These pumpkin snickerdoodles are everything you love about snickerdoodles and pumpkin pie in one. I love the sweet flavor and creamy texture that the white chocolate chips add, but feel free to leave them out. Adapted from my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, this cookie dough comes together without an egg and the cookies have a wonderfully chewy texture.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
If the end of summer has a silver lining, it’s that September marks the start of the Fall Baking Season. And when the weather begins to cool down, I always enjoy baking a batch of seasonal cookies. We have plenty of recipes to choose from and I have even more in my cookie cookbook!
My brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies are one of my favorites because they’re made with ultra-flavorful brown butter. (An over-the-top cookie, try them ASAP!) Then there’s my regular pumpkin cookies, which are similar to cakey muffin tops. They’re definitely delicious, but sometimes you crave a pumpkin cookie that has the same dense & chewy texture as a regular chocolate chip cookie. That’s where my beloved chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies come in. Today’s pumpkin snickerdoodles are a variation of that recipe. So good and always a hit!
These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles Are:
- A reader-favorite recipe since 2014.
- Deliciously spiced—and you can use homemade pumpkin pie spice!
- Egg free. See all of my egg-free baking recipes.
- Excellent both with and without white chocolate chips.
- Pretty quick—only 30 minutes of refrigerator chill time.
- One of my favorite recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree.
My best advice: Make a double batch, because these disappear quickly!
One reader, Kristen, commented: “Such a delicious fall cookie! Made these for the first time and shared them with my family and coworkers. They got rave reviews! They remained chewy and soft with that slight wonderful bite from the rolled sugar. I made mine a bit smaller than pictured, but they still came out amazing. I am saving this recipe. I agree, you need to make a double batch of these. ★★★★★“
Before You Begin, Blot the Pumpkin
This is actually optional, but I find it remarkably useful when I make brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies and soft pumpkin cookies.
Pumpkin is approximately 90% water by mass, which isn’t really useful in a chewy cookie recipe. (Think about it—there isn’t usually liquid in a chocolate chip cookie recipe, is there?) Using a paper towel, blot out some of the pumpkin’s moisture, so all that’s left is the flavor:
Here Are All of My Success Tips
- Skip the egg: What is the purpose of eggs in a cookie recipe? They bind ingredients together, tenderize the texture, and leave behind moisture. After some experimenting, I cut out the egg completely because pumpkin can replace it. If you’re in need of other egg-free cookie recipes, check out my shortbread recipe.
- Use both baking powder AND baking soda: To ensure these pumpkin snickerdoodles rise and hold their shape, use both and make sure they’re fresh. I replace them every 3 months because I find they lose their strength not much longer after that.
- Add plenty of spice: You can use store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice, plus extra cinnamon in the dough and more for the coating.
- Slightly flatten the balls before baking: The cookies won’t spread unless you give them a head-start. Slightly flatten the balls of dough before baking, as pictured below.
- Chill the cookie dough: Chilling the cookie dough helps guarantee the cookies don’t overspread. The dough only needs about 30 minutes in the refrigerator before shaping and baking. Pretty quick!
- Give it time: Let the pumpkin snickerdoodles cool on a cooling rack for a while. Like any cookie, they’re tasty warm from the oven, but I find their chewiness and flavor amplify over time. Sometimes I even leave them uncovered on the cooling rack overnight. The next day, they’re chewier and more flavorful. (Now the real test is if you can wait that long to dig in!)
These Step Photos Will Help:
While you can leave them out if desired, the white chocolate chips add texture and a deliciously sweet and creamy flavor. I love them both ways. Here is the cookie dough plain, and again with the white chocolate chips mixed in.
After 30 minutes of chilling, the cookie dough is a little more solid and sturdy and that’s because there’s butter in the dough. (Butter solidifies when it’s cold.) Use a medium cookie scoop to shape each ball of dough. You need 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie:
Roll the dough balls in a cinnamon-sugar mixture, and then arrange on a lined baking sheet. Slightly flatten the cookie dough balls with the bottom of a spoon or cup:
Plain or White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Considering the flavor, texture, and ease of this recipe—these pumpkin snickerdoodles are nothing short of a dream! Many readers bake them with white chocolate chips, but I love them plain. You could even swap the white chocolate chips for cinnamon chip morsels, a product by Hershey’s that you can usually find around the holidays.
P.S.: Because this recipe uses only 6 Tbsp of pumpkin puree, you may have extras to use up. Here are recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree. For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ best pumpkin dessert recipes.
And if snickerdoodles are your thing, don’t sleep on these recipes: classic snickerdoodles (a no-chill cookie recipe), caramel snickerdoodles, and maple pecan snickerdoodles. Oh, and don’t forget snickerdoodle blondies, snickerdoodle cupcakes and snickerdoodle cake!
More Fall Baking Recipes
- Pumpkin Bars
- Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- Pumpkin Donuts & Pumpkin Scones
- Apple Pie Bars
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cake & Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft & chewy snickerdoodle cookies are full of pumpkin, white chocolate, and cinnamon sugar. Warning: they disappear quickly, so make a double batch!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 Tablespoons (86g) pumpkin puree (see note)*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
- optional: 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips, plus a few extra for the tops
Coating
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and blotted pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, if using. The chips may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to combine.
- Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes or up to 3 days. Chilling the dough is a must for this recipe.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape & coat the cookie dough balls: Scoop the dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and roll each into balls. Mix the coating ingredients together, and then roll each cookie dough ball generously in the cinnamon-sugar coating. Arrange cookie dough balls 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a cup/measuring cup, slightly flatten the tops of the dough balls. (Without doing so, the cookies may not spread.)
- Bake for 11–12 minutes or until the edges appear set. The cookies will look very soft in the center. Remove from the oven. If you find that your cookies didn’t spread much at all, flatten them out gently with the back of a spoon when you take them out of the oven. If desired, press a few white chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. This is only for looks.
- Cool cookies on the baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The longer the cookies cool, the better they taste! The flavor gets stronger and the texture becomes chewier. I usually let them sit, uncovered, for several hours before serving. Chewiness and pumpkin flavor are even stronger on day 2.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature, then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls for up to 3 months before baking. It’s best to freeze them without the cinnamon-sugar coating. When you are ready to bake, remove the dough balls from the freezer, let sit for 30 minutes, preheat the oven, and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar topping. Here are my tips for how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Pumpkin: Squeeze as much of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree as you can before adding it to the cookie dough. I simply squeeze the puree with paper towels. See photo in the post for a visual. This will help produce a less cakey cookie. Less moisture is a good thing here! Measure 6 Tablespoons AFTER the pumpkin has been squeezed/blotted. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each: ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. This is in addition to the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that.
- Chilled Dough: If you are chilling the pumpkin cookie dough for longer than 30 minutes, the cookie dough will likely have to sit on the counter at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before scooping/rolling because it will be quite cold and solid. The amount of time it needs to sit at room temperature depends on how long the dough has chilled. If I chill my cookie dough for around 24 hours, I let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Bigger Batch: Cookie recipe can easily be doubled by doubling each ingredient. Chill the cookie dough for 45 minutes.
- White Chocolate Chips: Feel free to leave these out or replace with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or cinnamon chip morsels.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi! I’ve been using this recipe since the 9th grade – around that 2014 timeframe! I always find this recipe from my old Pinterest account! I look forward to revisiting this and trying it eggless along with a few of the other modifications!
Thanks for the great recipe and memories,
Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the recipe! Made the first batch without squeezing out a lot of the moisture from the Pumpkin Puree, so the cookies were more cake like. Made the second batch by squeezing out most of the moisture from the Pumpkin Puree and they were much better. The pumpkin taste in the cookies were much richer.
I really loved your original recipe with the cinnamon chips but lost my copy. Do you not share it anymore? Just this updated version?
Hi Amanda, this is the same recipe, but just swap the white chocolate chips with cinnamon chips!
Absolutely wonderful recipe I did substitute the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice when rolling before baking to add another layer of pumpkin flavor to the cookie itself. They turned out absolutely amazing.
I love this recipe, I’m about to make a double batch. I don’t change the recipe one bit but a great shortcut is a cookie scoop for the dough, leave the bottom flat and the top rounded instead of rolling into balls then flattening the top. They bake up beautifully shaped
Just made a TRIPLE batch of these lovelies to take to work. These are my new favourite cookie.
THE BEST fall cookie! My husband requests (demands?) I make them every year! They always turn out perfect.
Can I use SOLD ( 100% PURE Can Pumpkin ?) and no SQUEEZE. THANKS
Hi Patricia, yes, you want 100% pure pumpkin puree from a can here. You do want to squeeze as much of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree as you can before adding it to the cookie dough. We simply squeeze the puree with paper towels. See photo in the post for a visual. This will help produce a less cakey cookie. Less moisture is a good thing here! Measure 6 Tablespoons AFTER the pumpkin has been squeezed/blotted.
These are a family favorite! We make them manyyyy times from September through the new year. It’s my husbands favorite cookie too so we usually make a batch for his birthday or Father’s Day. I’ve made them without blotting the pumpkin (accidentally forgetting) and definitely prefer to blot! Still came out tasty though.
Hello! I wanted to make these and send some to my friend (from Colorado to California). Is there a way you recommend storing and shipping them? Thanks 🙂
Hi Laoura, Here is exactly how we ship cookies. Hope your friend enjoys them!
Cookies were good! I wished they spread a bit more, the dough was quite crumbly.
Also, there was no pumpkin flavour, tasted like regular snickerdoodles.
Probably would recommend another recipe.
Something isn’t right then. I made these, followed directions perfectly and got puffy clouds that melt in your mouth, taste like pumpkin and are a total crowd pleaser.
It seems odd that no eggs are in this recipe…
I have never made cookies without using eggs.
Hi Mary! The purpose of eggs in cookie recipes is to bind ingredients together, tenderize the texture, and leave behind moisture. After some experimenting, we cut out the egg completely here because pumpkin can replace it.
Delicious! I’ve made them twice in the past 2 weeks and I love the flavor and the texture!
