pumpkin snickerdoodles
These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are soft and chewy and full of pumpkin-spiced flavor with a cinnamon-sugar coating. Delicious pumpkin cookies in under an hour!

Consider me 100% basic, but I am completely head-over-heels for Fall. I’ve got my windows open, that crisp-cool breeze flowing in, and me cozied up in a chunky sweater, baking these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles on the regular so my house can smell like warm fall spices all season long.
These easy cookies are quick enough to bake up a batch during naptime! Consider that my professional and parental tip for surviving back to school! Not only are they made in under an hour but they have a chewy texture that isn’t cakey. Try more fun fall baking recipes for the whole family like this apple cider donut cake, the best pumpkin muffins, or chocolate chip pumpkin bread!
Table of contents
Why this is the Best Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Recipe
- They’re incredibly soft and chewy. The combination of pumpkin with melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar gives these cookies the texture of a classic snickerdoodle cookie with a little more tenderness and spice.
- They taste exactly like a pumpkin cookie and a snickerdoodle cookie had a baby. A balanced combination of spiced pumpkin flavor, cinnamon-sugar and warm fall spices mixed together to make the very essence of fall in dessert form. This is why I can’t stop eating them (and neither can my family).
- They’re easy to make! Just mix together the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients, chill the dough, roll into balls, dip into cinnamon-sugar and bake. In less than one hour, you will have perfect cookies cooling. There isn’t even an egg or egg yolk needed.

Professional Tips for Making Chewy Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Do not skip chilling the dough! The dough is super-soft right after it’s mixed due to the pumpkin and melted butter, so it will spread like crazy in the oven if not chilled. The good news is you don’t need a stand mixer and there is no creaming required!
- Feel free to swap the canned pumpkin for fresh pumpkin puree. If you do roll like that and need ideas for those roasted pumpkin seeds, boy do I have ideas.
- You’ll need to press down the dough balls slightly before baking. Otherwise, they won’t spread very much in the oven. I pressed mine to just about 3/4- to 1-inch tall disks, and even then some of them didn’t spread enough. No worries — you can just press them down again after they’re baked.

Ingredients & Substitutions
- Unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter that is soft but still cool to the touch. This makes the chewiest cookies.
- Brown Sugar: Use light or dark brown sugar depending on what you have on hand.
- Granulated Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Pumpkin Puree: You can use homemade or canned pumpkin puree for this recipe but I always use Libby’s because it is consistent and doesn’t have as much water as others. Be sure not to use pumpkin pie filling. Use leftover canned pumpkin to make Pumpkin Challah, Pumpkin Brioche Rolls, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, or Pumpkin Chai Muffins — or freeze in a resealable freezer bag and use later to make more cookies!
- All-Purpose Flour: You can substitute Gluten-Free All Purpose flour.
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Kosher Salt
- Cinnamon
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can use your favorite brand of store-bought pumpkin pie spice or make Chef Lindsey’s perfect pumpkin spice recipe, which is a mix of ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and allspice! Mix up a big batch and use it along with the leftover pumpkin puree for no bake pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin cinnamon rolls!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Possible Variations
- Add chips, nuts or dried fruit: Add chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, or white chocolate chips. I also love the combination of dried fruit and nuts like dried cranberries and toasted pecans or dried cherries and walnuts.
- Spread on a frosting: Spread on a little cream cheese frosting, maple buttercream or even the brown butter frosting from these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. You could also try this easy cream cheese frosting for cookies!

How to Make The Best Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, whisk melted butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until smooth and combined. Whisk in vanilla and pumpkin until smooth.
Step 2: In a separate large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice until well combined.
Step 3: Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients; stir with spatula or large spoon until a very soft dough forms. Cover dough and chill 30-45 minutes.
Step 4: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll chilled cookie dough into 16-18 balls, about 1 1/2 tablespoons each. I use a cookie scoop for easy cookie dough portioning.
Step 5: In a small bowl, whisk remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon for topping. Roll cookie dough balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture, then transfer to prepared baking sheets. Press down each dough ball to flatten slightly (they won’t spread as well if you skip this step).
Step 6: Bake cookies one sheet at a time (refrigerate second baking sheet while first baking sheet is in oven), about 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are just set. Cookies will appear very soft and under-baked, but they will set up and bake through as they cool.
Step 7: Cool cookies 10 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with second baking sheet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store baked and cooled cookies in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. I recommend freezing unbaked or baked cookies if you desire to store them longer.
You can freeze the dough but I would roll them in cinnamon sugar right before baking. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F to bake from frozen or you risk overdone outsides and raw centers.
These cookies will ship well. I recommend packaging in tissue paper and a hard-sided tin or container to keep them from crushing each other. The cinnamon sugar will get all over, but I don’t thank the recipient will mind!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 16 to 18 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
You’re going to love to bake these pumpkin-flavored snickerdoodle cookies in the fall! Rolled in cinnamon-sugar and baked to soft, chewy perfection, every bite is pure autumn in cookie form.
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
For the cinnamon-sugar coating:
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until smooth and combined. Whisk in vanilla and pumpkin until smooth.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice until well combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients; stir with spatula or large spoon until a very soft dough forms. Cover dough and chill 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll chilled dough into 16-18 balls, about 1 1/2 tablespoons each. In a small bowl, whisk remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon for topping. Roll each dough ball in cinnamon-sugar mixture, then transfer to lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Press down each dough ball to flatten slightly (they won’t spread as well if you skip this step).
- Bake cookies one sheet at a time (refrigerate second baking sheet while first baking sheet is in oven), about 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are just set. Cookies will appear very soft and under-baked, but they will set up and bake through as they cool. Cool cookies 10 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with second baking sheet.
- Store baked and cooled cookies in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
Notes
- Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
- Chilling the dough is absolutely necessary, since the dough is so soft just after mixing. If you want to make the dough ahead of time, you can cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Just be sure to bring the dough back to room temperature before shaping and baking.
- I pressed my dough balls down to about 3/4- to 1-inch tall disks before baking. If some cookies didn’t spread as much as I’d like in the oven, I pressed them down after baking.
- Use leftover canned pumpkin to make Pumpkin Challah, Pumpkin Pie Brioche Rolls or Pumpkin Chai Doughnut Muffins — or freeze in a resealable freezer bag and use later to make more cookies!
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this easy pumpkin cookie recipe. Check out my best 20+ pumpkin recipes or try pumpkin zucchini bread before the summer squash is gone!
great idea, pumpkin is one of those flavors that pairs well with all of the snickerdoodle flavors, so thank you for your creativity and for this recipe
Sabrina, Thank you so much!
I made these cookies today. I think I made the balls too big and flattened them out a little too much because they didn’t look as pretty as yours. But the taste…they are SO delicious. They truly are both a pumpkin cookie and a snickerdoodle. I can’t wait to eat this batch and make another! Help me, please! The instructions were spot on, especially the tip on refrigerating the dough – do not skip this step! Thank you for this recipe. It will become a fall favorite – or whenever I need a pumpkin fix. I will put it next to the other GvD recipes I have come to call my own. Yum!
The Sandinator, Thank you so so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed them as much as I do. They’re perfect for that pumpkin fix. 😉
These are phenomenal! I subbed oil for the melted butter to make them dairy-free, but otherwise stuck to all your tips and ingredients and they still were fantastic. I doubled them at the last minute and I’m so glad I did because they vanished really quickly!
Rina, Doubling the recipe is always a good call! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Can’t wait to make these!
Mine are in the oven right now. The batter tastes phenomenal.