Crispy, chewy pumpkin spice snickerdoodles turn a classic cookie into something extra special! This easy recipe has everything you love about tender and chewy Snickerdoodle cookies, with a punch of pumpkin spice that’s perfect for fall.
Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Try these soft-baked pumpkin cookies packed with pumpkin puree and these pumpkin crumb cake cookies topped with a delicious buttery crumble.
Fall is just the best. Spending cozy days indoors as the weather gets cooler, the house filled with the smell of pumpkin desserts baking. These soft, chewy, zingy, totally phenom pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies have me fully on the bandwagon! Is there anything more synonymous with fall than pumpkin spice? Here’s why I love ’em:
- Filled with fall spice. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger really speak to me this time of year, and these snickerdoodles are packed with wonderfully spicy, sugary crunch. Using a pumpkin pie spice blend means you don’t have to measure out the individual spices (but you can do that, too, if you want to).
- Simple to make. I love this recipe because the cookie dough is super simple. Partly because, and this might offend some snickerdoodle purists, I don’t add cream of tartar to these snickerdoodles. While I let the collective gasp settle, I encourage you to throw caution to the wind. These pumpkin spiced cookies come out soft, chewy, and tender just the same!
- A spiced twist on a classic. I really only make this pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe once the leaves start changing, but they’re worth the wait. They’re a fun fall twist on classic snickerdoodle cookies and they’re just as great on a holiday cookie platter. Enjoy them with a glass of milk into the festive season and beyond.
What You’ll Need
Below are some notes on what you’ll need to make these pumpkin pie spice cookies from scratch. Scroll to the recipe card for a printable list with amounts.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – Also called mixed spice, you can find this in the spice aisle of most supermarkets. It’s a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, and allspice. You can also make it yourself, see below.
- Butter – Unsalted and brought to room temperature beforehand.
- Sugar – You’ll need both granulated sugar and light brown sugar.
- Eggs – Whole eggs, plus one egg yolk. The extra yolk makes the cookies extra chewy. For best results, bring your eggs to room temperature, too.
- Vanilla – Make sure it’s real vanilla extract and not imitation!
- All-Purpose Flour – If you don’t have a kitchen scale, use the trusted spoon and sweep method for measuring: Use a spoon to fill and level the measuring cup so that the flour doesn’t get packed too firmly (and turn the cookies dry).
- Baking Powder and Salt – Check the date on your baking powder to make sure it hasn’t expired. Fun fact: some baking powders actually contain cream of tartar as their acidic part. Snickerdoodle purists, rejoice! At least a little.
What Can I Use if I Don’t Have Pumpkin Pie Spice?
To make one tablespoon of homemade pumpkin pie spice, combine 2 teaspoons of cinnamon with ½ teaspoon of ginger, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, and about ⅛ teaspoon of allspice or cloves. Whisk everything together and it’s ready to use.
You can even scale up the batch and store this spice blend airtight in the pantry. Use it in more baking recipes, from classic homemade pumpkin pie to pumpkin spice sugar cookies and pumpkin spice Krispie Treats.
How to Make Pumpkin Spiced Snickerdoodles
I can attest that after making this recipe both with and without cream of tartar, I personally can’t taste the difference! That being said, if you can’t imagine your snickerdoodle cookies without, use the dough from my classic snickerdoodles and simply substitute pumpkin spice in place of cinnamon in the sugar coating.
Follow these steps to make this (equally) deliciously chewy version. Scroll down to the recipe card for the printable instructions!
- Make the cookie dough. Start by creaming butter with both sugars, then beat in the eggs and an extra egg yolk, followed by the vanilla. Next, add the pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt, and slowly mix in the flour to form the dough.
- Chill the dough. Once the dough is ready, cover and chill it in the fridge for an hour. In the meantime, I usually mix the pumpkin pie spice with light brown sugar for the coating.
