Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Snickerdoodles — Soft and pillowy in the middle, chewy around the edges, and ever so slightly crisp on the bottom! Classic snickerdoodles get a makeover with the addition of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices! So EASY and the dough can be made in advance, and perfect for all those COZY fall vibes!
Table of Contents
Chewy Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
This pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe is a spin on my gold standard snickerdoodle recipe. I’ve made that recipe for years, and it’s a long-time reader favorite as well as a personal favorite of my family.
In my book, a fantastic snickerdoodle is pillowy soft on the inside and slightly chewy around the edges thanks to the melted butter in the dough.
The cookies have a melt-in-your-mouth texture and slight tanginess to the dough, courtesy of the cream of tartar. More on why you should use cream of tartar below.
This pumpkin version checks all the boxes, with the added bonus of a subtle pumpkin flavor and extra warmth from the blend of spices used in the batter. I used a blend of pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and cloves in the batter to really drive home that cozy fall flavor.
The cinnamon-sugar coating is non-negotiable when making snickerdoodles of any kind, although I bet you could replace the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice if you really love that pumpkin pie flavor and want to enhance it.
I’ll be making these soft and chewy pumpkin snickerdoodles all fall long, and you should too! The cookies aren’t as pumpkin-forward as desserts like pumpkin bread or pumpkin cake, so you can keep these on repeat from now until Thanksgiving.
Need to Use up Your Pumpkin Puree? Try These Recipes!
This pumpkin snickerdoodle cookie recipe calls for ¼ cup of pumpkin puree, which isn’t an entire can. If you need ideas on how to use up that canned pumpkin, I suggest making another one of my (many) pumpkin recipes.
Specifically, the recipes below use less than a full can as well.
Pumpkin cinnamon roll bake is a decadent breakfast option that’s perfect for weekends and holidays, and cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins are perfect for grab-and-go breakfasts and snacks. A reader favorite in recent years are pumpkin cruffins which use a shortcut to keep them fast and easy!
This pumpkin chocolate chip bread comes together quickly and is perfect for gifting. But if pumpkin cookies are your favorite, then try these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or iced pumpkin oatmeal cookies.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Just like my classic snickerdoodles, these pumpkin snickerdoodles use basic ingredients I always have on hand during the fall.
Gather the following to make the Cookie Dough:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Pumpkin puree
- Egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Spices (pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, cloves)
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cream of tartar
Cinnamon-Sugar Coating:
- Granulated sugar
- Ground cinnamon
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Why Is Cream of Tartar Used in Snickerdoodles?
This might be a pumpkin snickerdoodle cookie recipe, but I kept the ingredients list as close to the classic cookie recipe as possible by using cream of tartar in the dough.
Cream of tartar gives snickerdoodles their signature tangy flavor and makes them ultra chewy. The cream of tartar also reacts with the baking soda to help the cookies rise in the oven so they’re soft in the center.
In short, cream of tartar is essential to this recipe and my recommendation is that you should NOT omit it and make the recipe as written with ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar.
However, if you’re all out of cream of tartar (or never bought any in the first place), you theoretically can replace both the cream of tartar AND baking soda with baking powder, which is just cream of tartar and baking soda mixed together.
So in this recipe, ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar + ½ teaspoon baking soda = ¾ teaspoon baking powder as a substitute.
How to Make Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Pumpkin snickerdoodles are incredibly easy to make with modest prep time, but you must chill the dough before baking the cookies.
As long as you plan accordingly, you should have no trouble prepping this fall-themed pumpkin dessert with a chewy texture!
Step 1: Combine the wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), mix together the butter and sugars, then add in the pure pumpkin puree.
Step 2: Egg. Add in the egg yolk from a large egg, vanilla extract (1 or 2 teaspoons), and mix. You only need the yolk, not the white. Save it for an omelet, scrambled eggs, or discard.
Step 3: Combine the dry ingredients. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking soda, cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Step 4: Finish the cookie dough. Add the dry ingredients to wet and fold to combine.
Step 5: Chill the cookie dough. Form into a big mound, and wrap the dough mound in plastic wrap (or pop the whole mixing bowl, covered in plastic wrap in the fridge if you have space) and chill for 1-2 hours. You cannot skip this step!
Step 6: Assemble. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop the chilled cookie dough into oversized tablespoon sized balls.
Step 7: Roll. In a small bowl, add the cinnamon, sugar, mix, and roll each cookie dough ball through the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Step 8: Bake. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 min, or until the edges are set and the center is barely set. Cool on a wire rack.
Tips for Making Snickerdoodles with Pumpkin
This is a very simple recipe that’s tough to mess up. However, there are a few key things to remember when making snickerdoodles with pumpkin puree.
