These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are a fun fall spin on classic snickerdoodles! My recipe has the perfect soft and chewy (not cakey!) texture with a buttery pumpkin flavor. Recipe includes a how-to video!
A Seasonal Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe
If you love snickerdoodles, wait until you try these pumpkin snickerdoodles! These fall-flavored cookies are incredibly soft, chewy, and buttery. They have a distinct snickerdoodle flavor accented by pumpkin, cinnamon sugar, and other fall spices, and they’re truly the perfect fall cookie!
This recipe has been a favorite on the blog for years, and for good reason. Not only is it easy, but there’s no mixer required (yay!). You will need a bit of patience (there’s some chilling involved), but this is one cookie recipe that is absolutely worth the wait!
So often pumpkin cookies end up being cakey, but I designed my pumpkin snickerdoodles to have the perfect soft and chewy texture. You’ll find yourself eating one… and then another… and then another… so I typically recommend making a double batch just to be safe 😊
What You Need
Most of these ingredients will be expected, but there’s a few you should pay close attention to, including:
- Melted butter. Rather than creaming together our butter and sugar, which creates air bubbles and leads to thicker, fluffier cookies, we’re going to melt our butter. This is a long-time favorite trick of mine for soft, chewy cookies that have the best flavor (like my chocolate chip cookies!). It’s especially important in today’s recipe, where the extra moisture from the pumpkin could make our cookies cakey. Using melted butter is key in helping combat this!
- Pumpkin. Use pure pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has additives that we don’t need in our pumpkin snickerdoodles.
- Egg yolk. Pumpkin has a lot of water in it, and the water can lead to cakey cookies. Because we’re adding all of this moisture from the pumpkin, we will omit the egg white to reduce excess moisture. We leave the egg yolk which is mostly fat and will help make our pumpkin snickerdoodles tender, but toss that egg white (or use it to make candied pecans!).
- Cream of tartar. You simply can’t make snickerdoodles without cream of tartar! This is an essential ingredient and I don’t have a good substitute, so make sure you have it before you start.
- Pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have the pre-made version, make my homemade pumpkin spice!
SAM’S TIP: Make sure your butter has cooled enough that it’s not warm to the touch before adding your sugar! Adding the sugar while the butter is too hot can cause your sugar to melt and leave you with a greasy, unusable cookie dough.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Combine the (cooled) butter and sugars, then stir in the pumpkin until combined.
- Stir in the egg and vanilla.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Cover the dough and let it chill for at least 45 minutes.
- Scoop and roll dough through cinnamon sugar before baking for 10-12 minutes.
SAM’S TIP: Never put cold cookie dough on a hot (or even warm) cookie sheet! This will cook/melt the cookies prematurely and can cause them to spread too much, leading to flat cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chilling your cookie dough longer than the recommended 45 minutes is fine. I’ve made pumpkin snickerdoodle dough as far as 3 days in advance. Just keep it tightly covered in the refrigerator. If you chill for longer than 45 minutes and the dough is too difficult to scoop, let it sit at room temperature for several minutes until it can easily be scooped.
Definitely! You can freeze the balls (before rolling in cinnamon sugar) on a cookie sheet before placing in an airtight bag or container for pumpkin snickerdoodles on demand.
Unfortunately I do not recommend it. Cream of tartar is what gives all snickerdoodles (and my snickerdoodle blondies) their classic flavor and tang. Don’t skip it!
Love these pumpkin snickerdoodles? I have so many more snickerdoodle recipes, from snickerdoodle scones to snickerdoodle cupcakes!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled for at least 10 minutes (113g)
- ½ cup sugar (100g)
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar tightly packed (70g)
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree (73g)
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose (plain) flour (190g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Topping
- ¼ cup sugar (50g)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar and stir until well-combined. Add pumpkin and stir well.
- Stir in egg yolk and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt until well-combined.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet until ingredients are well-combined.
- Cover cookie dough with clear wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 45 minutes.
- One dough is nearly finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare a cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper. Prepare your cinnamon sugar mixture by whisking together ¼ cup sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and scoop into 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized balls. Roll briefly between your palms until smooth and then roll through cinnamon sugar and transfer to prepared cookie sheet, spacing at least 2" apart.
- Bake cookies in a 350F oven for 10-12 minutes. Keep your remaining dough refrigerated while cookies are baking and do not place cookie dough on a hot baking sheet.
