Description
Soft, chewy Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies with nutty browned butter, warm spices, and perfect fall flavor. Easy one-bowl recipe makes 9 cookies.
Ingredients
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
Instructions
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.
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.
Preheat to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Don’t skip the parchment – these cookies can be a little sticky.
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.
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.
In a small bowl, mix sugar with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. This coating is what dreams are made of.
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.
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.
Let them sit on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. This prevents cookie casualties.
Notes
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.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American