These Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Cookies are super soft and chewy (not cakey!), made with real pumpkin, and coated in cinnamon and sugar. The perfect cookie recipe for fall!
I have to admit, I’ve never really loved pumpkin cookies very much. I love pumpkin and cookies, but the problem with them is that they tend to be cakey and not really taste like cookies. I’d much rather just eat a piece of pumpkin cake.
I’ve had these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles on my mind for a while now, so a few weekends ago I set out to finally figure out how to make pumpkin cookies that weren’t cakey. I wanted to create a pumpkin cookie recipe that was soft, chewy, and loaded with pumpkin flavor.
And let me tell you, these Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles deliver all of that. Not only are they super soft and chewy, but these cookies have actual pumpkin in them too. If you love pumpkin and snickerdoodles, then this is one recipe you have to try this fall!
What You’ll Need For This Recipe
This recipe starts out with some of your usual snickerdoodle cookie ingredients, but it features some special ingredients to transform these into soft pumpkin cookies. Here’s what you’ll need to make these easy pumpkin cookies:
- All-purpose flour: Spoon and level the flour when measuring it to avoid making cakey cookies.
- Pumpkin pie spice & ground cinnamon: If you don’t have any pumpkin pie spice on hand, here is the recipe I like to use to make my own.
- Baking soda: Helps the cookies rise.
- Cream of tartar: The cream of tartar is what gives snickerdoodles a little bit of a tangy taste and also reacts with the baking soda to help the cookies rise.
- Salt: You need a little salt in the cookie dough to balance out the sweetness.
- Unsalted butter: I recommend using unsalted butter since the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between different brands.
- Sugar: I used a mixture of brown sugar and granulated sugar, both to add sweetness and a little moisture to these pumpkin spice snickerdoodles.
- Egg yolk: This recipe doesn’t call for a whole egg, just the egg yolk. I promise that’s not a mistake. One of the main reasons pumpkin cookies tend to turn out cakey is because pumpkin adds moisture to the batter. In order to avoid this problem, I removed some moisture from the batter by just using an egg yolk instead of the whole egg.
- Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Pumpkin puree: Be careful to buy pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
How to Make Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Cookies
To make the cookies, start by whisk together the flour, spices, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set it aside while you prepare the wet ingredients.
In a separate bowl, cream together the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Then, mix in the egg yolk, vanilla, and pumpkin puree. Next, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix them together until just combined.
Once you make the cookie dough, it’s important to let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Chilling the cookie dough helps to prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. Once the cookie dough is chilled, scoop it out and roll each ball of cookie dough in a cinnamon sugar mixture, then bake them.
The result? Perfectly soft and chewy pumpkin cookies. Not a cakey pumpkin cookie anywhere in sight!
FAQ’s
How to Store These Cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 1 week.
Can I Freeze These Cookies?
Cookie dough balls may be frozen for up to 3 months. Roll in the cinnamon sugar coating just before baking and bake from frozen for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Baked cookies will also freeze well for up to 3 months, thaw to room temperature before serving.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, don’t scoop it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Make sure to use pumpkin puree in these cookies and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin puree will just have pumpkin listed as the only ingredient on the back of the can.
- Be sure to chill your cookie dough for at least 30 minutes so your cookies don’t spread too much in the oven.
More Pumpkin Desserts to Try!
- Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
- Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Roll
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) pumpkin puree
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla extract, then mix in the pumpkin puree, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave a little room between each one.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon for the coating. Roll each ball of cookie dough in the cinnamon sugar coating and place back on the baking sheets.
- Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until the cookies are set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Trying to use almond flour and coconut sugar for the brown sugar. Any ideas on how much almond flour to add?? I know there’s not a direct ratio between almond flour and regular flour , so any tips would appreciated!
I honestly haven’t tried using almond flour, so I’m not quite sure. It’s really hard to give suggestions without actually testing it myself.
I recommend the guidelines from King Arthur Flour: substitute almond flour for 1/4 or 25 percent of the total flour.
Made these in February this year and they are awesome! I’m getting ready to make more and was wondering if i can refrigerate the dough overnight.
Thanks
Kay
Yes, that’s fine! If the dough is too cold to scoop, you can let it sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
I tried these and they were great! All of my neighbors love them. They taste like a cookie but have a great pumpkin pie after flavor. I did change the spices a little bit with ginger and clove instead of pumpkin pie spice just like I do when I make pumpkin pie. I also added a little more pumpkin purée. They turned out really soft and tasted even better the second day. Great recipe!!
My cookies would not spread in the oven. They came out in the little balls I put them in as. I made three batches and have not figured out what I’m doing wrong. HELP
Sorry you’re having trouble with the cookies, Anna. Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? Too much flour could be the reason they aren’t spreading in the oven. If so, are you making sure to use actual butter (not margarine) and only an egg yolk and not a whole egg?
Same thing happened to me :(. It also tasted like lemon or something, maybe from the cream of tartar. I’m not sure what I did wrong. 🙁
Hi, Allison! Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? And did you use baking soda, not baking powder?
Wish I could give in 10 stars. Best snickerdoodle recipe ever and the pumpkin is right on. I snapped a picture….they are PERFECT. Used my cookie scoop and got exactly 2 dozen. Look like a million…taste like a million….will never want to make any other recipe for snickerdoodles. I did use my home made pumpkin and wondered if it would be too runny….but perfect. THANK YOU FOR GIVING GRAMS…..I make my own bread and using grams my bread is exactly the same Every time.
