree in this recipe. Make sure that you are not using the presweetened or pre-spiced pumpkin puree. You will be able to find this information on the ingredient list of your pumpkin puree can.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the pumpkin snickerdoodles dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up. We suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Faq's
It’s okay to store these cookies at room temperature. Make sure that you store them in an airtight container.
These cookies will last for up to 5 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
We use all-purpose flour for these cookies. Self-rising flour and cake flour will work great as well.
Why are my cookies flat?
If your cookies come out flat, that may be from a few reasons:
- You didn't chill the dough for long enough. It is very important to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the pumpkin snickerdoodles dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- You didn't add enough flour. One of the most common mistakes when making cooking is not adding enough flour or adding too much flour. This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the pumpkin snickerdoodles dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Your baking soda may have expired. It is very important to make sure that you are using fresh ingredients when baking. So before starting to make any recipe, make sure that your ingredients are fresh and not expired.
Freezing
We love freezing cookie dough, and we do it all the time. Simply, follow the instructions as written and make the dough balls, then transfer the dough balls into a freezer-friendly airtight ziplock bag, and freeze the cookie dough ball for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake the cookies, bake them right away, no need to thaw. Add an extra minute or so for the baking time.
Substitutions
You can change this recipe in a few ways. Here are our most popular options:
- Dairy-free - If you are dairy-free, replace the butter with vegan butter or plant-based butter. Do not use margarine. It will change the flavor of these cookies and leave a weird taste.
Tools in this recipe:
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- Baking sheet and rack set (our fave)
- Cookies scoop set of 3 (the best cookie scoop we used)
More pumpkin recipes to try:
Pumpkin cake- This easy pumpkin cake is fluffy, extra moist, and tastes amazing. This pumpkin cake is made with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices, topped with creamy cream cheese frosting.
Classic pumpkin pie- This classic pumpkin pie is soft, creamy, not too sweet, and the ultimate dessert for thanksgiving! This pumpkin pie recipe is extremely easy to make, loaded with pumpkin and fall flavors, and served with a big dollop of whipped cream.
Pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting- These super moist pumpkin cupcakes are soft, delicious, stay moist for 3 days, and are topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
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📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Cream of tartar
- 3 teaspoon Cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 230 g Butter
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- â…” cup Pumpkin puree
Instructions
- Start by adding the dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix with a whisk until combined and set aside.
- Into a separate big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until the mixture is creamy and light.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and the pumpkin puree, and mix until combined.
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix until almost combined. Add the other half and mix until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f). In a small mixing bowl, add the cinnamon and sugar and mix until combined.
- Use a cookies scooper to scoop out the cookies, and roll each cookie into a ball, and roll each cookie dough into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, making sure that the cookie dough is covered with cinnamon sugar.
- Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 11-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
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