Soft Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

These pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are soft and chewy, not the puffy, cake-like pumpkin cookies you may have had before. Pumpkin puree is mostly water, and extra moisture is what turns cookies cakey. So this recipe uses just 1/3 cup, blotted dry with paper towels, along with a single egg yolk instead of a whole egg.

Brown butter gives the cookies chew and a toasty flavor, and brown sugar keeps the centers moist. Cream of tartar and baking soda give the tangy flavor and crackled tops of a classic snickerdoodle. After a 30-minute chill, each ball gets a thick coating of cinnamon sugar and bakes at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes. The recipe makes about 20 cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Chewy, not cakey: Blotted pumpkin, one yolk, and melted brown butter keep the texture dense and soft.
• True snickerdoodle flavor: Cream of tartar gives the classic tang and crinkly tops.
• Balanced spice: A modest amount of pumpkin pie spice in the dough and cinnamon sugar on the outside, so the pumpkin still comes through.
• No mixer needed: Everything is stirred together in one bowl with a whisk and spatula.
• Freezer-friendly: Freeze the dough balls and bake a few at a time.

Ingredients

Prep: 25 minutes  |  Cook: 30 minutes  |  Total: 1 hour 25 minutes (includes 30 minutes chilling)  |  Yield: About 20 cookies

Equipment: Small light-colored saucepan, large mixing bowl, whisk, rubber spatula, paper towels, 1 1/2-tablespoon cookie scoop, 2 baking sheets, parchment paper, wire rack

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup 100% pure canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, for rolling

Ingredient Notes

• Butter: Browning the butter cooks off some of its water and adds a nutty, toasted flavor, and melted fat makes a chewier cookie than creamed butter. If you’re short on time, plain melted butter works; the cookies will taste less toasty. Use unsalted so you can control the salt.
• Pumpkin puree: Use 100% pure canned pumpkin puree. Pumpkin pie filling is not a substitute: it’s already sweetened, spiced, and thinned, so it throws off the sugar and moisture and makes flat, gummy cookies. Blotting the 1/3 cup of puree takes it down to about 1/4 cup of thick paste. That removes the excess water that makes pumpkin cookies cakey.
• Egg yolk only: Pumpkin already adds moisture and structure. Egg whites add more water and make cookies puffier and more cake-like, so one yolk is all this dough needs. It adds richness and helps bind the dough. Save the white for scrambled eggs.
• Two sugars: Granulated sugar helps the edges crisp and spread slightly, and brown sugar keeps the centers moist and chewy.
• Cream of tartar and baking soda: This acid-plus-base pair is what makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle. It gives the cookies their slight tang, soft texture, and crackled tops. Using twice as much cream of tartar as baking soda is the traditional ratio. Don’t swap in baking powder; the cookies won’t have the same tang.
• Flour: Spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup and sweep the top flat with a knife. Dipping the cup into the bag compresses the flour, and that extra flour makes dry, cakey cookies.
• Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon: One teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in the dough is enough to taste warm without covering up the pumpkin and brown butter. The cinnamon goes in the coating.

How to Make Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

1. Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a small light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Keep cooking, swirling the pan often, for 4 to 6 minutes, until it foams, then turns golden with brown bits on the bottom and smells nutty. Scrape it, brown bits and all, into a large mixing bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes, until warm but no longer hot.
2. Blot the pumpkin: While the butter cools, spread the pumpkin puree in a thin layer on a double layer of paper towels. Press more paper towels on top to soak up the moisture. Scrape it into a pile, then repeat with fresh towels until it looks like a thick paste, about 1/4 cup.
3. Mix the wet ingredients: Add the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and the brown sugar to the cooled brown butter and whisk for about 1 minute, until smooth and glossy. Whisk in the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and the blotted pumpkin until fully combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients: Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, kosher salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the bowl. Stir with a rubber spatula just until no streaks of flour remain. The dough will be soft.
5. Chill the dough: Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days, until firm enough to roll. Near the end of chilling, heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Roll in cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, stir together the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar for rolling and the ground cinnamon. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon balls and roll each one between your palms until smooth. Roll it in the cinnamon sugar until it's completely coated, then roll it in the cinnamon sugar a second time. Place 10 balls on each baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Keep the second sheet in the refrigerator while the first one bakes.
7. Bake: Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. They're done when the edges look set and the tops have cracked, but the centers still look soft and slightly underbaked. They'll firm up as they cool.
8. Cool: Leave the cookies on the hot pan for 5 minutes so they firm up, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Bake the second sheet the same way.

