Some days you just need a cookie. And when those days arrive, it can be hard to decide on what kind of cookie you’re in the mood for. But, then there are the days you know exactly what you want. I call it “cookie confidence.” 🙂
I had cookie confidence a few weeks ago when I decided to make these. When the first thoughts entered my mind about needing a cookie, I immediately opened my spreadsheet where this recipe was bookmarked and did not hesitate to get these in the oven asap.
These are much puffier and softer than my usual snickerdoodles. Don’t limit yourselves to just eating these for dessert as they are perfect with a cup of coffee in the morning. I like to think of it like eating a scone for breakfast. Nothing wrong with that!
Have you ever experienced “cookie confidence?”
- 1 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Dash of allspice
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In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin puree, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
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In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until fully incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least an hour.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner. Mix the coating ingredients in a small bowl. Scoop equal dough balls and roll into the sugar mixture. Set on cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat drinking glass into water, then into the sugar mixture and use to slightly flatten the dough balls. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.
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Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
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Source: Annie's Eats, originally from Dlyn
Those these! Fat and fluffy!
These look delicious!
These sound remarkable! Who would have ever thought to put pumpkin into a snickerdoodle. I think I need to give these a try. Thanks for sharing.
I just made these on Tuesday for my husband’s pot luck! Everyone loved them!! Wonderful recipe 😉
I have made these several times this fall and my family loves them.
I am making these RIGHT NOW. As in: the dough is chilling in my fridge as we speak. I took a quick peek at the ingredient list, realized I had everything on hand, and thus: Saturday Night Baking commenced. I am excited to see how they turn out! The dough tasted really good, anyway. 🙂
Sometimes you just can’t help yourself away from the dough… it’s my biggest weakness. 😉 Bonus that you had everything on hand!
Just baked up a batch of these and they’re fantastic! They’re everything a snickerdoodle SHOULD be…fat and puffy, light, spicy, cakey…pumpkin just makes it even better! I’m thinking of adapting it even to make GINGERBREAD ones in December!
gingerbread snickerdoodles now theres an idea that sound amazing as well i am gonna bake these pumpkin ones tonight hope they turn out as well as everyone says
These sound amazing!
Okay, I don’t usually take the time to comment on things like this, but I have to say, these cookies are wildly delicious. We slathered them in milk chocolate and they were absolutely to die for. I love pumpkin, so I’ve tried a lot of pumpkin cookie recipes, and these are my favorite. Absolutely. Thank you!
Thanks, Sephonnie, for coming back to tell me! Slathering them in chocolate sounds divine! 🙂
These sound wonderful!! Do you know how many calories are in a serving? Also could this be made in a lower sugar/sugar free version?
Hi Amy. I do not calculate nutritional value here, but I’m guessing you can use typical sugar substitutions to make it a little lighter. 🙂
You can go to sparkpeople.com and put in the ingredients into their recipe caculator and it will tell you how many calories are in each serving. It’s a great tool and I use it all the time.
I just made these because I am the biggest pumpkin fan! I do have to say that I’m disappointed that I can’t taste pumpkin at all – it needs a little more. And it wouldn’t hurt to add more sugar to the dough as well. But this is a good start! I’m excited to try again and alter the recipe. I love the texture.
You can try adding pumpkin pie spice to the coating or to the batter
I also think they are a great texture but could use a little more pumpkin:)
These are absolutely delicious! I would consider adding more pumpkin next time, but these still taste incredible.
I found this recipe via Pinterest and I wanted to let you know that these cookies are amazing! I made them over the weekend for a church picnic and they were a hit. Thank you for creating this recipe!
Thanks, Julie! 🙂
These are going right to the top of my “fall baking” list. Already pinned and shared on Facebook!
This is a great recipe…but I also would add about 1/4 cup more pumpkin to the recipe it needs a touch more pumpkin taste.
Be careful about adding more puree as it will change the texture of the cookies. It’s interesting to hear the different opinions of these cookies from those who think they are perfect as is and others who want more pumpkin taste. 🙂 I love them as is, but if you come up with a more pumpkin flavored cookie, please come back and share with the others who are also wishing for more pumpkin! 🙂
Can you sub packed pumpkin or pumpkin pie filling?
