These chewy pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are the best pumpkin cookies around! With browned butter, warm spices, and pumpkin mixed into the dough, they're deliciously soft, chewy, and full of cozy fall flavor! A light sprinkling of sea salt on top really helps round out all the delicious flavors.
what makes these the best pumpkin cookies?
- brown butter: Is there anything she can't do?? Browned butter really does make any delicious recipe EXTRA delicious. The light nutty flavor and deep richness it brings to the cookies is just so dang good! Using brown butter also gives us a fudgier and chewier cookie.
- pumpkin: These cookies feature a heaping ½ cup of pumpkin without compromising the chewy cookie texture!
- texture: I already kind of mentioned this, but it deserves its own point. These cookies are chewy, fudgy, and so soft! While pumpkin cookies have a habit of coming out cakey, these cookies still maintain that classic cookie density.
- a sprinkling of sea salt flakes: This really takes these cookies over the edge!! We have a lot of richness going on here, so a little pinch of sea salt over each cookie helps round out all the flavors and create a beautifully balanced cookie. It is optional, but highly recommended!!
the best pumpkin for pumpkin cookies
When choosing your can of pumpkin, make sure to grab pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling!! Pumpkin pie filling has added spices (which aren't a big deal if you like the flavor) but it also contains added sugar which can make these cookies sickeningly sweet. It's also best to look for "100%" or "pure" pumpkin puree - there's really no need for any sort of additives.
When picking the pumpkin puree, it's also important to note that the moisture level can differ from brand to brand. I've tried these cookies with a lot of different brands and they always turn out perfectly delicious every time.
But that being said, for an extra chewy cookie, brands with lower moisture content are best and yield most consistent results. One of my personal favorite brands is Libby's pumpkin puree - I feel like it's really the best option to use for baking because of its relatively firmer texture.
Avoid fresh or organic pumpkin purees as these tend to carry a lot more moisture.
how to make chewy pumpkin cookies
1. Brown butter. Browning butter is super simple and just involves cooking butter until it melts, sizzles, and eventually browns! It makes any recipe taste extra special.
2. Cool the butter to room temperature. Pour the butter into a bowl and set it aside to cool. The butter should still be liquid but not hot at all. If it's still hot when you add the sugar in, it can cause the cookies to overspread!
3. Whisk sugars into butter followed by egg yolk and vanilla. The butter and sugar mixture may look a little grainy, but that's fine! Just make sure you can't see any more granules of dry sugar before adding in the egg and vanilla.
4. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
5. Finally, fold in the dry ingredients.
6. Whisk together sugar and pumpkin spice in a separate bowl, then scoop out portions of dough and roll in spiced sugar.
7. Arrange the cookie dough balls on baking sheets and bake.
8. Allow the cookies to cool before serving. As the cookies cool, the centers will sink slightly and give you those classic crackly cookie tops. Top the cookies with a pinch of flakey sea salt before digging in!
tips
- measuring your flour: For accurate measurements, it's best to use a food scale to weigh out your flour. If you don't have a scale (or just prefer to use cups), make sure you use the spoon and level method to measure the flour: spoon the flour into your cup and use a flat utensil to level off the excess. Never scoop flour directly from the bag using your measuring cup otherwise this can cause extra weight worth of flour to pack in - leading to dry and crumbly cookies.
- spices: If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, an equal amount of ground cinnamon works great as a substitute. You could also use your own favorite blend of fall spices or make your own pumpkin pie spice at home!
- brown butter: It's VERY important to ensure you don't move on with any steps in the recipe before the brown butter has cooled to room temperature. If the brown butter is warm, it can cause overspreading.
- room temperature: Along with the brown butter, the other refrigerated ingredients should also be at room temperature to ensure the batter mixes up smoothly. If cold ingredients hit the browned butter, it will cause the mixture to clump up with pieces of solidified butter. This will lead to little pockets of butter that will melt unpredictably.
- dark brown sugar: You can use light brown sugar if that's all you have on hand, but the added moisture in dark brown sugar makes these cookies extra soft and chewy!
- mixing the dough: Take care not to overmix the cookie dough to ensure the cookies come out tender and soft! Overworked cookie dough will lead to dense and hard cookies.
storage
Once cooled to room temperature, keep cookies covered tightly with plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container or plastic bag to seal in freshness. Pumpkin cookies will keep for about 4-5 days at room temperature or around 1 week in the fridge. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls for baking off later!
To freeze, arrange the scooped cookie dough balls (without coating in sugar) on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop into the freezer for about 1 hour or until frozen solid. Once solidified, transfer the balls of cookie dough into a freezer bag and seal tightly (pushing out as much air as you can). Store for 1-2 months frozen.
When it comes to baking frozen cookie dough, you can bake them straight from the freezer or defrost them beforehand. The colder the cookies are when they go into the oven, the less they'll spread and the thicker and cakier they'll be.
To bake off frozen cookie dough, first take out the number of cookie dough balls you want to bake off and roll in the cinnamon sugar. If the sugar isn't sticking well to the frozen cookies, allow them to sit for just 10 to 15 minutes or until the surface of the dough just begins to thaw and then try again. Bake as instructed but tag on an extra 1 to 2 minutes to account for defrosting.
To bake defrosted cookie dough, you can let it defrost on your counter or in the fridge (again, keep in mind that cold dough will spread less). Once fully defrosted, roll in sugar and bake normally.
check out these other recipes!
• Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes
• Brown Butter Maple Blondies
• Brown Butter Maple Crumb Cake
• Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies
Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.
Print
Chewy Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 cookies
Description
These chewy pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are the best pumpkin cookies around! With browned butter, warm spices, and pumpkin mixed into the dough, they're deliciously soft, chewy, and full of cozy fall flavor! A light sprinkling of sea salt on top really helps round out all the delicious flavors.
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, cut into slices
- 2 & ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (100g) dark brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120g) pure pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
For the sugar coating:
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- sea salt flakes (optional - for topping)
Instructions
- Brown the butter. Add butter to a medium skillet or saucepot. Place the butter over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the butter has melted, simmers, and eventually turns a golden brown color. This whole process will take about 5 to 8 minutes. Take care not to overcook the butter or it may burn.
- Working quickly so the butter doesn't continue to cook due to the residual heat from the pan, pour it into a heat safe bowl. Set aside to cool completely to room temperature before moving on. The butter should still be liquid but should no longer feel hot. *Hot butter will cause the cookies to overspread!
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- The key to a perfectly chewy cookie starts with ensuring the flour is measured correctly. Make sure to either measure by weight or by using the "spoon and level" method (see above post for more detail).
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt to combine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine cooled brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Whisk together until you no longer see dry granules of sugar. The mixture may look a little grainy but that's fine!
- Add in the egg yolk and vanilla and whisk until smooth and combined. Finally, whisk in the pumpkin puree.
- Add the flour mixture in and fold together until you no longer see any dry streaks of flour. Take care not to overwork the cookie dough otherwise it may make the cookies tough.
- In a medium bowl or plate, mix together sugar and pumpkin spice for the sugar coating.
- Use a large 2oz cookie scoop to scoop out balls of cookie dough. Drop the dough into your bowl of spiced sugar and roll it around to coat all sides.
- Arrange the cookie dough balls on your parchment lined baking sheets, leaving at least 3 inches of space between each ball of dough.
- Bake the cookies in the center of your preheated 350F oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until puffed and golden brown along the edges.
- Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheets then transfer onto a wire rack and set aside to continue cooling. The centers of the cookies will sink slightly as they cool.
- Top cookies with a pinch of sea salt if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Bake Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Cookies
Enjoy!
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