Expert Tips

• Really blot the pumpkin. Keep pressing with fresh paper towels until they come away only slightly damp. This does more than anything else to keep the cookies from turning cakey.
• Cool the brown butter. If it’s hot, it can scramble the yolk and melt the sugar, making the dough greasy. Warm to the touch is right.
• Don’t skip the chill. The melted-butter dough is soft. Thirty minutes in the fridge firms it up so it holds its shape, spreads less, and bakes up thicker and chewier.
• Coat generously. Rolling twice in the cinnamon sugar gives a thick, crackly coating over the whole cookie.
• Pull them early. Take them out when the centers still look slightly underdone. Overbaking is the other common reason pumpkin cookies turn cakey.

Variations

• Melted-butter shortcut: Skip browning and just melt the butter. Let it cool for 5 minutes before mixing.
• Extra-spiced: Increase the pumpkin pie spice to 1 1/2 teaspoons, or add 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to the cinnamon sugar.
• Maple glaze drizzle: After the cookies cool, drizzle them with a thin glaze of 1/2 cup powdered sugar whisked with 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup and a few drops of milk.

Serving Ideas

These cookies go well with coffee, chai, or a glass of cold milk. For a Halloween or fall party, set them out as dippers alongside the pumpkin and cinnamon dips from our Halloween Dips 4 Ways.

For more fall baking, try our pumpkin oatmeal cream pies or a pan of pumpkin cinnamon rolls. If you want something you don’t have to bake, see our no-bake fall cookies. You’ll find more sweets in our dessert recipes.

Storage, Reheating, and Freezing

• Make ahead (dough): Refrigerate the covered dough for up to 2 days. If it’s too firm to scoop, let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes first.
• Freeze dough balls: Scoop and roll the dough into balls, but don’t coat them yet; the sugar can turn damp in the freezer. Freeze them on a parchment-lined sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. To bake, roll the frozen balls in cinnamon sugar and bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes. No thawing is needed.
• Store: Store the cooled cookies in a sealed container on the counter for up to 4 days. The pumpkin keeps them soft, and the coating may soften slightly after the first day.
• Freeze baked cookies: Freeze cooled cookies in a single layer, then stack them in an airtight container with parchment between the layers for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies FAQ

Why are my pumpkin cookies cakey?

Too much moisture, too much egg, too much flour, or overbaking. This recipe limits the pumpkin to 1/3 cup, blots it, and uses one yolk instead of a whole egg. Measuring the flour with a spoon and pulling the cookies while the centers still look soft also helps.

Can I use pumpkin pie filling?

No. Pumpkin pie filling is sweetened, spiced, and thinner than pure pumpkin puree, so it makes the dough too wet and too sweet. Use 100% pure pumpkin puree only.

Do I have to use cream of tartar?

For true snickerdoodles, yes. It gives the tang and the crackled tops. Without it, you’ll have spiced pumpkin sugar cookies. Cream of tartar is sold in the spice aisle.

Can I skip chilling the dough?

It’s not recommended. The dough is made with melted butter and is too soft to roll without chilling, and the cookies spread thin. Thirty minutes is the minimum.

What do I do with the leftover pumpkin and egg white?

Refrigerate the leftover pumpkin puree in a covered container for up to 5 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months. Stir it into oatmeal or smoothies, or use it in another fall bake. Use the egg white within 2 days in scrambled eggs or an omelet.

How do I know when they're done?

The edges will look set and dry, the tops will be cracked, and the centers will still look puffy and a little underbaked. They settle and firm up as they cool.

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