These pumpkin snickerdoodles are a fun, fall twist on classic snickerdoodle cookies. Flavored with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice, these pumpkin cookies are super soft and chewy and stay that way for days. They’re also easy to make since there’s no mixer required.
Snickerdoodle cookie recipes are great because they are basically a cinnamon spiced sugar cookie that’s not only soft, but incredibly chewy instead of crispy or cakey on the inside. These chewy pumpkin snickerdoodles recipe is a great spin to this classic and make great fall flavored cookies. Because pumpkin puree is so wet, the biggest trick in making these cookies is controlling the moisture levels in the recipe.
Classic snickerdoodles are great, and they’re so versatile and fun to experiment with. With just a few tweaks you can make brown butter snickerdoodles, chocolate snickerdoodles, black and white snickerdoodles, or these fall-inspired pumpkin versions.
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🥘 Ingredients
As with most cookie recipes, the ingredients for pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are mostly all pantry staples, with just a few extra ingredients you may need to pick up, like pumpkin puree.
Flour – All-purpose flour is fine here for the base of the cookie.
Baking Soda – Snickerdoodle cookies don’t have a big rise, so the only leavener needed is some baking soda. Using more than usually called for in cookies, this ingredient also helps crisp up the outside of the snickerdoodle.
Cream of Tartar – The ingredient that gives all snickerdoodle cookies their unique tang and chewy centers is cream of tartar. If you really don’t want to use it, read below in the variations section, but I do recommend it for these types of cookies.
Spices – Using both ground cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice ramps up the flavor in the cookie, enhancing both the pumpkin and the fall flavors. Add some ground cinnamon to the sugar for rolling the cookies as well. If you don’t have any, it’s easy to make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice.
Butter – Unsalted butter is melted here, so there’s no need to cream it with the sugar, eliminating the need for a mixer. You can optionally brown the butter as well for more flavor.
Sugar – Use both white and brown sugar here. The brown sugar adds flavor while also helping to keep the cookies chewy. Use more white sugar with ground cinnamon to roll the cookies in also.
Pumpkin – Canned pumpkin puree works best here. Because it’s so wet, you’ll use twice as much as you need and squeeze out as much moisture as you can until reduced by roughly half. Do not use pumpkin pie mix as it contains extra additives and sugars you don’t want.
Egg – In order to control the levels of moisture, use just the yolk here. This adds a bit of fat and protein as a binder without too much additional moisture.
Vanilla – A bit of vanilla extract helps to balance all the flavors.
🧂 What is Cream of Tartar?
Cream of tartar is that white powdery stuff in your parents and grandparents spice rack that looks like baking powder. It’s probably over a decade old, and if you ask them what it’s for, they probably have no idea why they even bought it.
At the scientific level, cream of tartar is a byproduct of winemaking. It’s a type of acid salt that forms when fermenting tartaric acid, which is a naturally occurring acid in a lot of fruits, like the grapes used in making wine. The resulting powder is called potassium bitartrate, or potassium hydrogen tartrate.
As for its usage in food, cream of tartar can be used to help stabilize egg whites and whipped cream, it can help keep sugar syrups from crystalizing, and it can be used to make a type of homemade baking powder. In baking, it can make cakes whiter and give them a more tender crumb. In snickerdoodle cookies, cream of tartar’s acidity gives the cookie a slightly tangy flavor and keeps the texture nice and chewy.
🔪 How to Make
This is an easy pumpkin cookie recipe because you only need two mixing bowls and no mixer.
Start by melting your butter and setting it aside to cool. While that’s cooling, place the pumpkin puree in a bowl and squeeze out as much moisture as you can with some paper towels and drain the bowl as you go. Reduce the puree by roughly half and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, ground cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk together and set it aside.
In another mixing bowl, add the cooled, melted butter with both sugars, the reduced pumpkin puree, the egg yolk, and the vanilla extract. Whisk together until fully combined and there’s no streak of egg or pumpkin remaining.
Add a little bit of the dry mixture into the wet mixture and whisk until just barely combined, then add more of the dry mixture. Repeat this process in 3-4 increments until there’s no dry pockets of flour remaining. Cover the mixing bowl and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30-45 minutes.
When the dough is almost done chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F / 177°C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a bowl, combine the reserved white sugar and ground cinnamon.
Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out some dough and roll it into a ball in your hands. Roll the dough through the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on a baking sheet about two inches apart, then gently press the cookies down slightly. Return the dough to the refrigerator between batches.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, then allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack. Err on the side of the cookies looking a bit underbaked. They will set as they cool, and slightly underbaking will help keep them soft and chewy once cooled.
📖 Variations
Near the beginning of this recipe, I mentioned several different snickerdoodle cookies. While those are variations on the classic cookie, they are also completely different cookies. This list will give you a handful of variations on just the pumpkin snickerdoodles themselves.