So glad you read you love these cookies, Catherine!
Totally delicious cinnamon and sugar spice autumnal cookie. Not chewy at all, totally a cake type cookie, which I was looking forward to the chew after following the recipe to a T. Alas, still very tasty. Not really a snickerdoodle in texture though if you’re looking for that. Thanks for the recipe Sally’s Baking!
Great recipe. Follow Sally’s instructions and you will have great cookies for any occasion.
If I wanted to use cream of tartar in place of the baking soda for the traditional snickerdoodle tang, how would I substitute?
Hi Najja, Cream of tartar is usually used in traditional snickerdoodles– helps with leavening and adds a little tang. It’s not necessary in this pumpkin variation though, and we haven’t tested swapping it with the baking soda. It would take a bit of experimenting. Let us know if you try anything.
Thanks for all of your work here over the years, providing recipes that generally produce good results! I added a couple yolks here to help the spread of the cookies during baking, and yes, I added a 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, as I personally, love that tangy flavor, traditional in many a Snickerdoodle recipe. I don’t think calling this cookie a Snickerdoodle, without using cream of tartar, is an accurate description. The dough without eggs nor the cream of tartar, is that of just a fluffy, eggless, autumn sugar cookie. It’s tasty, just too different in flavor.
Looking to make these this weekend! We don’t love white chocolate and cinnamon chips are hard to find at our local store. Would dark chocolate or butterscotch chips work?
Butterscotch chips would be delightful in this recipe, Anna!
I think I “over-blotted” the pumpkin. I used cheesecloth and squeezed out quite a bit of liquid, but resulting dough was not that soft – definitely didn’t need to be refrigerated to be workable. I was able to scoop it out right away and the resulting cookies were rather heavy. I’m going to try to ‘re-hydrate’ the leftover pumpkin and attempt another batch. Any guidance on what the consistency of the pumpkin should be? Mine was a like a pretty thick paste – like tomato paste or maybe even a little drier.
Hi Susan! That does sound like too much moisture was lost. We recommend squeezing the puree with paper towels instead. See photo in the post for a visual!
Your website doesn’t work very well. Made the Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and they were not like regular Snickerdoodles. They were same size as when I put them in, did not crackle. Next time I will add eggs, which this recipe does not call for.
Hi S. Voth, usually when cookies don’t spread, there’s too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
I’ve been making this recipe since I found it 10 years ago, and it’s always a guranteed hit. The best of the PSL baking I’ve ever found. I learned to be careful not to overbake so they stay chewy once they totally cool down. Can second that they taste even better the next day. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it’s brought me so much joy!
I make snickerdoodles for my grandson who can’t have dairy. The recipe uses shortening. What do you suggest to adapt the pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe?
Hi Ellen, you can try shortening here, but the results may change a bit (shortening has a higher water content than butter). You could also try a vegan butter. We haven’t tested either, but let us know if you give it a try!
hi sally ! i absolutely love these cookies & your recipes !! (: i just had one question regarding these pumpkin snickerdoodles .
my cookies always crack on the sides when i bake them & especially when i flatten them is there anything i can do to fix that ?
Hi Kathleen, Some cracks in the tops of the baked cookies are normal. It’s possible there was a lack of moisture in the dough. Be sure to spoon and level your flour to ensure it isn’t over measured. Thanks again for trying these!
This is a long shot, but do you still have the original recipe that featured cinnamon chips instead of white chocolate? I could be mis-remembering, but I swear the ingredient ratios are a little different and it’s driving me nuts!
Hi Nikki, same recipe, but just swap the white chocolate chips with cinnamon chips!
I made these today. I doubled the batch since I always take a few to share with my teacher friends at school. I like the texture. I may add more cinnamon and pumpkin spice the next time I make them. I want to see how the flavor is tomorrow since it should get stronger as they sit.
Another lovely recipe, thank you. I used butter-flavored shortening instead of butter as I was short of the latter. They baked beautifully. Delicious!
I’m looking forward to making these with my grandchildren, once it cools down in Arizona and actually feels like Fall! Is this cookie ‘sturdy’ enough to make into ice cream sandwiches, as you show with your chocolate chip cookie recipe?
Sounds delicious, Susan! These are soft cookies, but I could see them making nice ice cream sandwiches. Let us know if you try!
First attempt at making these and they turned out so good. Very easy to make and they were so soft and flavorful when they were ready to eat.
Hi! Do you have any tips for converting to a larger size cookie? For instance, using 1/4c of dough/cookie. Do you think the recipe has to be adjusted at all, or just baking time? Thanks!
Hi Beth, they will need to be baked a minute or two longer depending on how much larger you’re making them.
I love this recipe and have made it before, but they just don’t seem like snickerdoodles without cream of tartar. I found a pioneer woman recipe that’s REALLY similar to yours but has a teaspoon of cream of tartar for that little tangy edge , so I’m going to toss some into this recipe when I make it in a few hours and I’ll report back.
Really enjoyed this one, very easy to throw together and so tasty – did 1/2 with white chocolate chis and half plain – all were gone!