Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

When I do my weekly grocery shopping, I tend to be the type who goes up and down almost every aisle and department, even if I don't need what's there. One such department is Safeway's bakery. I usually head there to get my sandwich bread but on the weeks I don't need it, I still peruse the displays to see what's new. Every few months, this includes seasonal treats. For the most part, I use the excuse of "I can make that! I think I pinned a copycat recipe for that." for not buying them. Except I never really make those recipes. So last month when I saw pumpkin snickerdoodles out on display, I decided that the next time I needed to bake for me, I would find a recipe for pumpkin snickerdoodles. After combing through my pins on Pinterest, I settled on a recipe from CenterCutCook.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (source)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (as always, if you don't have shortening, butter will probably work. I just happened to have some leftovers from previous recipes and wanted to use up the last of my container.)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar for topping
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon for topping

Directions

1. With your mixer, cream together sugar, butter and shortening. Add in eggs and mix well.
2. In a separate large bowl, sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
3. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until all of the ingredients are incorporated together.
4. Stir in 3/4 cup pumpkin puree.
5. Place the dough in the freezer to chill for about 90 minutes. If you do not chill the dough, these cookies will not turn out right.
6. Pre-heat your oven to 350℉.
7. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup sugar with 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
8. Measure 1/4 cup cookie dough and use your hands to roll into a ball. Roll the ball around in the cinnamon sugar mixture (I used a cookie scoop to do this. At first I was rolling the dough between my palms but because of the heat my hands got covered in sticky cookie so I settled with dropping the scooped dough in the mixture to help smooth/even the dough balls out).
9. Place the balls of cookie dough on ungreased baking sheets.
10. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. When just the edges of the cookies start to brown, you know they are done. The middle part of each cookie is going to appear undercooked. This is what you want.
11. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. As the cookies cool, they will lose the appearance that make them look like they are undercooked. Make sure to allow the cookies to cool completely!
12. Store leftovers in an air-tight container.