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Sweet, warming, and delicious White Chocolate Chai Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. Homemade snickerdoodle cookies, made with spiced pumpkin butter, and swirled with white chocolate chips. Each cookie dough ball is rolled through chai spiced sugar just before being baked to perfection. Each bite is soft and chewy with sweet notes of vanilla and chai.
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Cookie season is very much upon us and I’m starting a little early. Because let’s be honest, you can already feel the holiday craze. Cookies are needed!
It’s true, I was just talking to my mom and we’re both shocked at how soon the world seems to have moved into all things Christmas. What happened to Thanksgiving?
Either way, things are busy and some nights just need a good cookie. I made these with Thanksgiving in mind, but tonight’s a perfect night to test out the recipe, you know?
These are the perfect November cookie!
I made them with my favorite pumpkin butter and then swirled white chocolate chips into the cookie dough for a sweet holiday touch that feels extra special.
And then, chai spice. I know some might not consider these “chai” because there’s no tea involved. But my spice blend uses all the same spices found in a warm cup of chai. It’s the perfect spice blend and is so delicious when you roll these into pumpkin snickerdoodles.
The steps
Thankfully, if you want to bake these up tonight…the process is simple.
As usual with most cookies, start out by beating the butter and sugar together. I love to use dark brown sugar for an added depth of flavor. Next, beat in the pumpkin butter, lots of vanilla, and an egg.
Next comes the dry ingredients. Once you mix everything in you’ll have yummy pumpkin snickerdoodle cookie dough.
To make the dough even more delicious stir in a handful of white chocolate chips. They add a sweet specialness to every bite.
Moving onto the chai spiced sugar. This really is the heart of the recipe, and where a good amount of the warming flavors come from.
The spices include lots of cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, all-spice, and a tiny pinch of black pepper. Just add sugar to the mix to make it perfectly sweet! It’s cinnamon sugar, just kicked up a notch.
Roll each cookie dough ball through the sugar, then place them on a baking sheet, flatten the dough balls down a bit and bake!
Everything about these cookies is delicious. They’re sweet, chewy, soft, cinnamony, and all things cozy…my favorite word this time of year.
If you eat them warm, they really will melt in your mouth.
These aren’t your average cookies, but they’re such a nice switch up! Bake them up tonight to enjoy, share them with family on Thanksgiving, and maybe even package them up in your Christmas cookie boxes. They really are loved by all!
Looking for other sweet pumpkin recipes? Here are my favorites:
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Latte Cupcakes
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Butter Bread
Lastly, if you make these White Chocolate Chai Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
White Chocolate Chai Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup pumpkin butter , (see note)
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, (see note)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Chai Sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon all-spice
- 1 tiny pinch black pepper
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until combined. Add the pumpkin butter, egg, and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Fold in the white chocolate.3. To make the chai spice sugar, combine all ingredients in a shallow bowl. 4. Roll the dough into rounded 1 tablespoon size balls and then roll through the chai sugar. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Using the palm of your hand, gently flatten the dough balls down a little. 5. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter 2 times to flatten them down. Return to the oven and bake another 2-3 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges, but still doughy in the center. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. Eat warm or let cool and then store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Flavor profile is pretty good…lots of warming spices and not too sweet, but mine turned out VERY cakey. Zero chew in the bite. I did use plain pumpkin vs. pumpkin butter, but can’t imagine that one tweak woukd have made such a significant difference. Otherwise followed instructions to a tee. Happy baking all!
I used the homemade pumpkin butter and still had the same problem. Cookies were fat and cakey even after pressing them down and hitting the tray on the counter after 8 minutes!
I used the homemade pumpkin butter and had the same issue. Very fat and cakey and not at all like the photos.
Thanks so much for trying out this recipe Candice! I really appreciate the feedback 🙂 xTieghan
These look amazing! My son can eat wheat or eggs. Would these still turn out well if I used gluten free flour? And what can I substitute for the egg? Thanks, can’t wait to make these!
*can’t eat wheat
Hi there! That should work just fine! I would maybe use applesauce as a sub for the egg 🙂 xTieghan
I don’t have pumpkin butter. Can I use normal butter instead ?
It says above: Pumpkin Butter: if you don’t have pumpkin butter, use 1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree, but blot away any excess water/moisture with a paper towel to remove the added moisture. if you use regular butter they’ll still be good, just not pumpkin flavored cookies.
Hi there! I would use pumpkin puree! 🙂 xTieghan
Everyone, including me, loved how these turned out! Making them however was a bit difficult as the dough was VERY sticky making it hard to roll them in the Chai sugar. I added almost an extra 1/4 cup of flour which helped. Would putting the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes before rolling into balls help do you think? I made the pumpkin butter so I have extra to make more of these next week! YUM!!!
I read your comment and put the first tray in the freezer and then baked that one after about ten minutes and they were perfect!
Hey! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I really appreciate it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
Se ve deliciosa,tratare de hacerla. Gracias
Thank you! xTieghan
Good but not quite fantastic. I think using homemade pumpkin puree was 6 this went wrong – it was not pumpkin-y (even using a ton of pumpkin pie spice) and even when pressing moisture out, the dough was sticky. Added so much flour that they turned cakey. Which isn’t a bad thing, but without the heavy pumpkin flavor, they tasted like pancakes.
Hey there! So sorry this recipe didn’t turn out the way you hoped! Thanks for letting me know xTieghan
The perfect rainy day cookie! Thank you 🙂
Hey! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
Best cookies I’ve ever made! Perfect Christmas/cold weather cookies!
Hey Jessica! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
Can I leave out the pumpkin to just make chai cookies? Thanks!
Seriously phenomenal. Probably will be making this like once a week until the new year. Plus, I can never really seem to get cookies right and these turned out great!
Hey! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
Okay these were OUTSTANDING!!!! The only sub I had to make was omitting some of the spices from the sugar that I didn’t have on hand, so it was more of a traditional snickerdoodle sugar, but it was still amazing and will definitely be apart of the fall rotation 🙂
Hey! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
For all those asking about regular semisweet chocolate instead of white chocolate- it works! Although I can’t compare to white chocolate, I used the semisweet that I had on hand and they’re delicious! It made 30 cookies for me (smaller scoop) and I’m a big fan and will make again. They taste similar to a pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookie I make every fall, but with a sparkle of spiced sugar.
Hi Rory! Thanks so much for the feedback, so glad you enjoyed this recipe! xTieghan
I made these and they were choir of angels singing heavenly. Wondering if you can make a pancake recipe using the pumpkin butter? Pretty please post one!!
Hey Jess! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
These turned out pretty well. I really enjoyed the chai spice but mine ended up with more of a fluffy cake like texture so not sure what I did wrong. I did use pumpkin purée and also added the 2 additional tablespoons of flour since it was very sticky.
Mine also came out this way
Mine came out fluffy too, and I didn’t do any substitutions. The flavor was great, I just would like a more dense cookie.
Hi there, I had the same issue you had as well. I used pumpkin purée and had to add the additional 2 tablespoons of flour and even a little more. Was still quite sticky and had to keep greasing my hands when forming the balls. Came out like muffin cookies. Still enjoyable, but much more like cake.
Hey! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
Is there any way to make these without pumpkin? What would you recommend substituting?
Thanks!
Hi Alana! I’m so sorry, I haven’t ever tried these without pumpkin so I’m not too sure! xTieghan
Hi – I want to make these a few days ahead of time but would you recommend baking the cookie, letting it cool, then freezing? Or freezing the dough then thawing, rolling in sugar, and cooking?
Hey Christina,
I would freeze the dough and then thaw, roll in sugar, and bake. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan