If you’re looking for a delicious Fall treat, try out my cute homemade pumpkin snickerdoodles! They’re soft, melt-in-your-mouth, and are full of pumpkin flavor. The dough is made with reduced pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and then rolled in pumpkin spiced-infused sugar right before baking. And if you want them Halloween-themed, use chocolate to decorate them into jack o’lantern cookies!
Looking for an egg-free version? Try my eggless pumpkin snickerdoodles!
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🎃 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s perfect for Fall and Halloween! Imagine these cookies as part of a dessert spread at a holiday party—soooo cute! And if you want to make them spooky, use melted chocolate or icing to draw on jack o’lantern faces.
- You won’t need any special equipment. Simply cook the pumpkin over the stove, mix the ingredients with a silicone spatula, shape, and bake!
Ingredients
To make my pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Snickerdoodles call for cream of tartar, which lends to their unique tangy flavor!
- Pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice add the perfect amount of Fall flavor to these cookies! Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree and not canned pumpkin pie filling.
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
- The cookie dough balls are rolled in a mix of pumpkin sugar prior to baking for extra cozy flavor.
- If you want a deeper orange color, add a few drops of orange food coloring like I did!
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tips
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- Bake a test cookie first. When trying a new design, expect some wonky cookies at first—maybe the dough is pressed too far down or the cookies spread more than you hoped. I always like test one cookie first, then adjust before baking the rest of the dough to get the results I want!
- Want to make them even cuter? Decorate them as jack o’lanterns with melted chocolate!
How To Make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Step 1: For stronger pumpkin flavor, reduce a can of pumpkin puree by heating it in a pot over the stove for about 10-15 minutes. Cook until it is thick and reduced by about 20%, which yields about 1.5 cups puree. You’ll only need 1/3 cup for the recipe, so feel free to store the remaining for other drinks and desserts!
Step 2: Heat unsalted butter and pumpkin spices in a pot until all of the butter is melted. This will bloom the spices, enhancing their flavors in the cookies! Once cooled, mix with sugars. Stir in an egg, reduced pumpkin puree, and vanilla until smooth.
Step 3: Stir in dry ingredients. Set aside 1 tablespoon of dough for the stems, and dye it brown using cocoa powder. Chill doughs until firm, about 30 minutes. Scoop out 1.5 tablespoon orange dough balls, shaping them into slight ovals.
Step 4: Roll dough balls into pumpkin spice sugar and lay them on a small plate or tray (preferably lined)! Use a toothpick or back of a knife to create indents into the dough. Roll out 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin stems. Freeze cookies until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Step 5: Space cookies about 3-4 inches apart on lined tray. Bake frozen cookies at 350°F/177°C for 10-13 minutes, or until edges are set middles look mostly cooked. Remove from the oven and let cookies sit on baking tray for at least 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to fully cool.
Step 6: Optional: decorate as jack o’lanterns using melted chocolate! Enjoy! 🙂
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
“Omg just had a pumpkin cookie. That was ridiculous!!!!” – cookie taste tester 🍪
Storage
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
🍁 More Fall Recipes
Did you try this recipe?
Please leave a review & share it with me on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, or Pinterest!
Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
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Equipment
- 1 small plate for rolling dough in pumpkin sugar
- 1 small bowl for dying dough
- 1 medium plate or tray, for freezing dough
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing cookie dough
- 1 Medium cookie scoop 1 ½ tablespoon capacity
- 1 skewer or toothpick or back of knife
- Piping bags for decorating. can also use toothpicks!
Ingredients
Pumpkin puree:
- 1 can (425 g) pumpkin puree
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups (218.75 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (3 g) cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (1 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt or table salt (1:1)
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons (3 g) pumpkin spice can use store-bought!
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) brown sugar light or dark
- 1 (50 g) egg
- ⅓ cup (70 g) reduced pumpkin puree
- ½ tablespoon (6.5 g) vanilla paste or extract
- orange food coloring
For the pumpkin stems:
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 g) cocoa powder
For rolling:
- ⅛ cup (25 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon (1 g) pumpkin spice can use store-bought!
For decorating:
- chocolate melted; can use milk or dark!
Instructions
Reduce the pumpkin puree:
- In a small pot over medium heat, add 1 can (425 g) pumpkin puree. Cook for 10-15 minutes until it thickens and is reduced by about 20%. It should yield about 1 ½ cup (340 g) of pumpkin puree
- Let cool. You will only need ⅓ cup (70 g) for this recipe, so feel free to freeze the remaining in an ice cube tray and use whenever! Some ideas include pumpkin lattes, cinnamon rolls, and bread!
Make the pumpkin cookie dough:
- Melt ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter and 1 ½ teaspoons (3 g) pumpkin spice over the stove or in the microwave. Let cool to room temperature, about 5-10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, use silicone spatula to stir together pumpkin spice-infused butter, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, and ¼ cup (55 g) brown sugar until combined.
- Add 1 (50 g) egg, ⅓ cup (70 g) reduced pumpkin puree and ½ tablespoon (6.5 g) vanilla. Mix until smooth. For a vibrant orange color, add a few drops of orange food coloring.
- Dump in all of the dry ingredients: 1 ¾ cups (218.75 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon (3 g) cream of tartar, ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda, ¼ teaspoon (1 g) baking powder, and ½ teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt. Mix until no dry spots remain.
- Transfer about 1 tablespoon of dough into another bowl. Add ½ teaspoon (0.5 g) cocoa powder, mixing until the brown color is uniform. This will be for the pumpkin stems.
- Lightly cover doughs and let chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will help firm the dough and make it easier for shaping!
Shaping the pumpkins:
- On a small plate, mix ⅛ cup (25 g) granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon (1 g) pumpkin spice. Set aside.
- Use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (1 ½ tablespoons). Roll into slight ovals, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Place on parchment lined plate, and repeat with remaining orange dough.
- Use skewer to gently press 3 lines into the dough to create pumpkin lines. Take about ¼ teaspoon of brown dough and shape into a pointed cylinder. Place on lined plate, repeating with remaining brown dough.
- Freeze for at least 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Transfer frozen cookie dough pumpkins to your lined baking trays, spacing them about 3-4 inches apart.Bake from frozen for 10-13 minutes, or until edges are set and middles look mostly baked. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
- If decorating, use melted milk or dark chocolate to draw on jack o'lantern faces. Enjoy!
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