Thank you for this recipe! I made them and the texture was great, not cakey at all. Do you have any recommendations on enhancing or for getting more of a pumpkin flavor? Thank you!
You could add some more pumpkin pie spice. I would avoid adding more pumpkin puree though, because it will affect the texture of the cookies.
Delicious! But mine were cakey and didn’t spread really. I did mesure the flour correctly….
So glad you enjoyed them! Did you happen to make any adjustments to the recipe? And make sure to use butter and not margarine?
These are so delicious! Thank you!
Very good. Everyone enjoyed them. I didn’t have pumpkin so I used sweet potato and no one was the wiser! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Can you explain why it is important for the egg yolk to be warm? I have seen it in other recipes and I am just curious!
A good rule of thumb is that if your butter is at room temperature all other ingredients should be too. A room temperature egg will will disperse more evenly as you’re mixing it in. If you add a cold egg to room temperature butter it can harden the butter and cause the mixture to curdle.
These cookies are wonderful!! I made the recipe exactly as written and I wouldn’t change a thing! They are so soft, perfect amount of spices. I will definitely double the recipe next time so I gave plenty to share!! Thanks for the great recipe!
I am super picky about my snickerdoodle cookies but this recipe hit the mark! Nice soft cookies but not cakey at all. The flavor is fantastic. I followed the recipe exactly and used Irish Butter rather than my regular store butter. I’ll be sure to double the recipe the next time because these are going to go fast! Thanks so much for sharing this with us all!
THANK YOU! These were delicious! Also so easy to make! I love pumpkin so when I saw these I was SO excited to bake them and they did NOT DISAPPOINT!!! Since I’m Gluten Free, I used Cup4cup flour instead. I also used nutmeg instead of the cinnamon in the batter – just because I’m crazy for nutmeg. The only other difference, I again love pumpkin so I substituted pumpkin spice in with the sugar to roll the cookies in before baking. I think just for kicks, I did one little shake of cinnamon out of my spice jar too. The only issue I had was baking time. But I know everyone’s oven is different and I also used a different flour which could’ve made the difference too. I added on about 5 mins so 18 mins total. But they were so ridiculously good! Great pumpkin flavor too! Thank you so much! They were soft and chewy, not cakey. A true snickerdoodle!
Is it okay to double this recipe? Or would you suggest making two separate batches to avoid messing up the measurements? Also, if I want more pumpkin flavor how much more pumpkin spice is safe to add?
I haven’t tried doubling it, but I think it would be fine. If you double the recipe, you could try adding up to 1/2 teaspoon more pumpkin pie spice.
I LOVED these!! I want to make them again but would like to add a bit more pumpkin purée to elevate the pumpkin flavor. Do you suggest reducing anything else or changing anything to help maintain the texture?
Hi, Alexandra! If you add more pumpkin puree, it will add more moisture to the cookie dough. I’m not sure how you would need to adjust the recipe and it will depend on how much more puree that you add too. You could try adding some more spices to enhance the flavor of the pumpkin though.
I’ve made these several times over the course of two years and they always turn out SO well! They’ve become a favorite and are something DIFFERENT to take to get togethers! I have found that different brands of pumpkin turn out differently for me, and I prefer to stick to an organic brand like farmers market over the big brand. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!
Thank you, my cookies turned out perfect. I doubled the recipe I didn’t have any problems.
Can i sub the cream of tartar with baking powder?
You can actually just omit it, the brown sugar is enough to react with the baking soda in this recipe.
How many does it make?
18 cookies.
Can I use dark brown sugar here? Thanks!
Yes, that’s fine!
Made these last month for a friend and they were a hit. Making them again today for a dessert exchange. Thanks for a great recipe!
Tender and tasty but not the promised cheweyness. Too cakey. So disappointing. I followed the instructions exactly. Weighed the flour. Warmed the egg, etc. These cookies don’t resemble snickerdoodles at all.
Sorry the cookies didn’t turn out well for you, Julia. Did you happen to use the whole egg instead of just the egg yolk? If so, that could be why they turned out cakey.
Only used the yolk. Going to try again today.
Sometimes mixing the butter and sugars together too much can incorporate more air and cause cookies to be more cakey. If you make them again, you can try to only mix them together until just combined.
These cookies are seriously SO GOOD! They are chewy yet so soft. I will be adding this to my rotation of go to cookie recipes. If you’re on the fence of whether or not to make this, just do it!
I just tried your pumpkin snickerdoodles recipe today and they are delicious! I was just wondering if I could reduce the cream of tarter to 1/2 t. with out changing the texture of the cookie? My family loved the cookies , but thought they were maybe a bit too “tangy”. Thanks so much!
Yes, that would be fine!
Followed the recipe to the T and they baked perfectly! I love when I can try a recipe and it actually WORKS! Too many fake recipes out there. I don’t like wasting ingredients. Thank You!!!
Am I the only one that had a issue with how sticky the batter is, can’t even form a ball without it sticking all over the place.. I followed the directions to a T
Sorry you’re having trouble with the cookie dough, Julie. You should be able to scoop it pretty easily with a cookie scoop. If you’re not able to, you can try refrigerating the dough longer and that should help.
I substituted Lakanto monkfruit sweetener for the white sugar, 1T molasses for the brown sugar and butternut squash purée instead of pumpkin. They did not spread so they turned out cutest when mashed down with a fork before baking, but my kids love them and I snuck some squash into them!