These pumpkin spice snickerdoodles have all the delicious characteristics of snickerdoodles with a pumpkin flare. Soft and chewy with the warm flavors of fall; they really are the best.
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Hey Hey Hey there.
I am LOVING fall.
My daughter and I made a trip to the pumpkin patch last week and it was so much fun riding a hay ride, getting lost in a corn maze, and of course picking out a pumpkin. What a great time of year.
And it’s pumpkin season in the kitchen too. My good friend Bette shared this recipe with me a few years ago and I’ve been making them (with a few tweaks here and there) ever since. And today I can’t wait to share it with you.
These pumpkin spice snickerdoodles are rocking my cookie world. They are pretty much the perfect fall treat.
They are quick and easy to whip up (score!) and just taste so good. The texture mimics the familiar snickerdoodle texture we all love. And the flavor is a little bit pumpkiny with a few extra spices to make it all work. It’s pretty much impossible to eat just one.
How to make these pumpkin spice snickerdoodle
I like to whip these babies up in my Bosch mixer (aff. link). It makes things super quick and easy, but you could use a hand mixer too.
First cream the soften butter and sugars. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix until the mixture is light in color. Be sure to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides so everything gets mixed evenly.
Then add the dry ingredients and mix until it just comes together.
It’s easy to form the cookie dough balls with a #20 cookie scoop for larger cookies and a #40 cookie scoop (aff. links) for smaller cookies. But you can use your hands too.
Then like normal snickerdoodles, each dough ball is rolled in a sugar/spice mixture before it’s put on the cookie sheet.
I like to line the cookie sheets with parchment paper so they don’t stick. Then place the cookies in a 3 by 4 grid leaving 1-1/2 to 2 inches of space in between.
Bake at 350 degrees F. until they are just starting to brown and crackle on the tops (they shouldn’t be very dark on the bottom). In my oven, 14 minutes is perfect for the #40-sized cookies and 16 minutes for the #20-sized cookies.
A variation if you dare…
This will be a little controversial for any true blue die hard snickerdoodle fans but indulge me a minute, okay? You might know by now that I love chocolate so it shouldn’t surprise you that I like to press 5 or 6 dark chocolate chips into the top of these cookies before baking.
Seriously yum.
Not everyone agrees with me though so we always make some plain Jane ones too. In fact in our house, half of us prefer them without and half prefer them with chocolate.
But there’s no surprise which ones I go for….every single time!
Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
These pumpkin spice snickerdoodles have all the delicious characteristics of snickerdoodles with a pumpkin flare. Soft and chewy with the warm flavors of fall; they really are the best.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
- 1 cup (7.5 ounces) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (5.65 ounces) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¾ cup (6.75 ounces) canned pumpkin puree see note
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ¼ cup (16.25 ounces) all purpose flour
- 3 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon cloves
Topping:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice see note
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and granulated and brown sugar together for about 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
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Add egg yolk, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, and mix 3 to 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
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In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ingredients, pulsing a few times until no dry streaks remain.
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For the topping, in a small bowl stir together the granulated sugar and pumpkin pie spice.
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Scoop the soft dough with a spoon in balls (I use a #20 cookie scoop for larger cookies and a #40 scoop for smaller cookies). Roll each ball into the sugar topping mixture and place on prepared cookie sheets leaving 1 1/2 inches between (4 rows of 3 cookies across for each baking sheet is perfect).
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Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 14-16 minutes or until top is lightly browned and crackly and edges are set. In my oven, 14 minutes is perfect for the #40-sized cookies and 16 minutes for the #20-sized cookies.
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Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
1. Pumpkin can be a tricky ingredient to use in recipes because there is such a different consistency brand to brand. I use Libby’s brand of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) in this recipe. I haven’t tried the recipe with homemade pumpkin puree, but I think the texture might be a bit different since homemade pumpkin puree is runnier than canned.
2. You can substitute cinnamon for the pumpkin pie spice in the topping.
3. As a variation, press 5 or 6 dark chocolate chips into the top of these cookies before baking. Yum!
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat, adapted from a recipe shared with me by Bette G.
All images and text © The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
