Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are everything fall wrapped in one deliciously sweet, buttery, cinnamon-dusted cookie you’ll want to make (and eat) over and over again.
If you love the taste of pumpkin in desserts, then you’ll also love my Caramel Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake, my Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, and my Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting.
Cooler weather is just around the corner! And fall just happens to be one of my favorite seasons because it marks the beginning of my fall baking addiction. I like to get my pumpkin on earlier and earlier every year because it has such a short time frame in the grand scheme of things and so why not pack in all the pumpkin I can while I can?
I love the smell of pumpkin (when the scent of it baking fills up my house especially), the taste of pumpkin, the color of pumpkin. It’s about one of my most favorite scents and flavors, in my favorite time of year. So I’m getting started early and I’m going to keep up all the pumpkin through at least Thanksgiving until I inundate you with all things peppermint. That’s just how it goes! Life is fleeting. Grab the pumpkin while you can, I say.
HOW DO YOU MAKE PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES?
The first thing I do is get out a couple of bowls, my mixer, spoons, spatulas, measuring cups, and all my ingredients. In a small bowl, I mix together sugar and cinnamon and set that aside.
Next, I preheat the oven and prepare my baking sheet. I get out the larger bowl (I use the mixing bowl that comes with my stand mixer, but you can use a larger bowl that works with your hand mixer as well). In this larger bowl, I cream together the butter and sugars. Next, I add in the vanilla and pumpkin and mix that together into the butter and sugar mixture. To this I add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and spices and mix all of that till it’s combined and you can no longer see any of the flour.
I use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon or two to create individual dough balls, which I think roll into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and put on the prepared baking sheet about 3 inches apart.
To keep the cookies nice and thick, I “fluff” them up vertically somewhat, that way when they start to cook and spread, they don’t do that too much. These bake for 8-10 minutes. Once I pull them out of the oven, I allow them to cool for about 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet, then I put on a cooling rack to finish the cooling process. Finally (if you’ve waited this long), eat!
WHAT IS CANNED PUMPKIN?
Canned pumpkin is simply pureed, canned pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling is pureed pumpkin with all the spices in it already that you’d put into your pies — cinnamon, cloves, ginger, clove, etc.
For this recipe, you’ll want to use the plain pumpkin because you’ll add your own spices to it. To use pumpkin pie filling would be to over spice these cookies.
WHAT IS PUMPKIN SPICE MADE OF?
By now maybe you’ve heard of pumpkin spice? I kid, of course. EVERYTHING is pumpkin spice in the fall, not that I’m complaining. But what does this mean, exactly?
Pumpkin spice is essentially all the flavors of pumpkin pie in other baked goods and beverages — lattes, cookies, cheesecake (like my Maple Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, and Caramel Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake), bagels, granola bars, tea — you name it. It’s typically made from a blend of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and maybe even allspice, depending on the blend. You can make this yourself or purchase it pre-made as a spice blend.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPLE PIE SPICE AND PUMPKIN SPICE?
As I mentioned, pumpkin pie spice is a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Pumpkin pie spice is heavier on the cinnamon. Apple pie spice is also cinnamon-heavy, but contains no ginger or cloves.
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
cinnamon-sugar mix
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
cookie dough
- 1 cup butter - softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup canned pumpkin - (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 ¾ cup flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup sugar and 3 teaspoons cinnamon and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease or line a baking sheet.
- In a large bowl cream together butter and sugars.
- Add vanilla and pumpkin and mix well.
- Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves and mix until combined and there are no more streaks of flour.
- Use two scoops (with a cookie scoop or a tablespoon) to make one dough ball. Roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then place on prepared baking sheet at least 3 inches apart.
- Use your fingers to gently shape the dough ball so that it is taller than it is wide. *This is important to keep the cookies nice and thick and prevent too much spreading.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. (I like mine under-cooked a bit for a super soft and chewy texture! They will continue to cook on the baking sheet while they are cooling). Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container up to 5 days.
canned pumpkin is actually pureed winter squash, it is not actually the pumpkins you can buy for jack-o-lanterns.
What’s True
As much of 90 percent of pumpkin sold in the U.S. (and 85 percent worldwide) is a proprietary cultivar known as a Dickinson pumpkin, which are less photogenic than the type of pumpkins commonly used for display purposes.
What’s False
The majority of canned pumpkin is not a blend of butternut and other winter squashes.
TECHNICALLY, PUMPKINS ARE A VARIETY OF “WINTER SQUASH.” Pumpkin types vary. the jack-o-lantern varieties are ACTUALLY very dry and flavorless because they have been adapted over time to hold up longer, and not rot as quickly. pumpkins that are used for baking and cooking are typically small, and thin skinned.
You should specify what size can of pumpkin. There are two different sizes – 15 oz and 29 oz.
I’m assuming you meant the 15 oz can. But you know what they say if you assume….
And do you mean pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon, nutmeg, and CLoves?
pumpkin pie spice is correct and yes, 15 oz can of pumpkin
Would this recipe work if I made the dough ahead, shaped it and put it in the freezer to bake off later? Are there any ADJUSTMENTs you would suggest? Thanks!
Hi Heather! Yes, that will work! Just thaw them out to room temp or almost room temp before baking! No adjustments needed.
How many cookies does this recipe make? I cant wait to try it!
I believe 32!
Lovely! We love them! Just WISH the recipe ingredients were weighted, GRAms or ounces.