Gluten Free Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

These gluten free Pumpkin snickerdoodles are the perfect fall cookie. Soft and chewy, made with real pumpkin and loaded with fall spices. Make sure to slightly underbake them to achieve a soft-baked cookie.

If you love all things pumpkin, make sure to check out my recipe for Baked Gluten Free Pumpkin Donuts and Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones.

Jump to:

• Recipe Ingredient Notes
• How to make Gluten Free Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
• Frequently asked questions
• Baking in grams
• Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures
• Substitutions and Modifications
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure, Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 and my own gluten free flour blend. All three flour blends work fabulously in this recipe.

Shortening: In this recipe, we are using a mix of butter and shortening. Shortening helps the cookies hold their shape and prevent spreading. Cookies baked with all butter will spread too much and will end up being greasy, thin, and crispy. I highly recommend not skipping the shortening in this recipe. I use Crisco Vegetable Shortening.

Cream of Tartar: Also known as potassium bitartrate, cream of tartar gives Snickerdoodles their distinctive tangy flavor. It also helps to give them their soft, chewy, and pillowy texture.

Canned Pumpkin: Please make sure to buy 100% canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. They often sit next to each other on shelves at the grocery store and have very similar labels. As much as I love making everything from scratch, canned pumpkin is very convenient.

Please be advised that sometimes canned pumpkin is very “wet”. If the brand your purchase seems to contain a lot of water/liquid, I recommend blotting it with some paper towels.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix: Pumpkin Pie Spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. If you do not have it in your pantry you can substitute it with my easy homemade pumpkin pie spice blend: Combine 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger, and a pinch of ground cloves and use in this recipe for gluten free pumpkin snickerdoodles.

How to make Gluten Free Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are very simple to make. Make sure to have your butter and egg yolk at room temperature.

• Sift together the dry ingredients and set them aside.
• Beat together the butter, shortening, both sugars, and vanilla until light and fluffy, around 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides with a flexible spatula halfway through.
• Add your egg yolk and mix for an additional minute until fully incorporated.
• Mix in the pumpkin puree.
• Add your dry ingredients and mix until combined.
• Chill the gluten free pumpkin snickerdoodle dough for 30-45minutes. This mainly helps with scooping and rolling the dough.
• When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl combine the granulated sugar and pumpkin pie spice and mix.
• Scoop 2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough and roll them into balls. Roll them in the pumpkin spice sugar, then place no more than 6 of them on the prepared cookie sheets. You should get 10-12 cookies out of this dough weighing around 55-60g
• Gently pat down the dough balls.
• Bake them on tray at a time at 350F for 10 minutes or until they look puffy. Remember if you make them smaller, they will bake faster.
• Remove the pumpkin snickerdoodles from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the sheet tray before transfering them to a cooling rack. The cookies will deflate – that is completely normal.
• Store the cookies in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Frequently asked questions

Can I freeze baked Pumpkin Snickerdoodles?
You, allow the cookies to cool completely before freezing. I like to freeze them on a sheet tray and once fully frozen I transfer them to a ziplock bag or airtight container.

Can I use all butter in this recipe?
Using all butter in this recipe will result in flat and greasy cookies.

Can I make this recipe dairy free?
Using all shortening will result in thicker cookies. If you like you can flatten them halfway through baking with the spatula or the back of a spoon.

Do I have to use cream of tartar?
Cream of tartar is what gives Snickerdoodles their unique tangy taste. Combined with baking soda it creates a rapid carbon dioxide reaction. These bubbles help the cookies rise, but also create the signature snickerdoodle cracks on the top.

What spices are in Pumpkin Spice?
Pumpkin Pie Spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
To make a pumpkin pie spice blend at home combine the following ingredients
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg,
¼ teaspoon of ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

Can I make this recipe for Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with “regular” flour?
To make this recipe with “regular all-purpose flour” substitute the gluten free flour with 185g of all-purpose flour.

Baking in grams

My recipes are posted in grams since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and can be found on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. Measuring cups are very inaccurate and can cause significant errors when it comes to baking. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Be also prepared that the convection oven can cause your baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Be aware that it takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. My recipes have been tested several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe found on our website.

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