- Allow baked cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before enjoying.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Teri
I just made these. Made 29 cookies, at least the size I made them!
I added some cinnamon and 1 tsp baking powder. When I roll them and put on cookie sheet, I always squish them upwards… Kind of in a cone shape, (kind of square on top, or oblong)…. this makes then fuller instead of flat, and very fluffy and soft!
Hubby and I both loved them. Very simple too!
Thanks!!👍👌
Velika
Hi! I’m wondering if I can use a vegetable spread in place of the butter?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re not sure how that would work here 🙁
Jane C
I made these as part of my Xmas cookie tray and WOW are they delicious! Loaded with pumpkin/spice flavor, but what I love most is the chewy, moist texture. They are perfect. Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out beautifully. Thank you for creating this wonderful cookie!
Sam
So thrilled to hear this! Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Jane, I appreciate it!
Tania
Made these yesterday to freeze for Christmas. They are so good. My husband is my taste tester. Lol. He’s very finicky and he said these are worthy to give at Christmas. Thanks for the recipe and tips. I made exactly to recipe
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yay! Thanks for using our recipe, Tania 😍
P Berry
These are delicious! I’ve served them and shared the recipe several times. Always a hit!
Tenley
These truly are delightful and so easy to make I will absolutely be making them again before the holiday season is over. WOW! I made these last night and my husband hosted halloween horror movie night and all his friends were so impressed. They loved them. A crowd pleaser for sure. Thanks for a great recipe, I look forward to trying more.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
They’re one of our favorites too! So happy you enjoyed them Tenley ❤️
Billie
Fantastic recipe— grandkid approved as well as GranDad.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So sweet! Thanks for using our recipe, Billie ❤️
Selina
Hi Sam, I tried your recipe and although the flavor was great I had trouble with the texture. Despite cooking for over 15min, the cookies were still very mushy/gooey ….like an under baked consistency. I use an oven thermometer, so the temperature wasn’t the issue. I usually never have trouble with your recipes! Any advice on what I may have done wrong? Would love to give it another try.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Selina! We’re so sorry this happened. How warm was your butter when you added your sugars? It sounds like it may have melted them, which can cause a runny dough. 🙁
Miriam
Do you think I could add a cheesecake filling to make these pumpkin cheesecake cookies?
Sam
Hi Miriam! I haven’t tried it. It does sound really tasty. I think it could probably work. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
Miriam Rose Blanar
I made these with the cheesecake filling and took them to church and they were a hit!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds delicious, Miriam 🥰
Sam I am
I added cheesecake filling and it worked perfectly and tasted delicious!
jim hynes
Hi Sam/Emily
Going to make these later today. I was concerned about the amount of water in the pumpkin puree. In other recipes we blot the moisture out. In the video I think you do not reccomend doing that. Just checking.
Jim hynes
Sam
Hi Jim! In this recipe I have not needed to blot the pumpkin and I engineered the recipe to account for the excess moisture, so you shouldn’t have any issue without blotting the pumpkin. Enjoy! 🙂
jim hynes
Hi Sam/Emily
Forgot to chime in after I made these last Wednesday. I made these and your pumpkin bars for my wife’s bunko group and another SSR success! I get all the compliments (and there were plenty) and I tell them I just follow Sam.
Next up, Halloween treats. Spider cookies!
Thanks so much.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! Thanks so much for using our recipes Jim 😊
Stevie Reeves
I made these cookies to celebrate the 1st day of Fall……and OMGosh, my family said these were the BEST COOKIES they ever had. My son took a bite and ran into his room to put on a pair of Christmas Pajamas and said “These cookies make me feel warm and cozy like Christmas”.
Lexi
Ok, hands-down the best cookies! When I make cookies, they always turn out mediocre. My 2 year old helped me make these and they came out beyond perfect!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
These are one of our favorites too, Lexi! Thanks for giving our recipe a shot 🧡
MOLLY MALOY
these are the best cookies…
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you think so, Molly! Enjoy 🙂
Sena
Easy to make, and the whole family enjoyed! I had to make a second batch and double it!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Great to hear, Sena! We’re so happy they were a hit for your family. Enjoy 😊
Patricia A Snyder
Gave this recipe 5 stars because my husband does not like pumpkin. That being said he has eatin a handful once they were out of the oven. This cookie is a keeper!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy we could convert him, Patricia 🙂 Thanks so much for trying and reviewing our recipe!