Hi Cathy,
What do you mean by packed pumpkin? If you mean the pumpkin in the can, then definitely. But, no, do not use pumpkin pie filling because that includes extra spices. The can should be labeled pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. Did I answer your question?
I should also clarify that if you do mean canned pumpkin, then this would not be a substitute. This is what the recipe calls for…canned pumpkin is pumpkin puree. 🙂
I was talking about Libby’s canned pumpkin.
Yep! That’s pumpkin puree. 🙂
I think just a touch more pumpkin purée and some cream of tartar with a sprinkle of pumpkin spice in top would make them just that much better. Otherwise they are pretty good 🙂
I was thinking the exact same thing. Did it work?
Omg perfect!!!! My favorite ingredient is pumpkin so I googled some recipes and this one happened to come up and I thought why not? These are so softand sweet to the taste. Awesome thank you for sharing
Would it be ok to make the dough the day before and just store it in the fridge till time to bake or is that too long in the fridge?
Hi Anna,
That should be fine. If the dough seems to be too hard when you take it out of the fridge, just let it sit on the counter until it’s soft enough to scoop. 🙂
We made these tonight and they are yummy! The texture is wonderful. I will add a bit more spice next time. Not quite as flavorful as we’d like, but still really good.
Found this recipe on pinterest and just HAD to try them. I’m quite disappointed. Although the texture of the cookie is wonderful, they definately need more pumpkin and more sugar. The cookies taste a little flour-y. Not sure if I’ll try them again. 🙁
I am in the middle of a batch now and I agree…too flour-y and not as much flavor as I expected. Very interesting to see the various opinions.
Try adding pumpkin pie spice to either the batter or the coating and that should do the trick.
Made these last night and they are amazing!!! So fluffy and delish!
These look delicious! BUT, they are NOT snickerdoodles. They are cinnamon-sugar cookies. The defining ingredient for true snickerdoodles is Cream of Tartar, which gives it that tangy snickerdoodle taste! 🙂 Sorry. Just a pet-peave of mine.
Exactly. Still looking for a pumpkin snickerdoodle! 🙂
I made and LOVE these, but like others I crave a more pumpkin-y taste. I found a couple things that might work. Pumpkin powder
https://www.firehousepantrystore.com/lbpumppwd.html?gclid=CLnR25_P07ICFaaDQgodU04AEw
And Amazon has pumpkin extract, but not in season yet apparently.
So, I think I might try the powder. These cookies are my new fav thing!
Thanks for the recipe!!!
Made these this weekend and they were amazing!
I made these last night and added a bit more pumpkin because when I tasted to dough I wanted more. They came out DELISH, however they need more spice to them and possibly more sugar. I love them because I like pumpkin taste alone, but my husband was not so much a fan because he said they were too bland
I made these yesterday. I thought they were delicious in flavor, but more scone-like than cookie to me. Based on the photos I was hoping for a moist, chewy cookie, plus that is sort of just my preference in general. These are good, don’t get me wrong! Just a tip for others so they don’t go in expecting what I did (or maybe I’m the only one??). These would be great with some kind of frosting (cream cheese frosting maybe?!) I think I’ll try that next time!
You’re not the only one. 🙂
Making these right now…added a bit more cinnamon to the flour mixture just because we like it and its good for you .
I made these for a fall-themed party last night, and they were a big hit! I accidentally used 1 cup of the pumpkin puree, and the texture was still fine. I was told I had to make these again! 🙂
Just made these and they are absolutely scrumptious! I added an extra 1/4 c. pumpkin puree and added some semi-sweet chocolate chips to part of the batch – delicious! They were good both with and without the chips. My dough was refrigerated overnight and they still turned out wonderful. The dough was pretty sticky, but the cookies turned out perfect. Thanks for another tasty pumpkin recipe!
I just made these cookies…they are average at best. They don’t really taste like snickerdoodles or pumpkin. The texture is very cakey. I would ramp up the all spice and add a touch of cream of tar tar…maybe even more pumpkin purée. Actually, on second thought, I would not make these again.
