Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
These Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Cookies are the perfect sweet, buttery, pumpkiny, cinnamon-dusted crinkly-topped Fall cookie! They will be the hit at all of your Halloween and Thanksgiving get togethers and they taste even better the next day (AKA stress-free, make ahead cookies)! These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are a celebration of fall made with real pumpkin and loaded with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. They’re finished off with a coating of cinnamon and sugar that bakes into the signature lightly crispy and crackly exterior giving way to the chewy, soft interior without ever being caky. With one bite, you’ll be hooked! PS. If you're looking for a cakey cookie, try these instead!
Servings 36 cookies
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (measure flour correctly or they will not spread, see notes)*
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp EACH ground nutmeg, ground ginger, salt
- 1/4 tsp EACH ground cloves, ground allspice
CREAMING INGREDIENTS
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 cup Libby's pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling, see notes)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
FOR ROLLING
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the Dry Ingredients until thoroughly combined; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- On medium-low, mix in the egg yolk, followed by the pumpkin and vanilla extract.
- On low, slowly mix in the Dry Ingredients just until combined. Give the dough a final stir by hand to scrape up any dough at the bottom of the bowl.
- Cover the dough and chill for 3 hours or freeze for 45 minutes. You may chill the dough in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon nonstick baking mats. Whisk together the ¼ cup granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.
- Using a 2-tablespoon cooking scoop, scoop the dough and roll it into a ball, then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture to thoroughly coat. At this point, I roll the ball into a tall oval (see video), so it's more tall than it is wide to create thicker cookies. Transfer the balls to the baking mat, spacing cookies 2-inches apart (6 per baking sheet). Refrigerate any dough you are not using at the time, colder dough=thicker cookies!
- Bake at 350 degrees F just until set and the tops are starting to crack (they should look slighlty underbaked; they will cook more once removed from oven). Baking times will vary depending on how cold your dough is, plan on anywhere from 11-14 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
Video
Notes
*Measure the flour correctly. Too much flour/inaccurately measuring the flour will result in cookies that do not spread or cakey 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.