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As you may have noticed, I took a break over the summer. When my kids are home from school for long periods, it’s hard to focus on writing! And I suppose I needed the pause as well. Last school year I focused so much on getting as much content on the blog as possible. This year I intend to slow down and take my time with the blog. During summer break I became better at meal planning and resourceful recipe creation. A week ago I created some amazing soft sourdough pumpkin snickerdoodles. I can’t stop thinking about these cookies! They are the perfect nostalgic soft and chewy snickerdoodle but with a flavor upgrade. This is a recipe I can not wait to share!
Reducing Food Waste: Pumpkin Surplus
I mentioned resourceful recipe creation because this sourdough snickerdoodle recipe came out of a desire to create a cookie using frozen pumpkin puree. Last year I took our beautiful decorative pumpkins post-November, roasted and stored them in our freezer. Well, those decorative pumpkins were huge. And they created so much pumpkin puree! I mean, they took up almost an entire shelf in my freezer. My freezer is not that big so I must organize and fill it well. So to fill an entire shelf with pumpkin puree was a big commitment.
I told myself I would do all kinds of wonderful pumpkin things with it over the next year. That and I could not fathom wasting the gorgeous pumpkin puree. (As a side note, now that I have a thriving compost pile I could have probably donated some to it). Try as I may, the year has almost come and gone and I still have a ton of pumpkin puree in my freezer. I created a spectacular sourdough pumpkin coffee cake recipe with the pumpkin. We made the coffee cake often from fall to spring. I made pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie, and even delicious pumpkin smoothies. I also have plans to craft a facial mask with it, add it to some chili (like my Texas-style chili), and make some risotto and ravioli.
Sourdough Pumpkin Recipe Creation
Last week I was trying to devise a cookie I could bake as an after-school snack for my kids. My tried and true variations of chocolate chip cookies are usually my go-to cookie. But I was not in the mood for chocolate. Not that I was baking these for myself, right!? I wanted to be resourceful with ingredients and had a ton of sourdough discard to use. As I was wistfully dreaming of fall being right around the corner I thought of the last few bags of frozen pumpkin in my freezer. Hmmmm, a sourdough pumpkin cookie would be fun to create! And my kids would love it. As soon as I thought of pumpkin and cookie together I thought about cinnamon. And then, poof – the notion of warm soft sourdough pumpkin snickerdoodles started to dance around in my head.
Curating Pumpkin Snickerdoodles via AI
I’ve mentioned my love of AI in cooking and kitchen endeavors in previous posts. So instead of scrounging the internet for a recipe I could tweak, I went to my chatbot instead. This allowed me to pitch my quite specific, curated idea—a soft, sourdough pumpkin snickerdoodle cookie recipe and go back and forth with my chatbot until the ingredients, quantities, and flavor sounded right. If you’re intrigued and want to learn more, go buy The Modern Cook: Conversational Cooking with AI book! It’s inspirational and will truly change your cooking!
Ingredients for Sourdough Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Pumpkin, Sourdough & Soft Wheat
I wanted these cookies to be reminiscent of a typical snickerdoodle cookie we all love—warm, soft, and cinnamon-y with a slight crisp to the edge, but pillowy and chewy inside. I knew pumpkin would keep things moist and match well with cinnamon.
As much as I like to use discard and not waste it, I also like how sourdough imparts a special flavor to baked goods. When allowing these cookies ferment, the sourdough picks up the pumpkin flavor, enhances it, and gives the cookie a bit of lift and intrigue. Of course, you don’t have to ferment these cookies. Feel free to make, chill, and bake to your liking. These cookies are still delicious if you don’t have a sourdough starter. Replace the sourdough amount with equal amounts of flour and liquid. If you are interested in fermented dough, I have more sourdough recipes on the site; most can use discard or active sourdough.
Soft wheat is optional as well but gives the cookies a touch more fiber, flavor, and depth. It also helps the cookies not be too airy and pillowy, but accentuates their chewyness.
Buckwheat Flour
Another optional ingredient I decided to incorporate is buckwheat flour. Buckwheat can impart an umami flavor to baked goods. I knew earthy buckwheat would complement the pumpkin and spices well. I incorporated only a little buckwheat flour to enhance flavor and texture. Too much of it would make an entirely different type of cookie. I have a few other buckwheat recipes on the site that show other ways to utilize the seed/flour. Again, feel free to leave this flour out if you don’t have it. But next time you’re at the store grab some!
Olive Oil & Egg Yolk
I use extra virgin olive oil in these cookies. The fruity, sometimes spicy intense oil also pairs well with the pumpkin, cinnamon, and buckwheat additions. And the oil keeps these sourdough pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies nice and soft. Due to the water content in the sourdough and fresh pumpkin, I used two egg yolks instead of one whole egg. If you choose not to use sourdough, use one whole egg.
Soft Sourdough Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe
I’m so glad I followed my whims and spent time crafting these soft sourdough pumpkin snickerdoodles. They turned out absolutely amazing. I highly suggest eating them when warm. Or room temp. Or cold. And with a cup of coffee or milk. I plan to make these again soon. They would be perfect for a casual dinner party dessert, after-school snack, late-night snack, or even a Halloween party!
Oh and my kids loved these cookies. So many moans and groans were made.
Happy baking!
Sourdough Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 120 g sourdough discard 1/2 cup
- 120 g pumpkin purée 1/2 cup(I used fresh; do not use pumpkin pie filling)
- 100 g granulated sugar 1/2 cup
- 50 g brown sugar 1/4 cup
- 80 ml extra virgin olive oil 1/3 cup
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups
- 30 g buckwheat flour 1/4 cup (optional)
- 60 g soft wheat flour 1/2 cup (or use more all-purpose)
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
For the cinnamon-sugar coating:
- 50 g granulated sugar 1/2 cup
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Dough Prep:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sourdough discard, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, olive oil (or butter), egg yolks, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, soft wheat flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until a soft dough forms.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours, allowing sourdough fermentation to develop. This step is optional.
Chill the Dough:
- After resting, refrigerate the dough for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Bake the Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl for the coating.
- Scoop roughly 2 tablespoon portions of dough and roll into balls. Coat each ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Place the dough balls on the baking sheet and gently flatten them.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers remain soft.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
Notes
- This dough is sticky! Roll it gently and expect a little mess. If it looks too wet after mixing and you cannot roll it into balls, add a bit more all-purpose flour. It should barely come together, but you should be able to somewhat form it into a ball.
- If you omit the sourdough, use 1 whole egg instead of 2 egg yolks.
- Feel free to omit the buckwheat. If you have it though, definitely use it! The earthy flavor it imparts compliments the pumpkin and spices so well.
- Adjust the spice level to taste, or substitute pumpkin spice for a more intense fall flavor.
- For a crisper cookie, bake 12-14 minutes instead of 10-12.
Nutrition
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