I found this recipe via Pinterest and have made them twice already! They are great as-is, but for the commenters that thought they needed a little something extra, I suggest the following changes: Use a whole can of pumkpin (1.5 cups), decrease butter to a half-cup (one stick), and add 1/4 tsp. allspice to the dough with the other spices. Hope this helps!
I’d suggest much less flour. These came out like scones.. definitely not enough flavor for my taste.
Hope you don’t mind, I shared you and your recipe with my readers! I was very happy with them!
Let me know if you need a guest poster sometime, I have a few great recipes of my own!
Just wondering how to get around the allspice and ginger coating? Spices are so expensive these days…. 🙁 Could I just use a cinnamon and sugar coating like regular snickerdoodles?
Also, just wondering how much cream of tartar you all suggest!
Hi Ellen, you can try cinnamon sugar coating but it will lack the other spice flavors. I don’t have a suggestion for cream of tartar in this recipe.
I put 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in with the cinnamon sugar. It has ginger and allspice in it.
you can usually buy spices in the bulk spice section of certain health food type grocery stores (Sprouts, Whole Foods, etc). They usually charge per ounce and its SUPER inexpensive as opposed to buying a whole jar!
I have these chilling in the fridge right now. Can’t wait to get them made and try one. I’m for anything pumpkin, but never heard of pumpkin sniickerdoodles. I have no doubt that they’ll be amazing. Love finding things like this on Pinterest.
Just out of the oven…had to try one as soon as they had cooled a bit. LOVE…..
These look SO good! Snickerdoodles have always been one of my favorite cookies, and adding pumpkin is just brilliant 🙂 I included these in my “fall foods” line up today… can’t wait to actually try them!
https://www.discovercreatelive.com/2012/11/inspiration-friday-fall-foods.html
Tried making these cookies a few days ago…I read the mixed reviews, but decided to give them a shot. Unfortunately, I did not find this recipe to work well, and ultimately decided to throw them away rather than taking them to the function I was making them for. I agree with other reviewers that they have an odd floury taste. I do appreciate the blogger sharing the recipe, and don’t intend to be rude with my review. Just wanted people to weigh the positives and negatives before making this recipe, and keep in mind that it will be a matter of personal taste whether you end up liking this recipe.
I have this dough chilling in my refrigerator right now! It tastes really good! Can I just roll the dough balls in the sugar/spice mixture like I do my usual snickerdoodle recipe instead of smashing with a glass? I like the way they look all crackled! Has anyone tried this?
do you think if I smashed them with something that has a textured design on the bottom would it stay after they bake? (i’ve never made snickerdoodles before, not sure how they behave) 🙂
I don’t think so with these, since they are pretty puffy. Not completely sure about that, though!
I just made these for thanksgiving… not what I thought they would be 🙁 I can really taste the spices that coat the cookie but I really dont taste any pumpkin … and I do agree with the others, they taste very floury. Oh well, at least i tried them.
This has become my family’s favorite cookie! They are fluffy and fat…perfect amount of pumpkin, just scrumptious!!! I feel like making a batch right now!
I’ve made these before and they were a HUGE success!!! It’s my mom’s bday tomorrow and I wanted to make her some. Any ideas on making these more Spring by eliminating the pumpkin and adding another ingredient? Let me know if anyone has ideas! Thanks!
Hi Colleen,
You could just make soft frosted sugar cookies with spring colored icing. 🙂 https://www.seededatthetable.com/2012/02/14/mini-soft-frosted-sugar-cookies/
Very good but careful with adding the flour, I will add a tad less.
No cream of tartar = no snickerdoodles. Made these today; at the suggestion of others, I added more pumpkin and added pumpkin pie spice to the batter and coating. There was still not much pumpkin flavor, My cookies were also very cakey, like others’ were. I’m sure we could experiment with this recipe to improve on those things, but I think I’ll keep searching for other pumpkin snickerdoodle recipes.
I’m disappointed too 🙁 the dough was delicious (yeah I know it has raw eggs, I don’t care!) although it could have used more pumpkin. After baking, I thought they were terrible….too much flour and not enough sugar or pumpkin. Oh well
I love these cookies…and the dough, too! I think next time I’m adding more sugar, and more nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. I really like these cookies but want the flavor to pop!
