I’m confident you’ll love these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! I worked hard to create a chewy pumpkin cookie that’s not cakey like most pumpkin cookie recipes. Omitting the egg, using melted butter, and blotting the pumpkin guarantee these pumpkin cookies taste like my favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies with brilliant pumpkin spice flavor.
Sometimes you just need a chocolate chip cookie, especially when pumpkin spice season—I mean fall—takes over.
Out of all my pumpkin recipes, you’re looking at one of the best. Right up there with my great pumpkin pie recipe! Originally published in 2013, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a constant hit with bakers around the world. I bake at least 3-4 batches each fall season and they ALWAYS put me in a fall state of mind. Sometimes I even replace the chocolate chips with chopped pecans or roll them in cinnamon sugar to yield pumpkin snickerdoodles!
These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Are:
- Soft-baked, but not as soft as a piece of cake
- Chewy
- Egg-free
- Buttery
- Perfectly spiced and you can use homemade pumpkin pie spice!
- Relatively quick—only 30 minutes to chill the dough
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Video
This is Not a Cakey Pumpkin Cookie
I have appreciation for all pumpkin cookies, but I definitely prefer chewy pumpkin cookies over cakey pumpkin cookies. My regular pumpkin cookies taste like soft & cakey muffin tops. They’re obviously good, but sometimes you crave a pumpkin cookie that has the same dense & chewy texture as a regular chocolate chip cookie.
I call this the “cakey pumpkin cookie problem.” When I began recipe testing today’s cookies, I was desperate to find a solution that would help guarantee a denser texture. And guess what? I finally solved it. You see, pumpkin is soft, mushy, and full of moisture. In fact, pumpkin puree is approximately 90% water by mass. (That’s what helps make pumpkin bread so moist!) But for cookies, excessive moisture = cakey texture. Think about cake batter or muffin batter—it’s a lot more wet than cookie dough, right? We actually want cookie dough to be sturdier and drier to produce denser, chewier cookies.
My 4 Tricks to Apply in this Recipe
- Blot the Pumpkin: This first trick is actually optional, but I find it remarkably useful when I make pumpkin oatmeal cookies. Using a paper towel, blot out some of the pumpkin’s moisture so all that’s left is the flavor. See photo below. Use the blotted pumpkin in the cookie dough.
- Melted Butter: As you know from chewy chocolate chip cookies, melted butter makes cookies ultra chewy. Instead of creaming butter and sugars together, start with melted butter and whisk in the sugars. You don’t need a mixer!
- Skip the Eggs: What is the purpose of eggs in a cookie recipe? They bind ingredients together, tenderize the texture, and leave behind moisture. After some experimenting, I cut out the egg completely. Pumpkin replaces the eggs. If you’re looking for other egg-free baking recipes, give my shortbread cookies a try.
- Give it Time: Let the cookies cool on a cooling rack for awhile. They’re delicious warm from the oven, but I find both their chewiness and flavor amplify over time. Sometimes I even leave them uncovered on the cooling rack overnight. The next day, they’re chewier and more flavorful. That being said, this is an awesome make-ahead dessert recipe!
Chill for Only 30 Minutes
This pumpkin chocolate chip cookie dough is a little sticky. Chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling into balls and baking. The cookies only spread slightly in the oven, so slightly flatten out the cookie dough balls with the back of a spoon before baking.
Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
I’m confident you’ll love these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Omitting the egg, using melted butter, and blotting the pumpkin guarantee a chewier texture.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 Tablespoons (86g) pumpkin puree (see note)*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup (90g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a few extra for the tops
Instructions
- Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and blotted pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. The chips may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to combine.
- Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes or up to 3 days. Chilling the dough is imperative for this recipe.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Scoop the dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and roll each into balls. Arrange cookie dough balls 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a cup/measuring cup, slightly flatten the tops of the dough balls. (Without doing so, the cookies may not spread.)
- Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the edges appear set. The cookies will look very soft in the center. Remove from the oven. If you find that your cookies didn’t spread much at all, flatten them out with the back of a spoon when you take them out of the oven. If desired, press a few chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. This is only for looks.
- Cool cookies on the baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The longer the cookies cool, the even better they taste! The flavor gets stronger and the texture becomes chewier. I usually let them sit, uncovered, for several hours before serving. Chewiness and pumpkin flavor are even stronger on day 2.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature, then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here are my tips for how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper |Â Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Pumpkin: Squeeze as much of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree as you can before adding it to the cookie dough. I simply squeeze the puree with paper towels. See photo in the post for a visual. This will help produce a less cakey cookie. Less moisture is a good thing here! Measure 6 Tablespoons AFTER the pumpkin has been squeezed/blotted. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each: ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. This is in addition to the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that.
- Chilled Dough: If you are chilling the pumpkin cookie dough for longer than 30 minutes, the cookie dough will likely have to sit on the counter at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before scooping/rolling because it will be quite cold and solid. The amount of time it needs to sit at room temperature depends on how long the dough has chilled. If I chill my cookie dough for around 24 hours, I let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Bigger Batch: Cookie recipe can easily be doubled by doubling each ingredient. Chill the cookie dough for 45 minutes.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Haven’t tasted them but your recipes never disappoint!
