White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

These soft & chewy snickerdoodle cookies are full of pumpkin, white chocolate, and cinnamon sugar. You’re going to want a batch lying around for those chilly fall days. Warning: they disappear quickly!

Ladies and gents, I present you my fall version of the snickerdoodle cookie. And holy mackerel (I really do say that) these pumpkin snickerdoodles deserve a standing ovation. Two, actually. They’re the much anticipated sequel to the legendary CHEWY pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. AKA my most remade recipe of the fall 2013 baking season.

AKA the chewy pumpkin cookie of which all cakey pumpkin cookies are jealous.

If you’re a regular reader you may recall this from last fall season… but I’m completely crazy when it comes to pumpkin cookies. Well. I’m crazy in a lot of aspects but I am certifiably nuts when it comes to pumpkin in my cookies.

You see, pumpkin has a way of making everything it touches cakey and dense. I do not prefer my cookies being either, so it took me several months to find a way to put pumpkin in my cookies without them tasting like a piece of pumpkin cake. For the record, I love pumpkin cake but when I want a cookie, I want a cookie. Not cake.

Am I even making sense anymore?

Anyway. I finally cracked the “chewy pumpkin cookie” code and made about 1,000 batches of my chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies last year. So this year, I swapped chocolate chips for white chocolate chips, coated them in cinnamon-sugar, and dubbed these crinkly little pumpkin cookies the best darn snickerdoodles in the world.

A few helpful notes:

(1) You will notice that there is no egg* used in this cookie recipe. Read here about why I leave out the eggs in my pumpkin cookies.

(2) Both baking powder and baking soda are used. Make sure yours are fresh and have not expired. I replace both every 3 months because I find they lose their strength not much longer after that.

(3) I use white chocolate flavored morsels for these snickerdoodle cookies. If you prefer to use pure white chocolate chunks instead of the chips, go ahead.

(4) Careful not to overmeasure your flour. This is so important! I always suggest readers to invest in a food scale to accurately measure flour. Especially for cookies. Even 1 extra Tablespoon can make a huge difference. Here is the food scale I own – it is the handiest tool in my kitchen at this point.

(5) Chilling the cookie dough is mandatory. Good news: only 30 minutes.

*No egg = allllllllll the cookie dough taste testing you want. 😉

These cookies are everything you love about snickerdoodle cookies, cozy fall afternoons, and pumpkin pie all wrapped into one. And the addition of sweet and creamy white chocolate put them completely over the top. I find their pumpkin flavor is more pronounced on day 2. Similar to how banana bread’s flavor is more developed on the 2nd day. These cookies just get better with time – if they last that long!

I made two batches, one for the cookie jar and another for my friend Jess. I brought them on our lunch date (don’t YOU carry a large bag of cookies in your purse??) and she was definitely surprised to see I made her pumpkin cookies in the middle of August.

Just another example of my weird food blogging life.

Make a double batch. Because, well, you know. Enjoy!

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: 18 cookies

Prep Time: 45 minutes (includes chilling)

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

These soft & chewy snickerdoodle cookies are full of pumpkin, white chocolate, and cinnamon sugar. Warning: they disappear quickly, so make 2 batches!

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter


• 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar


• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, divided


• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


• 6 Tablespoons (86g) pumpkin puree (use the rest of the can in any of these recipes)


• 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided


• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice¹


• 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in the microwave. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.


2. In a large bowl, toss together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. 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 white chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed in the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes, or up to 3 days². Chilling is mandatory.


3. Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.


4. Roll the dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll each of the dough balls generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on 2 baking sheets. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. The photo above shows what the cookie dough balls should look like before baking.


5. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. Keeping them in the oven for longer may dry them out.  Remove from the oven and press a few more white chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. If you find that your cookies didn't spread much at all, flatten them out when you take them out of the oven.


6. Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack. The longer the cookies cool, the chewier they will be. I let them sit out for at least 1 hour before enjoying. I find that their chewiness and pumpkin flavor is more prominent on day 2.

Make ahead tip: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.² Allow to come to room temperature and continue with step 3. Baked cookies freeze well up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well up to three months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw.

Recipe Notes:

1. Instead of pumpkin pie spice, you can use 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon allspice.


2. 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 25 minutes.

Adapted from Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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SHOP THE RECIPE

Here are some items I used to make today’s recipe.

Libby’s Pure Canned Pumpkin | Measuring Cups | Food Scale | Glass Mixing Bowls | Silpat Baking Mat | Baking Sheet

See more pumpkin recipes.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pays me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Sally’s Baking Addiction.

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