These have become a family favorite at our house. Thank you!! When I have time, we flip them upside down and ice them with maple icing. 🙂
First round I baked at 350 for 14 minutes….got the floury taste and kind of compact texture; HOWEVER, upped the oven to 375 and baked for 12 minutes–fluffy, good rise, light and airy.
These look delish! Great job! Reblogging this tomorrow over at allthingsmessy.com as part of a top 5 pumpkin recipes to try out! Thanks!
I have to say I wasn’t really impressed with these 🙁 I was so excited because of the combination of the two cookies! I agree with what many other people have said.. too much flour, not enough pumpkin. I love the consistency of them but I might actually try mixing in the sugar coating topping to the dough to see if that adds at least more fall flavors!
Love to try this recipe, but I have to replace the butter with something else.
Which is better organic apple sauce or organic extra virgin olive oil?
How much apple sauce?
How much olive oil?
I am already going to replace the flour with organic spelt flour.
Hi Rosemarie,
I’m not an expert on substituting ingredients, so it might take some trial and error on your part. But, if it were me, I would use the applesauce over the olive oil, for sure.
Forgot to mention that I will also replace the whole egg with 2 egg whites.
Forgot to say that I will be using Organic Blue Agave instead of sugar.
I will be using 15 ounces of organic pumpkin instead of 3/4 cup.
These came out terribly. More like a scone than a cookie and all I could taste was flour.
these are the best pumpkin cookies I have ever made!!!!!!
I made these today and they are so good! Next time I’ll double the recipe so I can give some away.
These cookies are awful, too floury, not enough pumpkin flavor, not sweet or spicy enough. I threw the whole batch away!
I added a tsp of Pumpkin Spice Extract to give them a little more flavor and that helped!
These where horrible. … way too much flour and no flavor. I added more spices and Pumpkin and all I taste is flour
How long are these good for? If I make them Monday, still good on Thurs for Thanksgiving?
Hi Erica,
These will last up to 5 days, but when it comes to cookies, my personal preference is to eat them as fresh as possible, within 2-3 days.
I think these cookies are amazing! I’ve made them over and over – they’re my husband’s favorite!! He prefers things that aren’t too sweet or overpowering, like these are – do you any have other suggestions?
Hi Meagan! Thanks for the feedback. I’m unsure of your question, though. Are you asking if I have any other recipes that aren’t too sweet or overpowering, that your husband would also like? 🙂
Yes! Sorry for the confusion.
Great cookies. When I bake I always give a cookie to the goat cheese vendor at our local farmers market and she said these were her favorite cookies ever!
Thank you, Moria! How sweet that you share these with the cheese vendor! LOVE it!!
These are great. I have a person I work with who loves pumpkin anything (except pie) and she loved them. Of course everyone else ate them too and they were gone in no time. Great recipe.
I found your recipe a couple years ago and after I made them, they instantly became one of my faves! I’ve taken them to work and given them out to friends and family, now when fall begins they start asking when the pumpkin snickerdoodles are coming. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!!!
Cannot wait to share these tomorrow!!! Love this recipe and love you blog 🙂
The cookies looked beautiful! However, like many of the other commenters, the cookies tasted too much like flour. Pumpkin flavors were very minimal. Tried to salvage these with a chocolate glaze- it helped a little.
Based on other reviews, I upped the pumpkin to 1cup, decreased flour to 3 cups, and added 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice emulsion. Didn’t have allspice or ginger, so just used cinnamon and some nutmeg with the sugar for coating. Still not super-pumpkiny, but a nice soft cookie.
How do you store them? How long will they last. Thinking of making them ahead of time for a party
Hi Jm,
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. I haven’t frozen them, but I’m sure you can for longer storage. 🙂
I love these!! I have made them a few times, and never heard one complaint! I did want to know how long we could keep the dough in the fridge?
The recipe is gone! I need a copy of this one. We’ve made it several times but I took for granted that it was online and never saved a hard copy. Please bring the recipe back.
Hi Jennifer. I’m sorry about that! When I updated my site, some of the recipes disappeared and I guess this was one of them. Thank you for letting me know. It’s back! 🙂