Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I love to bake.

Now that I have an almost 3 month old, baking is a whole lot harder. It's like she knows I'm trying to get something done and it is those moments she decides she wants to be held. She's lucky that I love holding her!

The other day while at the grocery store, I picked up a can of pumpkin puree to make these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

If you're a pumpkin lover like I am, you need to try this muffin recipe. The result is perfectly fluffy muffins! The pumpkin flavor isn't overwhelming, just perfection!

But back to real reason for this post. I had leftover pumpkin puree since the muffin recipe only calls for half a can. I'm always looking for a reason to pull out my KitchenAid mixer. Since we live in an apartment and our kitchen is big enough for a mouse, my poor KitchenAid mixer lives a sad, lonely life on the floor on the pantry. One day, I will have a kitchen big enough to proudly display it on the countertop!

What goes hand-in-hand with a KitchenAid mixer? Cookies, duh! I thought that the pumpkin puree would pair perfectly with the cinnamon sugar goodness of a snickerdoodle, so I took to my trusty sidekick, Pinterest, to search for some recipe inspiration. I came across a few different recipes and took a little bit of them all to create, in my opinion, the perfect pumpkin snickerdoodle cookie.

First, let's address the elephant in the room. This cookie looks a bit...deformed. But that's okay, who doesn't love some character? The real reason this cookie isn't very aesthetically pleasing is because it was the very last cookie. Justin and I may have devoured the rest before I remembered to take pictures. But the bottom line is, you really won't care what these cookies look like once you bite into it.

This pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe makes the softest, fluffiest cookies ever! The recipe yields 36 regular sized cookies, but I believe that bigger is better, so I made about 24 large cookies. Let's take a moment to think about the fact that Justin and I ate 24 cookies in about five day. I'm slightly ashamed, not really, but now realizing I should probably go on a diet. 

Try out the recipe and see for yourself. You won't be able to keep your hands off these!

Side note, you need this Market Roast candle from Target!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients

3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup softened unsalted butter

1 egg yolk

1/2 can pumpkin puree

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp lemon juice*

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a KitchenAid mixer (or large bowl) cream together softened butter, granulated sugar and dark brown sugar until barely combined. You don't want to over-mix this step! Mix in egg yolk then pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. 

With the mixer on low, slowly add in your flour mixture until completely combined. Once, combined, cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. This is very important! If you don't refrigerate your dough, it will make the next step very difficult!

Once your dough is chilled, mix together your cinnamon sugar coating. Scoop two heaping tablespoons of the batter out, roll into a ball, roll ball into the cinnamon sugar mixture until completely coated and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Continue with remaining batter.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes. I baked mine for exactly 12 minutes and got cookies that were still slightly undercooked in the very center, exactly how I like my cookies! Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes, then remove onto a wire rack, or straight into your mouth. Whatever floats your boat. 

*Traditional snickerdoodle recipes call for cream of tartar, an acid, that is generally used in combination with baking soda to make baked goods rise. Many people say there isn't a good substitute for cream of tartar, but my high school home economics teacher was a boss and once recommended just using lemon juice. The acid in lemon juice will have the same effect as cream of tartar, and in my opinion, makes the snickerdoodles much more fluffy. If you have a recipe that calls for cream of tartar and you don't have any, simply use twice as much lemon juice as baking soda. For example, this recipe calls for 1 tsp of baking soda, so I used 2 tsp of lemon juice. Easy peasy!

If you try out this recipe, let me know what you think!

Enjoy!