Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Confession: I have gone all in with everything pumpkin this year. Pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin scones (though my search for one from Starbucks has led to disappointment and at times, an unjustifiable level of anger, all but once… why can’t they just make more???)

Usually I snub the Pumpkin Spice Latte craze, but Ryan brought me home one with coconut milk, and now, sadly, I have joined the ranks. Hello, my name is Jenny, and I am a Pumpkin Spice Latte addict. Feel free to bring me one any time… with the coconut milk though, please (dairy milk gives me migraines… and hormones and tbh, my kids… bless their hearts).

So guess what? Everyone I bake for gets to enjoy all the pumpkin too. I’ll make sure they’re good and sick of it long before Thanksgiving comes.

These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles were on the menu last night for our college guests, and I guess they were a hit because they all disappeared. These are more of a cakey cookie than a chewy one. I generally prefer chewy, but I had no problem sampling this one to make sure it was good enough for our guests. Oh, did I say I sampled one? There’s a chance I nearly made dinner out of cookies. Wednesdays are that kind of night. Here’s the inside so you can see (pay no attention to my nails, which are an equal amount of 10-day old chipped nail polish and purple hair dye because I love my daughter).

I can’t stress grating your own nutmeg enough. I’ll never look back. It hardly takes any extra time when using this Microplane Grater. Just please promise to get a fun color! Also, I flattened mine a good bit with the glass. The photo on the left is my first tray, which was taller and more cakey than I wanted. So the subsequent ones were flattened to maybe 1/4 inch or just about 3/4 cm.

Happy Pumpkin everything, friends! I feel a cupcake recipe coming this weekend…

Print

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Course Cookies, Dessert

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• Dash of allspice

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.
2. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart, about 10 on a sheet. Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in the bowl of unused dough to get it sticky. Then dip the glass in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls to about 1/4-inch thickness, dipping the glass in the sugar mixture before flattening each time.
3. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Source: very slightly adapted from Everyday Annie