It’s no secret that my favorite muffin recipe is this pumpkin white chocolate muffin— I make them regularly for my daughter to take to school for afternoon snacks, and given that she’s been taking snacks daily for almost six years now, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve made many, many batches of those muffins. That being said, unless I want to make a double batch (which I don’t always have room for in my freezer), I end up with half a can of pumpkin leftover. What to do with the extra?
Enter the Pumpkin White Chocolate Snickerdoodle. All the delicious fall flavors of the muffin, but with just a bit more decadence and flair. They may not be as pretty as some cookies– mine refused to puff and thus also refused to crack nicely on top as they cooled– but they’re moist and chewy (unlike some cakey pumpkin cookies), full of flavor, and with a nice crackly outside that contrasts with the creamy white chocolate. As an added bonus, there’s no softening or creaming of butter necessary, though you do have to chill the dough for half an hour.
Definitely adding these to my list of cookies to make on a regular basis, especially if I’ve got leftover pumpkin!
Pumpkin White Chocolate Snickerdoodles (adapted slightly from Sally’s Baking Addiction)
(makes 3 dozen)
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (100g)
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 3/4 cup pumpkin purée
- 3 cups flour (370g)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. cloves
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
(coating)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- On a plate, set out a double layer of paper towels and spread your pumpkin purée on top. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, pressing an extra layer of towels on top, to let the liquid drain out.
- In the meantime, melt your butter and stir in both sugars until smooth.
- Add vanilla and drained pumpkin purée to the butter mixture and whisk until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and chocolate chips.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to make a soft dough. Chill for 30-45 minutes.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two pans with parchment paper or foil.
- In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.
- Scoop chilled dough into balls approximately 1 1/4″ in diameter (for me that’s 1 1/2 tbsp. of dough). Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture and set on baking sheet. Flatten slightly.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, until edges are set. The dough will not spread very much, nor will it puff. That’s fine.
- When cookies are baked, you may notice that they’re not particularly attractive. Feel free to press a few extra white chocolate chips into the top for aesthetics.
It's All Frosting... 