These Pumpkin Cookie Butter Doodles are a fun and unique mix of a classic Snickerdoodle and a soft, chewy pumpkin cookie. The addition of cookie butter gives it a delicious deep flavor and makes the cookies extra soft!

This post was originally published in 2014 and has been updated with new photos and content to make it even better for YOU!

What's in a name, I ask you? Apparently a lot. At least, a lot when you are referring to Pumpkin Cookie Butter Doodles. That's right my friends, pumpkin.cookie.butter.doodles. Say wha??? I had a really hard time naming sugar-dusted, fall-spiced cookies. Their identity was difficult to pinpoint - probably because they are such a mish-mosh of things {is that even a real term?}. I've recently discovered the divine goodness that is cookie butter and knew at once that I had to make a cookie out of cookie butter. You make peanut butter cookies out of peanut butter, so it just makes sense, right?

I really wanted to create a cookie that hadn't been done before...and that's hard to do. There's a lot of great cookie recipes flying around out there. Nowadays it seems like the only recipes that are unique and original are mash-ups of oldies but goodies. Like spaghetti pie. Turducken. Apple pies baked in apples. Reese's stuffed Oreos. And....ramen crust pizza?? Yes, it is a thing. And so my very own food mash-up has been born: the Pumpkin Cookie Butter Doodle. It's a pumpkin cookie that contains cookie butter and is coated in cinnamon sugar like a Snickerdoodle. Let's make some!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Cookie Butter Doodles

Brown butter - it's of my humble opinion that the best cookies are the ones made with brown butter. Granted, using brown butter does mean you will have to chill the cookie dough before baking, but, it's so worth it. First, you get rewarded with the intoxicating nutty smell from the milk solids in the butter that caramelize as you brown it. And then your cookies will have a deep, irresistibly rich and sophisticated flavor. So brown that butter! Oh - and I forgot to mention - I always buy salted butter for extra flavor, and reduce the salt called for in recipes with butter by half.
Dark brown sugar - dark brown sugar is just light brown sugar with extra molasses added to it. I always buy it when I can because I love the depth of flavor that it lends to baked goods.
Canned pumpkin puree - I think Libby's Canned Pumpkin has the best flavor and texture. I've actually compared it to other pumpkin purees and really can tell a difference in the quality! Plus, it is prepared and packaged in the USA!
Cookie butter - this creamy, dreamy spread is made from spiced and nutty Biscoff or Speculoos cookies and will have a different name, depending on where you purchase it. At Walmart/Kroger and the like, it's typically Biscoff spread. At Trader Joes, it's Cookie Butter. Both are delicious and both will make these cookies extra tasty!
Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon - I like pumpkin cookies that are heavy on the spice side. I mean, that's why we like pumpkin stuff so much, right? Not because of the actual flavor of pumpkin puree, but because of the mixture of SPICES added to it! For ultimate intense flavor, I like to use Saigon/Vietnamese cinnamon in my baking. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, substitute one teaspoon with ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon plus ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, and ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg.
Flour - you all know what I'm going to say here if you've been reading my blog for a while. King Arthur All-Purpose Flour is my favorite for baking! The quality is super-consistent, the flour is fresh, and it always produces the best baked goods time after time.
Vanilla - pure vanilla extract has gotten so expensive that I've recently turned to using Molina's Mexican Vanilla Blend as a more affordable but just as tasty alternative. It's made with pure vanilla and vanillin, a by-product of vanilla beans. I think the Mexican vanilla has a deeper, richer flavor than regular vanilla extract, and I love the price too!
Baking powder, baking soda, salt - since these cookies do not call for any egg, we use a bit of baking powder and soda to give them a small amount of leavening. The omission of the egg keeps the cookies from becoming cake-like, which is a common issue with pumpkin cookies. A little bit of salt is added for flavor balance.

Tips for Making Pumpkin Cookie Butter Doodles

Allow the brown butter to cool before adding it to other ingredients. Brown butter can be really hot when you take it off the stovetop, so I like to transfer it to another bowl and let it cool down for 10 minutes or so before I proceed with the recipe.
Use a light hand with mixing - this cookie dough is easy to blend since all of the ingredients are at room temperature. But this also makes it easy to overmix. Simply blend ingredients until just combined, then use a rubber spatula to lightly fold in any flour residue that may be on your beaters or the sides of the bowl.
Chill the cookie dough - this is necessary for any cookie dough made with brown butter and helps keep the cookies from spreading out really thin. I'd recommend chilling your dough for a minimum of 1 hour and up to overnight before making these.
These are freezer friendly! If I want to have fresh cookie dough on hand for any given reason, I will go ahead and scoop all the dough into balls and then freeze them. I will bake them from frozen and just add a few extra minutes to the bake time. Since these cookies are so soft and moist, they also freeze very well AFTER baking. They make a great cookie to mail someone in a package, too! Just freeze the cookies the night before you plan to mail them, and then place layers of frozen cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container before mailing.

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If you are looking to get your fall baking game on, please check out these other fall baked goodies!

Are you ready to make these Pumpkin Cookie Butter Doodles? I’m so excited for you to try this recipe. Once you get the chance to make it, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment and rate the recipe below. This will help me with the creation of future recipes! I’d also love to feature your creation in my monthly newsletter, so you can upload a photo to Instagram or Twitter with the tag @sweetcayenne5 to be featured!

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