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I think snickerdoodles are underrated cookies, and these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are my fall take on this deserving cookie! They’re packed with pumpkin and pumpkin spice and good enough to eat year-round.
Table of Contents
A good snickerdoodle starts with some familiar cookie basics: mixing wet and dry ingredients separately and then together until a dough forms. For these pumpkin snickerdoodles, you’ll add pumpkin puree to the wet ingredients and pumpkin pie spice to the dry ones!
Unlike a lot of cookies, you have to refrigerate the snickerdoodle dough for at least 30 minutes so it has time to firm up. This will allow you to roll the cookies into balls and coat them in the cinnamon sugar!
Recipe At a Glance
Cuisine Inspiration: American
Primary Cooking Method: Oven
Dietary Info: Vegetarian
Key Flavor: Pumpkin
Skill Level: Easy
Why This Is So Good
- Easy to whip up: Making these pumpkin snickerdoodles is simple, even if you’re not an experienced baker!
- Make-ahead: The dough can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days before baking!
- Bakes fast: These pumpkin snickerdoodles take just 11 minutes in the oven—quick!
Ingredients to Make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Flour: This gives the cookies structure.
- Pumpkin pie spice: Packed with things like ground cinnamon and ginger, this spice adds so much flavor. You could even make your own!
- Cream of tartar: This actually adds a little tang to the cookies! Don’t skip it.
- Baking soda: This helps the cookies rise and spread.
- Unsalted butter: After melting the butter, let it cool before adding it to the other ingredients. That way, it won’t scramble the egg!
- Granulated sugar and light brown sugar: The first adds moisture and sweetness, and the second also contributes a molasses-y flavor.
- Egg: This helps the cookies stick together!
- Pumpkin puree: You want 100% pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Vanilla extract: Feel free to use vanilla bean paste if you have it.
- Cinnamon and sugar: You’ll roll the cookie dough in cinnamon sugar for that signature snickerdoodle crunch!
Popular Substitutions & Additions
- Make it gluten-free. Swap your favorite gluten-free blend for the all-purpose flour.
- Make it dairy-free. You can use vegan butter and even a flax egg depending on your dietary restrictions.
- Swap out the pumpkin. Butternut squash puree tastes identical!
- Add in chocolate chips. Feel free to fold in chocolate chips (milk or dark chocolate) into the cookie batter!
How to Make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Make the batter, let it rest, roll, coat, and bake. These pumpkin snickerdoodles are as simple as that!
Tips for Making the Best Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
- Don’t skip the chill time. This will make the cookies easier to portion and roll, and also make sure they don’t spread too much in the oven!
- Flatten evenly. Before baking, I squash the cookies with my hand or the bottom of a drinking glass until they’re evenly flat. This helps them spread uniformly!
- Handle the dough with care. The dough is quite soft, so I like to drop the dough balls into the sugar mixture and shake the bowl or use a spoon to coat the dough in the sugar.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. Snickerdoodles should be soft and chewy, so it’s important not to overbake them! They might look a little underdone when you pull them out of the oven, but they’ll continue to cook as they cool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Once cooled, these pumpkin snickerdoodles will last for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge or on the countertop! There’s no need to reheat them.
Absolutely! You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. Roll the dough into balls, toss them in cinnamon sugar, and freeze them on a baking sheet. Freeze, then transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container. You can bake them directly from frozen!
When the snickerdoodles are done, they should be lightly browned at the edges and just set in the centers.
I don’t know about you, but I get so excited about pumpkin everything in the fall. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, even pumpkin cold brew: If there’s pumpkin in it, I want it. These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are no different. They’re packed with pumpkin flavor, easy to make, and coated in crunchy cinnamon sugar.
More Fall Dessert Recipes:
- Apple Butter Cookies
- Pumpkin Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
- Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Bread
- Apple Bread Pudding
- No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pecan Date Bars
- Easy Pumpkin Bars
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you try this feel good Pumpkin Snickerdoodles recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine melted and cooled butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Continue mixing until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and fold together until combined and no flour streaks remain. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and use a 1.5 tablespoon-size spring-loaded cookie scoop to scoop the dough balls. Roll each into a ball, coat in the cinnamon sugar mixture, and place on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use your hand or the bottom of a glass to flatten the tops. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies brown around the edges and the center begins to set.
- Let cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
What temperature do you bake them at??
Sorry about that, the temperature was missing! Bake at 350°F. You should be able to see the full instructions now (including bake temp) in the recipe card at the bottom of the page. Hope that helps!