Soft Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles might sound fancy, but they’re honestly just my regular snickerdoodles with some canned pumpkin thrown in. I started making these when my daughter came home from college raving about some cookies her roommate’s mom made. She couldn’t stop talking about them, so I figured I’d try my own version.

Turns out, adding pumpkin to snickerdoodles is pure magic — they stay soft and pillowy for days. My husband actually hides them from me now because I have zero self-control around these things.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Look, I’m not gonna lie – I mainly love these because they’re impossible to mess up. The pumpkin keeps them from getting too crispy, and even when I accidentally leave them in the oven an extra minute, they still turn out great. Plus my kids eat them without complaining, which is honestly a miracle since they usually inspect everything I bake like they’re food critics.

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📝 Ingredient List

Wet Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg yolk (save that white for another recipe!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup pumpkin purée (after blotting to remove excess moisture)

Dry Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Makes approximately 18 cookies

Substitution Notes: If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, just use extra cinnamon. I’ve done it plenty of times and nobody notices. You can use margarine instead of butter, but honestly, why would you do that to yourself?

🔍 Why These Ingredients Work

So cream of tartar is weird, right? I mean, what even is it? But don’t skip it because it makes these cookies taste like actual snickerdoodles instead of just sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon. I only use the egg yolk because whole eggs make cookies puffy, and we want these dense and chewy. And seriously, pat that pumpkin dry or you’ll get weird spongy cookies that nobody wants to eat.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Large mixing bowl
• Electric mixer (hand or stand mixer)
• Whisk
• Paper towels (for blotting pumpkin)
• Cookie scoop or tablespoon
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Wire cooling rack
• Small bowl for cinnamon sugar

👩🍳 How To Make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

1. Prep Your Pumpkin (5 minutes) Open your can of pumpkin and dump about 1/3 cup onto some paper towels. Press it down hard to get all the water out. This is annoying but necessary.

2. Mix the Dry Stuff (2 minutes) Throw all the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir them around until they look evenly mixed.

3. Cream the Butter (2-3 minutes) Mix your butter with both sugars until it looks fluffy. I use my stand mixer for this because my hand mixer died last year.

4. Add the Wet Ingredients (1 minute) Add your egg yolk, vanilla, and that pumpkin you dried off. Mix until combined.

5. Combine Everything (1 minute) Dump in your flour mixture and stir just until you can’t see any more flour streaks.

6. Chill Time (30 minutes) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge. Set a timer because you’ll forget.

7. Get Ready to Bake Heat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix the coating sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

8. Shape and Roll (5 minutes) Scoop out dough with a cookie scoop or big spoon. Roll each piece into a ball with your hands, then roll it around in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

9. Bake (10-13 minutes) Put the cookies on your baking sheets with plenty of space between them. Bake for about 12 minutes – they should look set around the edges but still soft in the middle.

10. Cool Down Don’t touch them for 10 minutes after you take them out. I know it’s hard, but they’ll fall apart if you move them too soon.

Tips from Well-Known Chefs

My neighbor went to culinary school and she told me that cold butter is the enemy of good cookies. Also, I learned from watching too much Food Network that you should never skip parchment paper. It’s not just for show – it actually prevents the bottoms from burning.

❗ You Must Know

Two things will ruin these cookies every single time: wet pumpkin and hot dough. I’ve made both mistakes more times than I care to admit. The pumpkin has to be patted dry, and the dough has to be chilled. There’s no way around it, even when you’re in a hurry and just want cookies NOW.

Personal Secret: I coat my cookie balls in way more cinnamon sugar than any recipe calls for. Like, I dump them in the bowl and roll them around until they’re completely covered. More coating means better crunch.

💡 Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Get your butter out of the fridge about an hour before you want to bake. Or do what I do and stick it in the microwave for 10 seconds if you forgot. Don’t skip the cream of tartar – I tried using extra baking soda once and the cookies tasted weird. Take them out when they still look a little underdone in the middle. They’ll finish cooking on the pan.

🎨 Flavor Variations & Suggestions

I’ve thrown chocolate chips in these before and my kids went crazy for them. Mini ones work better than regular size. Sometimes I add chopped walnuts when I’m feeling fancy. Once I tried adding some maple syrup instead of some of the pumpkin and they were so good I ate like six of them standing at the counter.

⏲️ Make-Ahead Options

You can make the dough and keep it in the fridge for a few days. Actually tastes better after sitting. I also scoop them into balls and freeze them on a baking sheet, then throw them in a freezer bag. When I want fresh cookies, I just bake them straight from the freezer – takes maybe 2 extra minutes.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Don’t overbake these. They should look slightly underdone when you take them out. The centers might even look a little wet – that’s normal. They’ll finish cooking on the pan. Also, measure your flour right – I use a spoon to scoop it into the measuring cup, then level it off. If you just jam the cup into the flour bag, you’ll end up with too much flour and dry cookies.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

These are great with milk, obviously. I also like them with coffee in the morning, which probably makes me a terrible person but whatever. They’re good crumbled on top of ice cream too. My sister makes them for her book club and always comes home with an empty plate.

Hope these become your new fall favorite – they sure are mine! 🍂

🧊 How to Store Your Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Keep them in a container with a tight lid and they’ll stay soft for about a week. If you want to keep them longer, freeze them. They thaw out just fine. If they get a little stale, stick them in the microwave for like 10 seconds to soften them up again.

⚠️ Allergy Information

These have wheat, eggs, and dairy in them. You could probably use gluten-free flour if you need to, but I’ve never tried it. Same with dairy-free butter – might work, but I don’t know for sure.

❓ Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use fresh pumpkin instead of canned?

Sure, but you’ll need to cook it and mash it up first. Then you still have to pat it dry, so honestly canned is easier.

Why do my cookies spread out too much?

Your dough is probably too warm. Make sure you chill it for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Can I make these smaller or bigger?

Yeah, just adjust the baking time. Smaller ones bake faster, bigger ones take longer. Pretty obvious stuff.

What’s pumpkin pie spice anyway?

It’s just cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves mixed together. You can buy it or make your own.

How do I know when they’re done?

The edges should be set but the middles should still look soft. They’ll finish cooking on the pan.

💬 Made these? Let me know how they turned out! I love hearing about people’s baking disasters and successes. Did you add anything weird to them? Did your kids actually eat them? Drop a comment below and tell me about it.