Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

Total Time 1 hr 20 mins

Difficulty: Beginner

Cooking Temp: 350 F

Servings: 20

Calories: 190

Description

Thick, chewy pumpkin snickerdoodles made with nutty brown butter and a generous cinnamon sugar coating. The pumpkin is cooked down in the pan with the butter rather than blotted, which drives off the excess moisture and concentrates the flavor at the same time.

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp fine sea salt

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

Brown the Butter

1
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 Pumpkin and Spices

2
Lower the heat to medium-low, then add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice to the pan. Stand back for a moment, as the puree will hiss and spit 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.
3
Over 6 to 12 minutes the mixture will darken from bright orange to a deeper rust color and thicken into a fragrant paste. Go by what you see rather than the clock, as a wide pan works much faster than a narrow one. 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 much better than slightly over, as the browned milk solids underneath can scorch once the moisture is gone.

Cool the Mixture

4
Scrape everything from the pan into a large heatproof mixing bowl and let it cool for about 20 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

5
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 it should fall from the whisk in soft clumps rather than pouring in a smooth ribbon.

Add the Yolks and Vanilla

6
Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time until the mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in color, then whisk in the vanilla. The base will look thick and rich at this stage, closer to a caramel than a batter. This is exactly right.

Fold in the Dry Ingredients

7
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

8
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes. The dough only needs to firm up enough to scoop and roll cleanly, not to go hard. If your kitchen is warm or the butter mixture was still hot when you mixed, give it another 10 minutes.

Heat the Oven and Mix the Coating

9
Heat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small shallow bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice until evenly combined, then set it beside your work area.

Roll and Coat the Cookies

10
Scoop about 2 tablespoons of chilled dough per cookie and roll it smooth between your palms. Roll each ball generously through the spiced sugar until fully coated, then arrange them on the prepared sheets about 3 inches apart. Be generous with the coating, as it is what gives the baked cookie its sparkle and gentle crunch.

Bake Until the Centers Are Soft

11
Bake 1 sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies are ready when the edges look set and lightly golden but the centers are still puffed and appear slightly underdone. Take them out at that point rather than waiting for the middles to look fully baked, as they carry on setting on the hot sheet.

Cool Before Serving

12
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 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 browned milk solids underneath will scorch, 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.

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 pumpkin 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 spiced sugar and bake as directed.

Keywords: fall recipes,

https://trustedmemorialplanners.com/post/recipe/pumpkin-snickerdoodle-cookies