- Roll and coat the dough. Take out your cookie dough and scoop it into large, even-sized balls. Coat each ball in the prepared spiced sugar and then arrange them on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake in a 375ºF oven for 7-8 minutes until the bottoms are browning slightly. Afterward, transfer the snickerdoodles from the tray to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Tips for Success
- Easily separate the egg yolk. Over a bowl, crack an egg into your hand and allow the egg white to drip into a bowl to be disregarded. You can place the yolk in a separate bowl or add it directly to the butter mixture.
- No mixer? No problem. If you don’t have a stand or hand mixer, you can give the wet ingredients a good beating with a whisk instead, and fold the cookie dough together by hand.
- Chill the dough. Chilling the snickerdoodle cookie dough before baking keeps the cookies from spreading too thin in the oven. Your dough can be chilled anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour for best results.
- Don’t over-measure. I mentioned it earlier, but spooning and sweeping is a tried-and-true method to ensure you don’t use too much flour in your cookies. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup instead of scooping the cup directly into the flour, and level it without packing it too firmly.
- Make the dough ahead. You can freeze the raw cookie dough balls (without the sugar coating) for up to 3 months. Check out my post on how to freeze cookie dough for some tips on how to do it.
How to Store
- On the counter. Store these pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-5 days (though in my house, they rarely last that long!).
- Freeze. You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Store them airtight and thaw the cookies at room temperature before serving.
- Gingerdoodles
- Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
- Cake Mix Pumpkin Cookies
- Chewy Apple Cider Cookies
- Salted Honey Chewy Pumpkin Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 24 large cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies have all the softness and chew of classic snickerdoodles, with a punch of seasonal pumpkin spice!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs plus 1 yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
Coating
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
Instructions
- In bowl of stand mixer cream butter and both sugars together for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in both eggs and additional yolk into butter along with vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping the sides as necessary.
- Mix in Pumpkin Pie Spice, baking powder and salt until combined.
- Reduce speed on mixer to low and mix in flour until dough comes together.
- Chill dough for at least an hour.
- When ready to bake, line baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 375°F.
- Mix coating ingredients (light brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice) together in a bowl, set aside.
- Roll dough into large balls, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and then roll into the sugar/pumpkin pie spice mixture, coating completely.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.
Notes
Store airtight for up to 3 days at room temperature
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 178
- Sugar: 11.6 g
- Sodium: 82.7 mg
- Fat: 8.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Protein: 2.2 g
- Cholesterol: 35.8 mg
Absolutely LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it so many times and it’s always a favorite.
For me, 11 minutes in the oven is the perfect number. Still perfectly soft days after baking. 8 minutes is too raw, and 15 is way overcooked.
These cookies look raw coming out of the oven (even at 11 minutes) but I PROMISE they are perfect, just trust the process!
I never thought I’d say this about a cookie that doesn’t contain chocolate, but…these might be my favorite cookies of all time!!! I have made sooo many batches. I make them every single year. I bring them to events. They’re easy and they are DELICIOUS! I look forward to them every fall!!
Oh I love hearing that!
After an epic fail on another recipe, this one turned out. I didn´t have room temperature butter so I microwaved it checking every ten seconds until it was just soft. I then made the balls immediately and placed the cookie sheet with the balls on them in the freezer for 20 minutes. I cooked for 8 minutes and they seemed still gooey in the middle so I turned the over off and left them in there for 15 minutes more and they came out perfectly.
What about the brown sugar do I make sure the cup is leveled and packed down tightly?
packed!
Do I have to use regular kosher salt or can I use coarse kosher salt ?
If you use coarse you might just have some salty pockets as it won’t mix in as evenly!
Followed the recipe perfectly still raw even after cooking for 15minutes instead of 7-8 minutes flavors good though just raw a doughy in the middle maybe because I used a toaster oven I upped the temperature to 400 and the rest of the cookies came out though just not the first batch
Just made these, sooo delicious!! I thought I had burned them slightly because they were dark on the bottom but I think that’s just because of the sugar around the cookie that was underneath because they are definitely not burned. Altogether I baked for 12-13 min because after 8 min they were very gooey inside still, I thought I made them the right size but maybe they were slightly bigger. Mine expanded a little but still remained a little high, even though I pressed them down a little before baking, but that doesn’t bother me because they’re so good!!