These Candy Corn Snickerdoodles are thick like a classic snickerdoodle cookie with a chewy bite from candy corn. The easy recipe is unique, requires no chilling, and comes together in around 30 minutes. Perfect for Halloween cookie baking!

Let me tell you something I never thought I’d be baking with. Candy corn. It’s definitely a love-it-or-hate-it product. For most of my life, I was in the latter, that is until I bought my first bag this year and made these Candy Corn Snickerdoodles.

I saw a bag of mini candy corn at Target and made myself get them to test recipes. Low and behold… I loved them. Have my tastes changed? Has the candy corn recipe changed? Am I crazy? The bag said “Made with Real Honey” and I could definitely taste it, so maybe that was it. Regardless, I now love candy corn.

Growing up, the only way I could tolerate it was with peanuts. My best friend’s mom always made candy corn and peanuts around Halloween and kept us stocked with little baggies. The bite ratio had to be one candy corn to two peanuts though or I could taste too much candy corn. 

For some reason when I opened the bag and tasted this most recent bag of candy corn, my first thought was “Snickerdoodles”. I’m still not sure why, but I’m happy it happened. These Candy Corn Snickerdoodles are so so easy and a unique spin on the classic recipe.

The candy corn melts just enough inside of the cookie so you’re left with a super chewy cookie with amazing flavor. These, plus my Caramel Apple Popcorn would be big hits on a Halloween party dessert table. 

Ingredients & Subs

• All-purpose flour — I don’t have any experience using another flour, but if you try it, let me know how it goes! 
• Cream of tartar — If you’re wanting to make a true snickerdoodle cookie, you need the cream of tarter, I’m afraid. It not only leavens, it adds a unique tang that’s exclusive to snickerdoodles. If you HAVE to make snickerdoodles without cream of tartar, you could sub 2 teaspoons of baking powder for it, but I say, just buy a tiny bottle of cream of tarter. You’ll need it for meringue one day anyway.
• Ground cinnamon — The star of the show! Feel free to use pumpkin pie spice if you like!
• Unsalted butter — Some people like to use shortening in place of butter here but I definitely prefer the added butter flavor!
• Eggs — This recipe uses one egg + one egg yolk to keep the batter nice and rich.
• Mini candy corn — These are my new obsession! The mini size is perfect for this recipe and for snacking! If you can’t find or already have the regular size, I would chop them in half for the recipe and leave the one on the top whole. 

**You may have leftover cinnamon sugar from the coating, if you do, you can use it on your toast, oatmeal, or these Cinnamon-Sugar Pretzel Knots with Bourbon Glaze!

How to store

These Candy Corn Snickerdoodles stay fresh for 7 days in an airtight container at room temperature. The dough can be made and chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Allow it to come to room temperature before rolling and baking the cookies. To freeze, roll the dough without the topping and freeze on a cookie sheet until solid.

You can then transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2-3 months. When you go to bake, remove the balls from the freezer, let sit at room temp for 30 minutes, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar topping and bake. You may also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw at least 8 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Hot Tip

When you scoop your cookie dough, roll it into a nice even ball. If you see any areas where there’s an end of candy corn sticking out, you can pinch the dough around the candy to hide it within the dough ball. You want the dough to be covering all of the candy.

If you find that you accidentally scooped too many candies at once, just pick them out and re-roll. If there are pieces of candy corn sticking out of the sides, you may end up with some leakage.

They’ll still be delicious, but just not as pretty. Since the top candy corn is sitting on top, it doesn’t melt like the inside candies. I hope that makes sense!  

More Fall Dessert Recipes You’ll Love!

Baked Apple Cinnamon Powdered Pumpkin Donuts

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Bars

Easy Pumpkin Creme Donuts

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Apple Layer Cake with Bourbon Butterscotch Buttercream

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Take a browse around the site and please let me know if you make anything by leaving a comment and rating the recipe below. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or requests!