Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

When you have to be in the office every day, you wish for a work from home day. But then you’re forced to work from home two days in a row, and you can’t wait to get into the office. Since coworker cookie Monday didn’t happen because of Hurricane Sandy, it’s going to be double cookie Wednesday. I am really excited to shower and put on real clothes tomorrow and have some human interaction. I was starting to get concerned that I have become one with my couch. I’m surprised my work laptop is not fused to my legs. I made this snickerdoodle dough last night but baked it tonight so they would be fresh for work tomorrow. Also, because I am still being terrorized by Jerry (my mouse friend) who I have realized likes to come out when I bake … so my kitchen smells sweet and there are 12 death traps lined up in case he wants to pop a squat on my stove again.

Last time I made Snickerdoodles they were a big hit, which is nice because they are super fast and easy to make. I’ve been alternating my iced coffee choices in the morning between Pumpkin Spice and Snickerdoodle, so these Pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are alright in my book.

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together butter and  1 1/2 cups of sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. You will probably need to scrape the side of the bowl with a spatula once or twice. Add the pumpkin puree until well combined. You will need to beat the pumpkin on a low speed so that you don’t splatter it all over yourself (like I did).

Step 2: In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and beat on a low speed until incorporated. I put this dough in an air tight container overnight which made it a bit easier to handle today. You should probably refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes so it’s easier to work with.

Step 3: In a separate bowl, mix remaining sugar and cinnamon. Using a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon, roll even size balls of dough. Coat them with the cinnamon sugar mixture by rolling them in the bowl then place on a sil-pat or parchment-lined baking sheet. Press down with two fingers so that the cookies bake evenly.

Step 4: Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

These are pretty delicious and perfect for Halloween tomorrow. They are a little fluffier than the regular Snickerdoodles I made a few weeks back, but they have a really nice texture and taste with the pumpkin element. That’s all for tonight. I’m up to my eyeballs in defect testing, so gotta get back to it! Happy Halloween everyone.