Take a bite out of these pumpkin spice snickerdoodles for a little pillowy bite of fall-flavored heaven. Made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice, these cookies are a wonderful autumn-themed treat.
Recipe: $2.43 | Per Serving: $0.24 | Yields: 20 cookies
You're going to love these Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles for all the right reasons. We're big fans of chewy thin, snickerdoodle cookies, but something about these small puffy cookies feels right.
Maybe it's the warm spices, maybe it's the melt-in-your-mouth goodness, or maybe it's just because we love pumpkin. If you love pumpkin too, then make sure to check out our No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake and Pumpkin Banana Bread.
If you're in it for the snickerdoodle flavor then make sure to check out our Snickerdoodle Popcorn and Snickerdoodle Zucchini Bread.
Jump to:
🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- Simple ingredients. Using very simple pantry staple ingredients and canned pumpkin puree, we create a delicious batch of cookies for fairly cheap. Any grocery shopping needed will be minimal.
- Basic steps. These cookies are very simple to make, and very beginner friendly as well. If you know how to use an electric mixer and cookie scooper, you've already mastered the skills needed to whip up this cookie recipe.
- You can make the dough in advance! Chill the dough for an hour or up to 2 days in advance if you want fresh cookies from the oven for a special event or gathering.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Butter- For added moisture and richness, use a stick of butter. You can use unsalted or salted butter, depending on what you have on hand.
Light brown sugar- Adds a depth of flavor and chewy edges.
Cream of tartar- Giving the cookies the traditional "snickerdoodle" flavor.
Pumpkin puree- For real pumpkin taste, you can use fresh pumpkin puree or canned. Do not use pumpkin pie filling, it is not the same.
Spiced sugar coating- You will need a combination of granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and ground cinnamon for a delicious coating around each cookie.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Pumpkin pie spice. You can DIY your own pumpkin pie spice by mixing together 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (or 5 teaspoons) along with 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves or allspice. Mix together and then use as much as directed. Save the rest for future recipes for up to 3 months.
🥣 Recipe Add-Ins
Want to add a little something "extra" to the cookies? Feel free to add in up to one cup of white chocolate chips or caramel bits, cinnamon chip morsels, or even butterscotch chips for a more indulgent feel.
Our Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies can confirm that white chocolate and pumpkin are a perfect pairing.
🔪 Instructions for Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
Step 1: Add your butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl (Image 1).
Step 2: Cream together until light and fluffy (Image 2).
Step 3: Add in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla (Image 3).
Step 4: Mix until combined (Image 4).
Step 5: Add in the cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and spices (Image 5).
Step 6: Mix until distributed (Image 6).
Step 7: Add in the flour (Image 7).
Step 8: Mix until the flour has just been incorporated (Image 8). Do not overmix. The dough will be soft. Make sure to have scraped down the sides of the bowl as well.
Step 9: Cover the dough bowl with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for at least one hour or up to 2 days.
Step 10: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside temporarily. (Do NOT grease the cookie sheets, or else the cookies will spread and not turn out correctly).
Step 11: Mix the sugar and spices needed for the sugar coating in a small bowl.
Step 12: Scoop the cookie dough into rounded tablespoonfuls and place into the sugar coating (Image 9).
Step 13: Roll into balls and when fully coated in sugar, place the balls of dough 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet (Image 10).
Step 14: Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the tops are just set and no longer glossy (Image 11).
Step 15: Allow cooling for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (Image 12).
Step 16: Repeat with the remaining dough until all of the cookies have been baked. Enjoy.
🍴 Recipe Tips
- Chill Dough. After filling a baking sheet with cookies in the oven, return the dough bowl to the fridge until ready to bake the next batch.
- Prep Ahead. Roll dough balls in sugar and place on a baking sheet or plate while waiting for the first batch to bake. Refrigerate the plate/tray. When the baking sheet is emptied of cooled cookies, grab the chilled dough balls for baking.
- Spread Tip. For cookies that spread more during baking, gently flatten them with the bottom of a glass before placing them in the oven.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Room temp. These Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles taste best when they are fresh and warm from the oven, but you can keep them stored in an airtight container for up to 3 or 4 days at room temperature.
Freezer. You can freeze the cookie dough balls after shaping and before baking, or you can freeze baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Just add an extra minute or so to the baking time to bake frozen cookie dough.
📖 Scaling
You can double this recipe to make a larger batch if desired. To do this, simply double the ingredients as listed. You will need to chill the larger batch of dough for about 1.5 hours.
💭 Recipe FAQs
This is a leavening agent used in snickerdoodles because it helps to give them that unique tangy sour taste that the cookies are known for. It's slightly more acidic than baking powder, and it works wonderfully in many recipes.
Nope. If you want your cookies to be more cake-like and dome shaped you can leave your cookies as balls on the baking sheet. They will not flatten and spread very much. If you want thinner cookies, flatten them with your hand a little before baking.
While I have not personally tested it with this recipe, vinegar or lemon juice is often swapped for the cream of tartar in other recipes and should be a fine replacement here as well. Replace 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar with every ½ teaspoon of tartar. So for this recipe, you will need 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar instead of cream of tartar.
❤️ More Delicious Pumpkin Recipes
If you tried this Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
For the cookies
- ½ cup butter, softened ($0.99)
- ½ cup granulated sugar ($0.18)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar ($0.11)
- 1 large eggs ($0.15)
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree ($0.22)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ($0.01)
- 1 teaspoons cream of tartar ($0.24)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda ($0.01)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt (a pinch) ($0.01)
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice ($0.04)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon ($0.02)
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour ($0.20)
For the spiced sugar coating
- ¼ cup granulated sugar ($0.09)
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice ($0.08)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ($0.08)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Add in the cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix until distributed.
- Now mix in the flour until the flour has just been incorporated. Do not overmix. The dough will be soft. Make sure to have scraped down the sides of the bowl as well.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and keep it stored in the fridge for at least one hour, or up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside temporarily. (Do NOT grease the cookie sheets or else the cookies will spread and not turn out properly).
- In a small bowl mix together the sugar and spices needed for the sugar coating.
- Scoop the cookie dough into rounded tablespoonfuls and place into the sugar coating. Roll into balls and when fully coated in sugar, place the balls of dough 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the tops are just set and no longer glossy.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with the remaining dough until all of the cookies have been baked. Enjoy.
Notes
- After you have a filled baking sheet of cookies in the oven, return the bowl of dough to the fridge to keep it chilled until ready to bake the next batch.
- I like to roll the dough balls into the sugar and place them onto a baking sheet or plate while I wait for the first batch of cookies, and then place that plate/tray in the fridge. When the baking sheet is emptied of its cooled cookies, I can just grab and place the ready to bake balls of dough.
- If you would like your cookies to spread more as they bake, before placing them into the oven, flatten them slightly with the bottom of a glass.
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