Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies

(Samantha is a guest blogger from Sugar Spun Run. Happy National Homemade Cookie Day!)

Buttery soft Snickerdoodle cookies with a fall-time twist! Made with real pumpkin and pumpkin spice — just in time for National Homemade Cookie Day!

Despite the fact that I consider myself to be an extreme food-fan (as a food blogger, it’s kind of in the job description), I don’t keep my planner marked with the hundreds of food holidays that populate the calendar. I know that National Macademia Nut Day, National Butterscotch Pudding Day, and National Coffee Ice Cream Day have all passed by in the month of September, all without so much as a nod from me.

But, when I caught wind of the fact that October 1st was National Homemade Cookie Day… well, that wasn’t a day that I could just let pass me by without some sort of commemoration.

See, cookies (particularly homemade cookies) are sort of my thing. They are hands-down my favorite thing to bake, and so National Homemade Cookies Day requires an easy, particularly delicious cookie recipe.

Snickerdoodles are among my favorite homemade cookies and were the no-brainer choice for today. I adore their buttery-softness, the way they almost melt in your mouth before you even begin to chew, and that distinct sugared coating they wear. They are remarkable, funnily-named, soft little cookies, and I’m taking them to the next level today by substituting the cinnamon in their coating with pumpkin spice and infusing the cookies with real pumpkin puree.

So, in honor of both National Homemade Cookie Day and with a nod towards the recently begun fall season, I have for you today an easy, pumpkin/pumpkin spice infused cookie recipe that comes together quickly and easily, and delivers some of the softest, most seasonally flavorful and festive cookies you are likely to find.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp corn starch

3/4 tsp pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp salt

For sugar/pumpkin spice coating:

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp pumpkin spice

Instructions

1. In KitchenAid (or using an electric hand mixer) cream together butter, sugars, and pumpkin puree on medium-high speed, about 1 minute.
2. Add egg and egg yolk, beating until combined.
3. In separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, corn starch, pumpkin spice, and salt.
4. Gradually (with mixer on medium-low speed) stir the dry mixture into wet mixture, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that all ingredients are well-combined.
5. Transfer dough to refrigerator and chill 30-45 minutes.
6. Shortly before dough has finished chilling, preheat your oven to 350F and prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.
7. In small bowl, combine sugar and pumpkin spice for topping. Stir well.
8. Roll dough into 1″ balls and roll in sugar/pumpkin spice mixture, covering entirely with sugar coating. Place cookie dough on prepared cookie sheets, spacing at least 2″ apart. Lightly press down on each cookie with two fingers to slightly flatten.
9. Bake cookies 8-10 minutes on 350F. Allow to cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack to cool entirely.

Makes approximately 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Note: It is important that the cookie dough be chilled or else you will have difficulty rolling the cookie dough into balls. If the dough begins to seem too sticky, return to the refrigerator to chill for another 5-10 minutes before resuming.

by Samantha Merritt