Maple Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Thick, chewy maple pumpkin snickerdoodles made with nutty brown butter and rolled in maple cinnamon sugar. The maple syrup and pumpkin are cooked down together in the pan, which drives off the excess moisture and concentrates both flavors at once.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
Maple Cinnamon Sugar Coating
Instructions
Brown the Butter
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Place the butter in a light-colored skillet or wide saucepan over medium heat. Once it melts it will foam and crackle as the water cooks away, so stir or swirl the pan regularly. After 5 to 8 minutes the milk solids on the bottom will turn golden brown and the butter will smell warm and nutty. Watch it closely toward the end, as it moves from browned to burnt quickly.
Cook Down the Maple, Pumpkin, and Spices
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Lower the heat to medium-low, then add the maple syrup, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice to the pan. Stand back for a moment, as the mixture will hiss and bubble hard when it meets the hot butter. Stir everything together and let it simmer, stirring often and scraping the base of the pan so nothing catches.
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Over 10 to 16 minutes the mixture will darken and thicken into a glossy, fragrant paste. There is more liquid to drive off here than in a plain pumpkin cookie, so it takes longer than you might expect. Go by what you see rather than the clock, as a wide pan works much faster than a narrow one.
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It is ready when dragging your spoon across the bottom leaves a clear trail for a second before it fills back in. Take it off the heat at that point. Slightly under is better than slightly over, as the maple sugars and the browned milk solids underneath will both scorch once the moisture has gone.
Cool the Mixture
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Scrape everything from the pan into a large heatproof mixing bowl and let it cool for about 25 minutes, stirring once or twice. The mixture needs to be warm rather than hot before the egg yolks go in. If the bowl feels comfortably warm against the back of your hand, it is ready.
Whisk in the Sugars
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Add the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar to the bowl and whisk firmly for about 1 minute. The mixture will thicken and turn glossy and should fall from the whisk in soft clumps. It will look darker and richer than an ordinary cookie base, which is exactly right.
Add the Yolks and Flavorings
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Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time until the mixture is smooth, then whisk in the vanilla and maple extract. The base should now be thick and glossy, closer to a caramel than a batter.
Fold in the Dry Ingredients
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Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt directly to the bowl. Fold everything together with a rubber spatula, stopping as soon as the last dry streaks of flour disappear. Try not to work the dough once the flour is in, as overmixing makes the cookies tough rather than tender.
Chill the Dough
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Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This dough carries more liquid than a plain pumpkin version because of the syrup, so give it the full time. It is ready when a scoop of dough holds its shape instead of slumping.
Heat the Oven and Mix the Coating
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Heat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small shallow bowl, stir together the maple sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice until evenly combined, then set it beside your work area.
Roll and Coat the Cookies
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Scoop about 2 tablespoons of chilled dough per cookie and roll it smooth between your palms. Roll each ball generously through the maple cinnamon sugar until fully coated, then arrange them on the prepared sheets about 3 inches apart. Be heavy-handed with the coating, as this is where most of the maple flavor comes through.
Bake Until the Centers Are Soft
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Bake 1 sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies are ready when the edges look set and golden but the centers are still puffed and slightly underdone. Maple sugar browns faster than plain granulated sugar, so start checking at 9 minutes.
Cool Before Serving
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Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes. They will settle and flatten slightly as they cool, which is when the chewy texture develops. Move them to a wire rack with a thin spatula once they are firm enough to lift, and let them cool almost completely before eating.
Note
Use dark maple syrup, sold as Grade A Dark Robust. Golden and amber grades are too delicate to survive baking. Do not substitute pancake syrup, which is corn syrup and flavoring and will taste flat.
If you cannot find maple sugar, use the same amount of granulated sugar in the coating. The maple extract in the dough will carry the flavor instead.
Use plain canned pumpkin puree rather than pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced.
The reduction time varies a great deal with pan width, so rely on the spoon trail rather than the clock. Once the water has cooked off, the pan heats quickly and the maple sugars will catch, so pull it off the heat as soon as the trail holds.
Only the yolks are used because whole eggs bring extra water into a dough that already carries moisture from the pumpkin and syrup.
Cream of tartar provides the tang and soft crumb of a true snickerdoodle. If you have none, replace it and the baking soda with 2 1/4 tsp baking powder, though the flavor will be milder.
If the cookies bake up puffy and cakey, the mixture needed longer in the pan. If they spread thin, the dough was too warm and needs a longer chill.
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, with parchment between layers to protect the coating. A slice of sandwich bread in the container keeps them soft.
Baked cookies freeze for up to 2 months. Portioned dough balls also freeze well before coating. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then roll in the maple sugar and bake as directed.
