Pumpkin Cream Cheese Snickerdoodle

Happy Fall and Welcome Pumpkin Everything!

I just shared "The Best Snickerdoodle Cookies" and had another snickerdoodle cookie that I wanted to share. I've gone from zero interest in snickerdoodles, to seeing what other delicious sounding recipes are out there; pumpkin seemed an obvious choice for this time of year.

Have you ever had a recipe that you both loved and hated equally? Unfortunately, this is that kind of recipe for me. Everything about these cookies looks amazing, until you have to put them together. First, there is a list of 18 ingredient measurements, for 3 different steps in the recipe. Then layering the cookie dough and filling is a very sticky, messy ordeal. Finally, my cookies took almost 30 minutes to bake!

Now, by no means am I saying the end results are not worth the process - this is an amazing cookie - however, it's one that I probably won't be messing with again.

It's another recipe from Alyssa at the recipe critic. She's got beautiful pictures of the finished cookie and the perfect recipe to make them.

I followed the instructions to a T, but it certainly wasn't as easy as it reads. I expected the cookie dough to firm up like sugar cookie dough after chilling, but it was just as sticky as when I'd first mixed it. The dough stuck to my hand, the counter, the baking sheet, as I tried to flatten out the tablespoon for each layer. After a few attempts, I got out a piece of wax paper, sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mix on to it, and then put the dough on top so at least it was only sticking to my hands.

I tried to keep the cookies on the small size, but they baked larger so that I could only fit 6-8 cookies on the baking stone. And then I had to wait 25-30 minutes before they were done and I could start the next sheet.

I'm not trying to write a 'hate' blog -  if you love pumpkin and cream cheese then you should try this recipe. It is absolutely a perfect combination cookie. It has a slight crunch to the outer shell, then a super soft, creamy center.

My sisters were begging me to make them again for the holidays.

After reading through the comments following Alyssa's blog, I see that a lot of people had the same frustrations.
One says: I personally would file this under “the most frustrating cookies you will ever love”.
And another: I have always found Snickerdoodle dough sticky & difficult to work with…but definitely worth it in the end!

So, I'll leave the choice with you. If you plan on trying them, prep what you can the night before, plan on a couple hours the day of baking, and make a lot if you want them to make it through the day without being eaten up!
As for me, I think there are a lot of other pumpkin recipes that I'll be trying before I make this one again.

Happy Pumpkin Baking!

The Best Snickerdoodle Cookies

I never thought I liked snickerdoodle cookies; or at least they were never something I thought to buy or make, until this year...

I take a vacation with a wonderful, diverse group of friends twice a year. This last winter vacation, I
decided to make several dozen cookies (and a few loaves of bread) for the group to snack on over the weekend get-together. I never could have guessed how much snickerdoodles would be missed; or how much I would be [lovingly] harassed for not making such a common favorite cookie - I had no idea they were a "staple" cookie!
I wasn't going to make the same mistake for our summer vacation when I was asked to "kindly grace [them] with [my] talents in cookie and treat baking."
If I was going to make snickerdoodles, I needed to find a recipe that sounded good to me. My prior thoughts on snickerdoodles were that they were a thin, crispy cookie, lacking in much flavor other than cinnamon - I like most cookies to be soft, chewy, and chunky with flavors.

I think I typed in something like "best snickerdoodle recipe" on Pinterest and quickly discovered pudding cookies - oh my! The blog post I found claims "7 of the best pudding cookies". This recipe changed my lack of interest for snickerdoodles into love and gave me a new "staple" cookie for holiday baking. I even raved about the recipe on Facebook:

Post by SRD photography.

It had me at "white chocolate" and kept me hooked. I could type out the recipe here, but why mess with an already perfect place to get it? I couldn't agree more with everything Alyssa (the recipe critic) has to say about the cookies. (And I'll just add that I wish I had all the time to make the recipes she's discovered!)

Since the summer, I've made them again - a double batch - for girls weekend, to share with family, and to share with coworkers. Needless to say, everyone loved them. I have several requests to make them again - and I definitely will!