Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies changed everything for me last October when I was desperately trying to use up leftover pumpkin puree. My usual snickerdoodle recipe felt too plain, so I threw in some pumpkin and decided to brown the butter because, well, why not? The house smelled incredible, and my neighbor actually knocked on the door asking what I was baking!

These cookies are ridiculously soft with crispy edges, and that cinnamon-spice coating sticks to every single bite. The browned butter thing might seem extra, but it’s what makes these cookies taste like they came from some fancy bakery instead of my chaotic kitchen. I’ve made them six times since then, and honestly, I’m not stopping anytime soon.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Listen, I only make 9 cookies because that’s about all I can handle without eating myself into a sugar coma. These things are dangerously good – soft centers that are just barely set, edges with the perfect amount of crunch, and that sugar coating that basically turns into cookie crack.

But here’s what really gets me – the browned butter thing sounds all fancy and chef-like, but it’s literally just melting butter until it smells amazing. Takes 5 minutes, maybe less if you’re paying attention. The flavor though? It’s like someone took regular butter and gave it a college degree in deliciousness.

Print

Ingredient List

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (140 g)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (plus extra for coating)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon (plus extra for coating)

Wet Ingredients:

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, browned and cooled
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar (110 g)
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar (67 g)
• ⅓ cup canned pumpkin puree, blotted dry
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sugar Coating:

• ¼ to ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Substitution heads up: No pumpkin pie spice? Mix ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon ginger, and a tiny pinch of cloves. Also, make sure you grab plain pumpkin puree, not the pie filling stuff – learned that one the hard way!

Why These Ingredients Work

Look, I’m not a food scientist, but I know what works. The browned butter isn’t just me being extra – when you brown butter, these little golden bits form at the bottom of the pan and they taste like pure happiness. Regular butter is fine, but browned butter is like butter that went to therapy and came back with its life together.

The egg yolk thing took me forever to figure out. Whole eggs make cookies puffy and weird. Just the yolk keeps them chewy and fudgy. And about that pumpkin – you gotta blot it with paper towels because pumpkin is basically orange water pretending to be a vegetable. Too much water makes cookies sad and cake-like, and we’re not making cake here.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Medium saucepan (for browning butter)
• Paper towels (for blotting pumpkin)
• Large mixing bowl
• Cookie scoop (1-1.5 tablespoon size)
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• Wire cooling rack
• Small bowl for coating mixture

How To Make Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles Cookies

1. Brown the Butter (Seriously, Don’t Skip This Part)

Put your butter in a saucepan over medium heat and just let it melt and bubble. It’ll foam up and make some noise – that’s normal. Keep stirring and watching until it smells like heaven and turns golden brown, maybe 5-7 minutes. Pour it into a bowl and let it cool completely. This is where the magic happens, I promise.

2. Blot That Pumpkin

Grab your pumpkin puree and blot it with paper towels until you’ve removed about a tablespoon of moisture. It seems picky, but wet pumpkin equals disappointing cookies. Just do it.

3. Get Your Oven Ready

Preheat to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Don’t skip the parchment – these cookies can be a little sticky.

4. Mix the Wet Stuff

In your big bowl, mix the cooled browned butter with both sugars until it looks smooth. Add your blotted pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix until everything’s combined and looks good.

5. Add the Dry Stuff

Dump in your flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix just until the flour disappears – don’t go crazy with the mixing here or you’ll get tough cookies.

6. Make the Magic Coating

In a small bowl, mix sugar with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. This coating is what dreams are made of.

7. Shape and Roll

Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough, then roll each ball in that amazing spiced sugar until it’s completely covered. Space them about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet.

8. Bake

9-12 minutes, until the edges look set but the centers still look slightly underdone. Don’t overbake these – they’ll keep cooking on the hot pan.

9. Cool Down

Let them sit on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. This prevents cookie casualties.

Expert Tips

My friend who went to culinary school told me that browning butter is all about smell, not color. When it starts smelling like toasted nuts, you’re there. Don’t wait for some perfect golden color – your nose knows.

Also, Sally from that baking blog everyone loves always says to chill cookie dough if it gets too soft. Smart woman. I learned this after making pancake-flat cookies on a hot summer day.

You Must Know

The butter has to be completely cooled before you mix it with anything else, or you’ll scramble your egg yolk. I did this once and had to start over – not fun. Also, don’t think you can skip the pumpkin blotting step. I tried it once because I was feeling lazy, and the cookies came out more like little pumpkin cakes. They were still edible, but definitely not what we’re going for here.

My secret: I always make double the spiced sugar coating because it’s incredible on buttered toast the next morning. You’ll thank me later!