I did run into a slight bump though. I weighed and blotted the pumpkin down to 86g, left it wrapped in the fridge (paper towel then cling wrap) overnight as it was getting late.
When it was time to bake, the reserved pumpkin came down to around 68g. These were leftover pumpkins so I couldn’t add anymore and decided to proceed with the recipe as it is (this could be where the issue stemmed from) and let the dough rest for around 12hrs
The cookies spread a lot and seemed underbaked at 12min. I pushed the cookies back with a spoon to reshape them, let them cool for a bit, then returned them into the oven for another 5min. They came out okay and they look like they’d be chewy.
The 2nd batch from the same dough still spread. However, they were baked for 17min this time and looked more reddish-browned and “toasted”. They looked more set and less limp than the 1st batch.
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​What are your thoughts on these? I’d really appreciate some advice.
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​Thanks!
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​p.s. I melted the butter with a double boiler and it was still slightly warm when the sugars were added.
Great recipe! I added bits of broken peppermint sticks for that extra Christmas flavor and my co-workers loved it.
Can you put cream cheese icing on the cookies?
Absolutely!
Absolutely one of the best cookies I’ve ever made!!! Thank you so much!!!
Can you add nuts to this recipe?
Yes, absolutely! Reduce the chocolate chips to add chopped nuts.
Can this dough be frozen then thawed and baked later?
Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw.
These are so delicious I quadrupled the recipe to share. They are perfectly chewy and nicely spiced. The only substitution I made was half butter and half coconut oil. I will definitely make these again. Thank you for the recipe
I can’t stop eating them! I doubled the recipe as so many others have suggested thank goodness! I have one recommendation, if you have the time, make them the day before. I read that in a review or comment from Sally. It is so true. I baked these yesterday morning, and we tried them after cooling. I told myself to use the whole can of pumpkin next time because they seemed dry, but not last night and today. I have had 4 already. The pumpkin taste is in the forefront and the texture is perfect! Make these cookies! Don’t change a thing other than to double the recipe or you will be sad. Let them sit on the counter over night and get ready for the best pumpkin cookie you have ever tasted. And I made them! Thank you Sally, now off to find my next recipe!
I have a question for the team. How in the world do you get the eggs and butter to room temp at the same time?? I wanted to use my new stand mixer twice this week and either the butter was to soft or the eggs were to cold. Please help this newbie who is so excited to try out the Christmas present to myself
Hi Tara, we typically take our butter out about an hour before starting the recipe. We will often take the eggs out at the same time, but if you find they are still too cold, simply place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10-15 minutes. Do not use piping hot water—you don’t want to cook those eggs. Hope this helps!
Sally’s is my go-to spot for recipes and this one did not disappoint! Only reason I’m giving it 4/5 is because I did have to adjust things a little bit – but it absolutely could have been my fault. For some reason my dough turned out VERY dry and crumbly, and I first tried adding a little more melted butter and a tbsp of unblotted pumpkin, but nothing worked. So I did a little digging and ended up making some adjustments and adding an egg white, and that cleared it right up. Not sure what happened but either way I’m going to be making these again!
Always a lot of effort and ingredients and these cookies aren’t very good. I was giving them as gifts, and am embarrassed…
Will this still be soft and good when almond flour used?
We don’t recommend almond flour as it has very different baking properties and is not usually a 1:1 swap. We haven’t tested it, but you might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
As usual, when I find a recipe on this site that I know I would like, I automatically double it because I know it will turn out well. This cookie did not disappoint. The only change I made was that I had some Pumpkin Spice chips that I used instead of the chocolate. The blotting of the pumpkin was the part I was a little leery of but it could not have been easier. When my Wife saw my big stack of cookies, she asked why I had made so many. After she tasted them, she said, “Why didn’t you make more”? Believe me, I will be making more.
My family loves this recipe so much! I want to make for thanksgiving, how many days in advance can I make? Can I make them on Sunday for Thursday? Thank you!! Happy holidays!
Absolutely! Store at room temperature until ready to serve.
After reading the recipe and the reviews, I’m going to give these cookies a try. One question, can I use dried cranberries in place of the chips? I’m thinking that might be an interesting variation.
Hi Sharon, absolutely! You can use the same amount of dried cranberries instead.
These cookies hit the spot for a fabulous fall treat! I omitted the chocolate chips and instead whipped up some brown butter icing from your pumpkin oatmeal cookie recipe and added a little cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, and they turned out fabulous. My first batch disappeared within a day, with multiple requests to make more! Thanks for taking the time to perfect and post this amazing recipe for all the chewy cookie lovers like me out there.
Have you tried white chocolate chips also? Just wondering how that would be!
White chocolate chips would be great!
Excellent recipe…These cookies were delish. Made for a friend who is egg intolerant. drizzled a little white chocolate over for a pretty look.
I just made these. Looked up Pumpkin Chocolate chip muffins/cookies in the store, and found this. (Only needed a few more items.) Yum !