Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
User Reviews
5
Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Description
Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles blend the richness of brown butter with the moist, tender qualities of pumpkin puree. This recipe uses salted butter browned carefully to a nutty aroma before blending with sugars and egg white for a creamy dough base. Pumpkin pie spice alongside cream of tartar and baking soda creates a gently spiced, slightly tangy cookie with a traditional crackled surface achieved by rolling the dough balls in cinnamon sugar before baking. The cookies bake to a soft interior with a lightly crisp exterior.
The pumpkin puree adds moisture, keeping these snickerdoodles chewy but not cakey, while the browned butter introduces a toasted, buttery nuance that contrasts with the vibrant spice mix. These cookies can be enjoyed as a seasonal treat or dessert, paired well with coffee or milk. They are best served fresh but can be stored for a few days to retain texture.
The recipe notes mention substituting pumpkin pie spice with a homemade blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves or allspice, allowing flexibility based on spice availability. It also points to freezing options and tips to ensure proper consistency when browning butter and combining ingredients.
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter salted, 113 grams
- ½ cup brown sugar packed, 107g
- ½ cup granulated sugar 100g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg white (NOT THE FULL EGG)
- ¼ cup (61g) pumpkin puree
- 1 ½ cup (180g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For rolling:
- ¼ cup sugar 28g
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Make your brown butter: melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to crackle and foam, and then brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma.
- Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning (make sure you scrape all of it out of the pan - every last drop!). Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. It is important that your butter cools off.
- With an electric mixer (or you can mix by hand), mix the cooled brown butter, brown sugar and regular sugar until well combined and creamy. Beat in the egg white, vanilla and pumpkin puree until well combined.
- In a separate medium bowl whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. With an electric mixer on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Place plastic wrap over the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours so that the flavors meld together and the butter has a chance to solidify a bit. This is extremely important. You want the dough to be fairly cold so that it's easier to work with and so the cookies bake up properly.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once dough is chilled, make your dough balls: measure about 1 ½-2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. If dough is too hard to roll into a ball, you may need to let it sit out at room temperature for 10-20 minutes while your oven preheats.
- Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup sugar and the 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a bowl. Roll dough balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture, then place on the cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 11-14 minutes or until cookies are just slightly golden brown around the edges. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5-10 minutes then remove and transfer to a wire rack. Makes about 14 cookies.
Notes
- You can substitute pumpkin pie spice by mixing 1½ teaspoons cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg, and cloves or allspice.
- Make sure to whisk butter constantly when browning to avoid burning and transfer immediately to cool.
- Allow browned butter to cool before mixing to prevent curdling the dough.
- The dough can be frozen before baking; roll into balls first and freeze on a tray before storing in a bag.
- Rolling the cookie dough in cinnamon sugar before baking gives the classic snickerdoodle crackled top and a sweet cinnamon coating.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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