Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles {with Caramel Drizzle}

Soft and chewy brown butter pumpkin snickerdoodles with a fancy twist! Brown butter and classic fall spices give this cookie a ton of flavor while the caramel drizzle adds the perfect finishing touch. You won’t be able to resist these tasty cookies!

Happy Friday! Have any fun plans for the weekend? Perhaps some fun fall activities? 

No plans here.. other than my typical weekend things. I’d love to go apple picking, but it would be pretty cruel of me to force Kyle to hobble through an orchard on crutches. Sooo that means no fun fall activities for me!

No worries, though. Brown butter pumpkin snickerdoodles with caramel drizzle make it all better!

I’m trying to remember a time before the pumpkin craze. I feel as though it was probably before the release of the pumpkin spice latte? Or perhaps I was just oblivious to people obsessing over all things pumpkin. Or, it could be because I’ve simply never been a huge pumpkin fan. 

It’s not that I don’t like pumpkin, I only like small hints of it. For example, pumpkin in a muffin, or pancakes, or even creamer are all perfectly fine with me. Pumpkin pie, however, is something I’m not fond of. It’s just too pumpkin-y and I don’t really love the texture. Does that make sense? Basically, I like pumpkin, but I’m not obsessed with it. 

Ok, I spent way too much time talking about my feelings for pumpkin. 

Let’s talk about these incredibly tasty, not overly pumpkin-y cookies!

Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies. I just love a good soft, chewy, cinnamon-y snickerdoodle! Throw in pumpkin, brown butter, and even more spices? YES! Oh, and then there’s the caramel drizzle, which just takes these over the top!

If you’re a pumpkin lover (and even if you’re not) you’re going to love these! They aren’t too pumpkin-y, they have the perfect ratio of sweet and spice, and caramel. That caramel drizzle is just the perfect finishing touch. 

You may be wondering the purpose of using brown butter in these cookies instead of regular butter. The answer to that is FLAVOR. If you’ve never had brown butter you’re definitely missing out! The smell alone is enough to make me want to put it on anything and everything. 

Making brown butter is pretty simple – melt butter and cook it until it’s brown. The main thing to remember is that you have to watch it closely so it doesn’t burn. Brown butter = heavenly. Burnt butter = no bueno. 

When butter browns it takes on a beautiful color and a nutty flavor. It goes so well in these cookies because that nuttiness pairs perfectly with the brown sugar, fall spices, and caramel drizzle. I’m pretty obsessed with brown butter, which you’re going to find out very soon since I’ve been incorporating it into a lot of recipes!

I like to think that using brown butter in these cookies makes them kind-of fancy, so the caramel drizzle was necessary in my mind to keep the fanciness going. I made mine from scratch because once you make caramel you’ll never buy it again. You could use store-bought if you prefer or are pressed for time, but I beg you to try your hand at making some!

It’s really quite simple to make caramel sauce, but just like the brown butter, you have to keep a very close eye on it. If you’ve ever smelled burnt sugar you know the importance of keeping a watchful eye during the cooking process. 

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and make some cookies! ?

If you’re in the path of hurricane Matthew, my thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Stay safe and be smart! 

Print

Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles {with Caramel Drizzle}

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

12 mins

Resting Time

2 hrs

Total Time

2 hrs 32 mins

 

Soft and chewy pumpkin snickerdoodles with a fancy twist! Brown butter and classic fall spices give this cookie a ton of flavor while the caramel drizzle adds the perfect finishing touch. You won’t be able to resist these tasty cookies! (Check the notes section for a gluten free option!)

Serves: 28 Cookies

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 3 Cups (360 Grams) All-Purpose Flour*
• 12 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 2 Teaspoons Cream of Tartar
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ Teaspoon Salt
• 1 ½ Teaspoons Cinnamon
• ¾ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ¼ Teaspoon Ground Cloves
• ¼ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
• ¼ Teaspoon Allspice
• 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
• ¾ Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Large Egg, at room temperature
• ½ Cup Pumpkin Puree
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

For the Topping:

• 3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

For the Homemade Caramel:

• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• ¼ Cup Water
• 4 Tablespoons Salted Butter
• ½ Cup Heavy Cream

Instructions

Cookies:

1. Place the butter in a medium saucepot over medium-low heat. The butter will melt, and then start to bubble and splatter. Swirl the pan from time to time to stir the butter. Once the bubbling and splatter slows down, you’ll notice the butter start to brown and take on a nutty aroma. Let it go just a little longer to deepen in color and flavor. Keep a very close eye on it, as you don’t want it to burn! If you aren’t sure if it’s brown enough, take a spoonful of the butter and transfer it to a bowl – you’ll be able to see the color better. If it’s a deep brown and smells nutty (not burnt!) then you’re good to go. If it’s still pale, let it brown a little longer. Pour the butter into a bowl and set it aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and spices. Stir the mixture to evenly distribute the ingredients. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. Stir in the cooled brown butter.
4. Using a spatula, gently mix in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined – the dough will be slightly thick and sticky, but still soft.
5. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and place each one a piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a log and wrap it up. Refrigerate for 2 hours. The dough will seem very soft, but it will firm up in the refrigerator.
6. Preheat oven to 350º.
7. Line 2 baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper.
8. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl or plate.
9. Remove one log of dough from the refrigerator and slice it into ½-inch thick slices. You should get around 14 slices per log – don’t worry about being too precise here!
10. Toss the slices in the sugar/cinnamon mixture to coat and place them on your baking sheets – leaving ¾ – 1-inch between each.
11. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until they are crackled and set. Let them rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cookie rack to cool completely. Drizzle the cooled cookies with the homemade caramel.
12. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Homemade Caramel:

1. Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepot over high heat. Stir constantly until the sugar melts and begins to turn light amber in color.
2. Once the sugar is melted and looks like the color of caramel, add in the butter. Be very careful during this step because the caramel will bubble heavily. Keep stirring as you add the butter until it’s all melted in.
3. While stirring, very slowly pour in the heavy cream. Again, be careful here, as it will spatter. Remove the caramel sauce from the heat and let it cool a bit before using. If it hardens too much, simply reheat it on low.

Recipe Notes

*I highly recommend using a scale to weigh your flour. If you don’t have one, measure out your flour by gently spooning it into the measuring cup and then leveling off the excess. Too much flour in the cookies means they won’t spread properly!

 

*Store-bought caramel will work just fine if you don’t want to make your own!

 

*MAKE IT GLUTEN FREE!

I’ve successfully made these cookies gluten-free by using 2 ¾ Cups (360 grams) of Cup4Cup All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend. If you try another gluten free flour blend, I really recommend measuring by weight for best results. Also, if your blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon to the dry ingredients.