Browned Butter Snickerdoodles – As mentioned in the ingredients, you can optionally brown the butter for these cookies for a slightly nutty and toffee like flavor. Because the process will evaporate some of the butter, add an extra 2 tablespoons when browning. Once browned, transfer to a heatproof bowl and let it cool before using.
Gluten Free Snickerdoodles – You can make this gluten free by swapping the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free 1:1 flour, such as King Arthur’s gluten-free measure for measure flour. If you’re using a 1:1 gluten-free flour that does not include xanthan gum, you’ll want to add about a ¼ teaspoon per 1 cup of the flour.
Vegan Pumpkin Snickerdoodles – If you want to make these vegan, you’ll need to replace the butter and egg. There’s a couple of options for this, such as using a ½ cup of a vegan butter stick (not the spreadable kind) and a bit (about a tablespoon) of non-dairy milk. You could also replace the butter with vegetable oil, or coconut oil. Be sure to check that the sugar you use is vegan also, as some refined sugars may have been refined with bone char.
Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles – I only use ground cinnamon with the sugar for rolling, but if you want to ramp up that pumpkin flavor you replace that with more pumpkin pie spice. Personally, I found that to be a bit overwhelming to the overall flavor. If you want to try something of a happy medium, I suggest either adding a ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or ground nutmeg to the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles Without Cream of Tartar – Cream of tartar is one of the main differences between snickerdoodles and regular sugar cookies, but if you really want to replace it, you can. Use baking powder in a 1:1.5 substitution. So instead of 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar, use 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder. Reduce the baking soda to a ½ teaspoon as well. This will slightly change the flavor and texture however, and the cookies will probably be a bit cakier with a bit more of a rise also.
Another option that keeps the acid and some of the tang is to use lemon juice. Use about 1 teaspoon for each ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar called for in the recipe.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
While you can, I don’t recommend it. Cream of tartar is what gives snickerdoodles their unique tang and chewy centers. If you really want to remove it, you can try and substitute cream of tartar with baking powder at a 1:1.5 ratio, or with lemon juice at a 1:2 ratio.
If you don’t use cream of tartar, snickerdoodles may come out a bit drier and cakier, especially if you use baking powder instead. Creaming the butter and sugar instead of using melted butter can also make cakier cookies.
Yes, aim for slightly undercooked and trust that they will set as they cool. Cooking until they start browning can lead to a drier, crispy cookie without the signature chewiness of snickerdoodles.
🍽 Equipment
Other than the usual kitchen items like mixing bowls and baking sheets, there’s nothing special required for easy pumpkin snickerdoodles. Here’s just a handful of items I do recommend if you don’t already have them.
Whisk – While I like using a balloon whisk for most of the mixing, Danish dough whisks are perfect anytime you need to fold in softer ingredients. I also like using it for doughs when I add the dry mixture to the wet mixture because it works a little better than a spatula but cleans as easily as one.
Baking Mat – Parchment paper is fine, but if you do a lot of baking, I recommend using a silicone baking mat. They work incredibly well, they’re nonstick, and easy to clean.
Cookie Scoop – While you could eyeball the amount of dough for each cookie, or even weigh them, using a medium cookie scoop that’s already measured for 1 ½ teaspoons is much easier and helps making cookies of a consistent size.
❄️ Storage
Once cooled completely, pumpkin snickerdoodles can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. The baked cookies can also be frozen for 3-4 months.
If you want to make these ahead of time, you can leave the cookie dough covered in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until soft enough to scoop and roll before baking.
You can also freeze unbaked cookies. Roll into balls and set onto a baking sheet without rolling in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place into the freezer for at least an hour or two, then you can transfer the frozen dough balls into an airtight container for up to 3-4 months. When ready to bake, allow the dough to come to almost room temperature before baking.
📋 Recipe
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ⅔ cup pumpkin puree, squeeze out moisture until ⅓ cup
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
- Start by melting ½ cup unsalted butter and setting it aside to cool. While that’s cooling, place ⅔ cup pumpkin puree in a bowl and squeeze out as much moisture as you can with some paper towels and drain the bowl as you go. Reduce the puree by roughly half until you have ⅓ cup remaining and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Whisk together and set it aside.
- In another mixing bowl, add the cooled, melted butter with ½ cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup brown sugar, the reduced pumpkin puree, the egg yolk, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Whisk together until fully combined and there’s no streak of egg or pumpkin remaining.
- Add a little bit of the dry mixture into the wet mixture and whisk until just barely combined, then add more of the dry mixture. Repeat this process in 3-4 increments until there’s no dry pockets of flour remaining. Cover the mixing bowl and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30-45 minutes.
- When the dough is almost done chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F / 177°C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a bowl, combine the ¼ cup of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
- Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out some dough and roll it into a ball in your hands. Roll the dough through the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on a baking sheet about two inches apart, then gently press the cookies down slightly. Return the dough to the refrigerator between batches.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, then allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack. Err on the side of the cookies looking a bit underbaked. They will set as they cool, and slightly underbaking will help keep them soft and chewy once cooled.
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