These are the BEST pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies! They’re chewy, and packed with flavor thanks to pumpkin butter (NOT pumpkin puree) browned butter, and warm fall spices. And they’re drizzled with cream cheese icing because why not.
What is Pumpkin Butter?
Pumpkin butter is made from taking pumpkin puree and cooking it down with sugar and spices. It’s similar in texture and consistency to apple butter or fruit jam. You can make it at home, or buy it from brands like Trader Joe’s or Stonewall Kitchen. I personally love the TJ’s version the best. You can get it on Amazon, but the price is jacked up a lot so if you’re close enough to a Trader Joe’s, definitely make the drive because it’s only $2.99 in store.
Tips for Making Perfect Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugars for a long time. When following a baking recipe you’ll often see the instructions “careful not to over mix.” However, this is referring to after you’ve added your dry ingredients. When you’re mixing the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, it’s almost impossible to over mix. Mixing for a long time at that stage adds air into the dough and gives it structure. This leads to cookies that have that dreamy, chewy center.
- Brown that butter. Looking to add a little extra oomph to your cookies? Browning the butter is the answer. It gives the cookies a deeper, nutty flavor that just takes cookies to the next level. Just remember that you can’t just brown butter in any recipe without adjusting for the loss in volume of the butter that happens when you brown it. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 C (226g) of softened butter, and you want to use browned butter instead, you can’t just brown 1 C of butter and call it a day. When you brown the butter, the water will evaporate and you’ll end up with closer to 185-190g of butter once it’s browned.
- Slightly under bake them. Cookies will continue to bake a little bit on the hot cookie sheet when you take them out if the oven. So, if you remove them when they’re slightly under, they’ll be perfect.
How to Make Pumpkin Butter Snickerdoodles
Brown the butter.
In a medium saucepan, add the butter and melt over medium heat. Once melted, continue cooking the butter until the milk solids separate from the fat and become toasty. First the butter will start to crackle and pop, then as it toasts it will quiet down and begin to foam up. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Once it begins to foam up, swirl the pan around to see the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Once they are golden brown and have a nutty aroma, remove from the heat.
Pour into a glass bowl and place into the freezer. Stir every 5 minutes until the butter reaches a spreadable consistency similar to softened butter.
Make the pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the cooled spreadable browned butter with the sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Take the time to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix for an additional 2 minutes. Then, mix in the pumpkin butter until combined.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined, being careful not to over mix at this point. I suggest turning off the mixer when a few streaks of flour remain. Then, do one final mix by hand with a rubber spatula to incorporate the last bits of flour.
Use a large ice cream scoop with a trigger to portion the dough into 13 cookies. Roll into a ball in your hands, roll into cinnamon sugar, and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven with parchment paper and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Bake 5-6 cookies per sheet for 12-13 minutes. The edges should be just set, but the cookies should still look slightly wet in the center. Remove the cookies from the oven and bang the cookie sheet on the counter 2-3 times to help them spread. Then, use a spoon or small rubber spatula to scoot any runaway edges back into place. Sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon sugar.
Make the cream cheese icing.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract) until combined. Then, whisk in the powdered sugar. If needed, use milk or heavy cream to thin it out if needed.
Drizzle the cream cheese icing onto the cooled cookies and enjoy.
Pumpkin Butter Snickerdoodles FAQs
- Can these pumpkin snickerdoodles be made GF? I haven’t tested them, but they should work just fine with a 1 to 1 GF Flour replacement like King Arthur Baking or Bob’s Redmill.
- Can I make these ahead of time? Yes. You can follow the recipe as written up until you portion the dough. Roll into a ball and then freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, roll them in cinnamon sugar and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Make the cream cheese glaze fresh when ready to serve.
- Can I sub pumpkin puree? No. Pumpkin puree is not the same as pumpkin butter. Pumpkin butter is cooked down with added sugar, so replacing it with pumpkin puree will not yield the same results.
Pumpkin Butter Snickerdoodles
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 12
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 13 Large Cookies 1x
Description
Soft and chewy brown butter pumpkin snickerdoodles with cream cheese icing.
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 C (226 g) Salted Butter (*185 g once browned)
- 1/2 C (175 g) Pumpkin Butter *NOT pumpkin puree
- 1/2 C (110 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 C (125 g) Dark Brown Sugar
- 1Lg Egg + 1 Egg Yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 3 C (325 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Cinnamon Sugar for rolling
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- 2 oz Softened Cream Cheese
- 2 TBSP Softened Butter
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste (or vanilla extract)
- 1/2 C Powdered Sugar
- Milk or Heavy Cream if needed to thin out icing
Instructions
For the Cookies
-
In a medium saucepan, add the butter and melt over medium heat. Once melted, continue cooking the butter until the bits at the bottom of the pan are golden brown and the butter has a nutty aroma. This should take about 7-8 minutes.
-
Pour into a glass bowl and place into the freezer. Stir every 5 minutes until the butter reaches a spreadable consistency similar to softened butter.
-
In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the cooled spreadable browned butter with the sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Take the time to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
-
Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix for an additional 2 minutes. Then mix in the pumpkin butter.
-
Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined, being careful not to over mix.
-
Use a large ice cream scoop with a trigger to portion the dough into 13 cookies. Roll into a ball in your hands, roll into cinnamon sugar, and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
-
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Bake 5-6 cookies per sheet for 12-13 minutes. The edges should be just set, but the cookies should still look slightly wet in the center.
-
Remove the cookies from the oven and bang the cookie sheet on the counter 2-3 times to help them spread. Then, use a spoon or small rubber spatula to scoot any runaway edges back into place. Sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon sugar.
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
-
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract) until combined.
-
Then, whisk in the powdered sugar. If needed, use milk or heavy cream to thin it out if needed.
Drizzle the cream cheese icing onto the cooled cookies and enjoy.
Notes
Cookies will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
If you loved this recipe for my Pumpkin Butter Snickerdoodles, be sure to leave a star rating and review below and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on Tiktok and Instagram. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on the recipe card above or on any of the images throughout this post.
Leave a Reply