These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles 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 that was soft, chewy, and loaded with pumpkin flavor.
And let me tell you, these Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies 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!
This recipe starts out with some of your usual snickerdoodle cookie ingredients: flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. 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.
Along with the other dry ingredients, you’ll be using some pumpkin pie spice and 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.
For the wet ingredients, you’ll be using some unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Then you’ll mix in an egg yolk, vanilla, and some pumpkin puree. You may also notice that 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.
The result? Perfectly soft and chewy pumpkin cookies. Not a cakey pumpkin cookie anywhere in sight!
Once you make the cookie dough, it’s also 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, you’ll scoop it out and roll each ball of cookie dough in a cinnamon sugar mixture, then bake them.
Baking Tips For Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
- 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.
- 1 and ½ cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60 grams) pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 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 about 1-2 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 oven to 350°F. 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 in separate batches at 350°F for 10-13 minutes or until the cookies are set. Make sure to refrigerate the other batch of cookie dough while the first batch is baking. 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.
To freeze the cookie dough and 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 1-2 minutes. Baked cookies will also freeze well for up to 3 months, thaw to room temperature before serving.
More pumpkin recipes to try!
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