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Stuff I wish someone had told me:

• Get a kitchen scale if you don’t have one. I used to scoop flour like I was digging for treasure, and my cookies never spread right
• Really pack down that brown sugar when you measure it. Loose brown sugar = weird texture
• If your butter gets too hard after cooling, stick it in the microwave for like 10 seconds

Mistakes I’ve made so you don’t have to:

• Don’t beat the crap out of the dough once you add flour. Just mix until it looks like dough
• Don’t squish the cookie balls before baking. They’ll spread themselves out
• Don’t bake them until they look totally done. They’ll be hockey pucks by then

Things that actually save time:

• Brown butter ahead of time and stick it in the fridge. It keeps for days
• Make way more of that cinnamon sugar coating than you think you need. You’ll use it on everything

Flavor Variations / Suggestions

Ways to mess with the recipe (in a good way):

• Mini chocolate chips are incredible in these. My kids literally fight over them
• Chopped pecans if you want to feel fancy
• Swap the vanilla for maple extract – it’s like fall had a baby with Canada
• Add a tiny bit of cardamom to the spice mix. I have no idea why it works, but it does
• Make cookie sandwiches with cream cheese frosting. I’m not sorry about this suggestion

Make-Ahead Options

If you’re one of those organized people:

• Roll the cookies in the coating and freeze them on a baking sheet. Once they’re frozen solid, dump them in a freezer bag. They’ll keep for months and you can bake them straight from frozen
• The browned butter thing can be done days ahead. Just keep it in the fridge
• The actual baked cookies freeze really well too. Just layer them with parchment paper so they don’t stick together

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Why the texture is so perfect: It’s the egg yolk plus the dry pumpkin plus the browned butter. I have no idea why this combination works, but it does. The brown sugar keeps them soft and the white sugar helps them hold their shape.

High altitude people: Cut the baking soda in half and add more flour. High altitude baking is weird and I don’t understand it, but this usually works.

Weird discovery: These cookies are actually better the next day. Something happens overnight where all the flavors get together and have a party. So if you can manage to not eat them all immediately, stick them in a container overnight.

Serving Suggestions

These go with pretty much everything fall-related:

• Hot apple cider (duh)
• Vanilla ice cream if you want to be extra about it
• Your morning coffee – I’ve absolutely done this and I’m not ashamed
• On a plate with other cookies if you’re trying to impress people

Want to look fancy? Dust them with powdered sugar or put out a bowl of caramel sauce for dipping. People will think you know what you’re doing even if you don’t.

How to Store Your Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles Cookies

How to keep them from going stale:

• Counter: Airtight container for 3-4 days (good luck making them last that long)
• Fridge: About a week, but let them warm up before eating or they’ll taste weird
• Freezer: Couple months if you wrap them right and use parchment paper between layers

Don’t bother reheating – they taste perfect at room temperature. But if you want them slightly warm, microwave for 10 seconds max.

Allergy Information

What’s in these cookies: Flour, eggs, butter – the usual suspects No gluten? Use that 1:1 gluten-free flour stuff. I’ve tried it and it works fine No dairy? Vegan butter works for the browning part. Earth Balance is what I use when my dairy-free friends come over No eggs? Try that aquafaba thing (2 tablespoons) or make flax eggs (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed plus 3 tablespoons water)

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Do I really need to brown the butter? Technically no, but why would you skip the best part? You can use regular softened butter (7 tablespoons), but it’s like watching a movie in black and white when you could watch it in color.

What’s the deal with blotting the pumpkin? Pumpkin is basically orange water with delusions of grandeur. If you don’t blot it, you’ll get cake-like cookies instead of chewy ones. Just pat it down with paper towels until you’ve removed about a tablespoon of water.

Can I throw in some chocolate chips? Hell yes. About half a cup of mini chocolate chips or chopped pecans. Don’t go crazy though – you still want to taste the pumpkin.

My cookies came out flat as pancakes. What happened? You probably used too much flour or didn’t blot the pumpkin enough. Both mistakes lead to dense, weird-shaped cookies.

How do I know when they’re actually done? The edges should look set but the middles can still look a little underdone. They’ll finish cooking on the hot pan.

Are these good for parties? Absolutely. They’re actually better the next day, so they’re perfect for making ahead. Plus, only 9 cookies means you won’t have a million leftovers.

Here’s what’s going to happen: you’re going to make these Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and then you’re going to ruin yourself for all other cookies. I’ve literally had people ask me what’s wrong with their regular snickerdoodles after trying these. The answer is nothing – they just don’t have brown butter.

That first bite is everything – the cinnamon sugar coating, the soft chewy center, and that nutty butter flavor that somehow makes everything taste like fall decided to throw a party in your mouth. I’m not even being dramatic here.

💬 Made these cookies? Tell me about it in the comments! I want to hear everything – did you add chocolate chips? Did you burn the butter on your first try? Did your kids steal half the dough? Tag me in your photos because seeing your messy kitchens and happy faces makes my whole week.