Pumpkin puree: You must use pure pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling. Check the ingredients to make sure there’s just 100% pumpkin listed on the can.
Spices: I used a blend of pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and cloves to make this recipe, but in a pinch I bet you’d be fine to use all pumpkin pie spice, which actually is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and sometimes lemon peel.
However, I love extra cinnamon and the extra half teaspoon ground cinnamon (or full teaspoon) plus the additional cloves add flavor and warmth. But always add the spices to your preferences.
Allspice, or a (half or full) teaspoon ground nutmeg, or a half teaspoon ground ginger, are also great warming spices that would be great here!
Egg yolk: This recipe calls for one egg yolk. You can either discard the egg white or place it in a jar to use tomorrow in your morning scrambled eggs. Pumpkin is already very moist, so you need just the egg yolk to bind the cookie dough together.
Chill time: Do NOT short-change chilling the dough! If you skip this step, your pumpkin snickerdoodles cookies will spread and will bake more like a pumpkin pancake puddle rather than like cookies. That’s because these snickerdoodles started with warm, melted butter.
Bake time: Watch your cookies and not the clock when baking these easy snickerdoodles. You want to err on the side of slightly underbaking them so that they stay soft, tender, and chewy for days afterwards. The cookies are done when the edges are set and the centers are just barely set but still a little glossy.
Extra Cinnamon-Sugar: Sometimes it can seem that the cinnamon-sugar coating almost disappears during the baking process. But don’t worry if that happens to you! Simply sprinkle the baked cookies with an extra large pinch of cinnamon-sugar right after you pull them out of them oven while they’re cooling on the baking sheets.
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe FAQs
Cream of tartar makes snickerdoodles tangy and super chewy. It also reacts with the baking soda to make the dough rise in the oven and make the centers pillowy soft.
Yes, you can replace the ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar + ½ teaspoon baking soda with ¾ teaspoon baking powder. Baking powder is a mixture of cream of tartar and baking soda, but the ratios within the baking powder will be different from what the recipe calls for.
As such, I really recommend spending the couple bucks and using the cream of tartar and replacing with baking powder only if it’s absolutely necessary. 
I wrote an entire cookbook with 50+ pumpkin recipes called Cooking With Pumpkin in 2014.
And for that cookbook, and in every other pumpkin recipe on my website that calls for pumpkin puree, I always and only use Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin (puree). That’s because it’s always the same, there’s a standard, and therefore yours will be just like mine, which in baking helps control the results and outcome.
Therefore, possibly you can use your own homemade pumpkin puree but for me, it’s just not worth the work especially as the holidays approach. Plus, many people actually prefer the taste of canned to homemade.
That being said, your homemade puree will likely work, but homemade puree often contains more moisture than canned puree so I have heard of some people thoroughly blotting it with paper towels before using to remove a bit of liquid. But more likely, adding a bit more flour will be necessary.
YES! If you don’t chill the dough for 1-2 hours, the pumpkin snickerdoodles will spread in the oven and will end up being more like a pancake – flat and spread out, potentially crispy, and not at all soft and chewy like these easy snickerdoodles should be!
The melted butter used rather than simply softened butter is in large part why it’s essential to chill the dough. 
Yes you can. In fact, you can chill it for up to 3-4 days before you bake off the cookies. However, if you know you’re going to do an extended chilling, after about 1-2 hours, I recommend forming cookie dough balls with your cookie scoop, placing them on a plate, and covering that with plastic wrap until you’re ready to roll in cinnamon-and-sugar and bake them off.
That’s because dough sitting in a big mound (or inside a mixing bowl) will continue to get firmer the longer it’s in the fridge, and eventually it will simply become difficult to shape. Almost like chiseling it out rather than scooping it out which is impossible and a no-go! 
Yes you sure can, especially if you’re thinking about freezing these chewy snickerdoodles for safe keeping! Simply double all ingredients and bake as directed.
I have seen recipes for frosted pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies. If you want to make a batch of cream cheese frosting, go for it, and frost away! Note that unless you like a pretty thick layer of frosting on each cookie, you may want to halve that recipe that I linked.
Storage Instructions
Feel free to make the dough a few days ahead of time and store in the fridge until you’re ready to roll, coat, and bake the cookies.
The raw cookie dough can also be rolled into balls and frozen until ready to coat in cinnamon sugar and bake. You can bake the cookie dough straight from frozen — just add 1 to 2 minutes to the total bake time.
Baked pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies can be stored in an airtight container on your counter for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 egg yolk, from a large egg (discard white or save for your morning eggs)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin spice
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar*
Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
- ⅓ to ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Cookie Dough – To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl with handheld electric mixer), add the melted and cooled (make sure it's cool or you will scramble the egg), sugars, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the pumpkin puree and beat to incorporate.
- Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and beat to incorporate. Stop and scape down the sides of the bowl. Set aside momentarily.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, cream of tartar *(See Notes) salt, and whisk to combine. Spices Tips – I add extra cinnamon and cloves because I am fond of the flavor. However, most blends of "pumpkin pie spice" contain a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and sometimes lemon peel. Therefore, if you want to just add a bit more pumpkin pie spice if you don't have individual spices, go for it. And/or add other spices to your liking, i.e. ground ginger, ground nutmeg, etc. It's all personal preference.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and beat on low speed to just incorporate; do not overmix.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. Chilling Tips – If you don't have room for the whole mixing bowl, make a dough mound and wrap that in plastic wrap, and then place it in the fridge. You MUST chill the dough because it's far too soft to bake with at this point and your cookies will spread horribly if you attempt it. You can chill the dough longer than 2 hours (up to 24-36 hours before baking it) however if you plan to chill for more than 2 hours, form the cookie dough mounds or balls within the 2 hour window or else the dough could become unreasonably stiff and difficult to work with.
- After 1-2 hours, remove the dough from the fridge, and using a medium cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and form approximately 16 equal sized balls of dough. Give each ball a quick roll between your palms to smooth; set aside on baking sheets momentarily.
- Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats, parchment paper, or spray the baking sheets well with nonstick spray.
- Cinnamon-Sugar – To a medium bowl (not too small because you have to roll the dough balls through it), add the graulated sugar, cinnamon, and stir to combine.
- Roll each mound of dough through the cinnamon sugar, and place about 8 mounds per baking sheet, evenly spaced. You do not need to flatten the dough mounds.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, or as needed until done. Baking Tips – I always perfer baking one sheet of cookies at a time, on the center rack, and I rotate it midway through the baking time for the most even baking. However, you can bake two sheets at once if preferred. Baking time is just an estimate or guideline, and your cookies may take more or less time to bake depending on your oven, how cold the dough was going into the oven, the exact size of your cookie dough balls, etc. Cookies are done when they are set on the top and lightly golden browned and will have the tell-tale crinkling of a snickerdoodle cookie, although that also continues to develop at the cookies cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes, or until cool and set enough to transfer to wire racks, where they can cool completely. Cinnamon-Sugar Tip – Sometimes it can seem that the cinnamon-sugar coating almost disappears during the baking process. But don't worry if that happens to you! Simply sprinkle the baked cookies with an extra large pinch of cinnamon-sugar right after you pull them out of them oven while they're cooling on the baking sheets.
- Storage – Cookies will keep airtight at room temp for about 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 48 hours or so, or in the freezer for 3-4 months. If baking from frozen, add a couple minutes of baking time once in the oven, but you don't need to wait for them to thaw fully on the countertop before baking.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Pumpkin Cookie Recipes:
If you’re a pumpkin fan, check out ALL MY PUMPKIN RECIPES!
Cooking With Pumpkin: Recipes That Go Beyond the Pie is my second cookbook and was released October, 2014. There’s over 50 pumpkin recipes including sweets, savory, drinks, and a photo for nearly every recipe. I’d be super grateful if you headed over to Amazon!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies — These pumpkin oatmeal cookies are bursting with chocolate chips in every bite! They’re thick, hearty, perfectly chewy, and not at all cakey.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies — Between the molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice extract that I used, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies beautifully showcase the flavors of fall!
Pumpkin Spice Cookies — These pumpkin spice cookies are made without pumpkin puree but are full of flavor thanks to the pumpkin pie spice! These are so soft and fluffy!
Buttery Pecan Pumpkin Spice Cookies – Buttery soft dough with big chunky pecans in every bite! Salty-and-sweet and so hard to resist!
Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies — Soft, chewy, loads of white chocolate, and so much pumpkin flavor!! A pinch of salt balances the sweet white chocolate for a salty-and-sweet treat!!
Iced Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies — Soft and pillowy pumpkin cookies that are chock full of pumpkin spice and everything nice! The icing takes these cookies over the top. An EASY pumpkin oatmeal cookie recipe that does NOT require any dough chilling, making these a FAST treat to whip up!
Should the flour and dry ingredients be sifted?
I do not bother sifting for this recipe (nor almost any). If I ever think it’s essential I call it out but this one is just an easy add right in.
I tried to print the Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and my printer did not do it.. So I went back and there was no area to Print again. Please send me this receipe. I’m going to see whats up with the other and see if there is a receipe. Thank you and so glad I came across your Blog
In the recipe card section, there is a large black button with the word PRINT on it. Click that and you can print. It’s working just fine on my end.