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.
Do you need to blot the pumpkin puree? And if I use fresh pumpkin puree, do I need to blot it as well?
Yes– for fresh or canned– otherwise there is too much moisture.
These are the best pumpkin cookies!! I make them all year long, and everyone always raves about them. My two biggest tips are: chill the dough the full time and DON’T overbake. Thanks for sharing, Sally!
Sally, I want to hug you. Â Your recipes are winners every. single. time. Â These cookies are no exception. Â The only problem? Â Not eating them all before our Thanksgiving celebration! Â All hail the non-cake-like cookie!
As a new baker, this was the first cookie recipe I have tried. The results are, I am either an excellent baker or this is a great recipe, hopefully both! Thanks for the extra tips such as browning the butter, ensuring the batter gets chilled, etc. I will most definitely be keeping thus recipe!Â
Wonderful! Made these to take to work for Trick or Treating today, huge hit. I used 1/2 c Splenda brown sugar blend and 1/2c regular Splenda and used white whole wheat flour (hubby is diabetic- knew he’d want some too
This recipe is delicious. I loved it so much I doubled the next batch I made. I did however bake them for 12 minutes and they came out perfectly. I also did not flatten them because I like a puffed up cookie rather than a flatten cookie (just a personal preference). My family devoured these beauties within days. Thanks for the great recipe!
I make these every fall, and my husband loves them! He asks for me to make these ones specifically! And I always get tons of compliments on them along with the white choc pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies! Thank you SO much for the awesome recipes!!!
I found this recipe 2 years ago when I was trying to recreate a recipe similar to my grandmother’s. I made them for a meeting at work (I work for a large coffee chain), and they both paired well with out Thanksgiving coffee and were a huge hit all around! This is year three that I’m gearing up to make them again, so I guess that makes it a tradition! Thanks for creating this delicious recipe; I make sure to recommend your blog to anyone looking for both delicious and easy to access recipes!Â
Just made these, BEEYOUTIFUL cookies!!! I subbed ground cardamom for nutmeg as I was out of nutmeg (how does that HAPPEN???). Also reversed ratio of dark sugar to white so my cookies are a little darker. Pressed choco chips on top after they had cooled 5 mins post-baking. Stunning! Would post pic but don’t know how?
Am MAKING myself wait till tomorrow to try as you said better with age! 😉
Dudley in NC
These are simply the best. Dough is so good. Cookies are perfect! I would recommend doubling every time because there aren’t enough in one batch!!!so glad I found this recipe! 2 years ago!Â
Amazing! Great texture and flavor and appearance. I made the batch for a work potluck and now I’m tempted to keep them to myself 😉 can’t wait to see how they go over with the coworkers tomorrow. I have had pumpkin puree I canned myself waiting to be crafted so thank you for giving me the perfect recipe.
Made these exactly as she wrote them and they are the perfect chewy, tasty pumpkin cookies I have been looking for!! Perfect balance of pumpkin and chocolate. Thank you!!!
Just made these cookies tonight and they are fantastic! Thank you so much!
I LOVE THESE!  I made these last week and on the first day I ate about 6 cookies, I couldn’t stop myself.  🙂  I’ve got another batch in the oven as I’m typing… yum!Â
These cookies are fantastic!!  I doubled the batch and I was so happy that I did because they went fast! I followed recipe to a T except for I used my stand mixer and added the wet ingredients first, then slowly added the dry ingredients that I had mixed in a separate bowl. Worked out perfectly! Thanks for the great recipe!Â
BY FAR THE BEST BEST recipe ever. I baked these tonight and my family is in love with them. Cool them down for a few hours and they get perfect consistency. Reheat in microwave for 10 seconds and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top. Its a mini pumpkin pie crunchy soft cookie heaven in my mouth. Thank you for the recipe!
I just made these!! My husband and I are obsessed with this recipe! Thanks so much!
These are delicious and easy. This is my second time making them in 2 weeks! Thank you for sharing!
Just made these and they came out perfectly!! Can’t tell you how many cookie recipes I’ve tried from various blogs that never come out right. The flavor profile and texture is so spot on. I am so looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! I have been on a mission to make a non cakey pumpkin cookie for years and today my mission was complete!! Myfamily and I thank you!! They are amazing and will be a staple in our household for many many years to come!! Happy Fall
It’s finally time for all things pumpkin, my absolute favorite season!!  I’m in love with these cookies Sally because they are better the second day. Absolutely perfect for sending in care packages. 🙂  My kids are so appreciative when they receive a package of home baked Sally’s cookies, and I love sending them. Thanks for sharing such amazing recipies and inspiration. Your love of all things baking just shines through in such a genuine way, it’s infectious!  Blessings.Â
I have made your recipe exactly as is and they are delicious, but I made them today with white chocolate chips and I have to say I love them even more that way! Either way, I’m so glad I discovered this recipe! It will be one of my favorite go to recipes when I’m in the mood for pumpkin!
Yes!! THANK YOU! Exactly what I was searching for (and not finding). You did the research and saved me all the trial and error, you are awesome!
These are just the way I have always wanted my regular chocolate chip cookies to be, soft a little crunchy and just right! I will keep this recipe forever!
Happy Halloween from Germany! These turned out just perfect tonight and is already my favorite baking recipe of all time! I lowered the sugar slightly and increased the salt slightly for my personal taste and used chopped walnuts instead of choc chips, with only one small chunk of Lindt chocolate pushed in the middle at the end (alternating white and dark chocolate). I followed all your tips (refrigerating, flattening before and after baking, not baking too long). All worked out exactly as advertised! 😉 My German husband absolutely loved them and I will forward this to my Mom in the US, who doesn’t eat eggs and loves everything pumpkin! Thank you for coming up with this and sharing! You’re a genius. 🙂
Made these today for my kids’ Halloween school parties tomorrow and WOW! So good! Going to keep some for the house for sure!
Sally- I don’t like to used canned pumpkin and make my own puree from locally grown crops. should I make any adjustment to the recipe?
Also, bake or convection bake. Does it make a difference?
Terrific recipe! These were the best pumpkin cookies ever.
I have made three double-batches in the last five days. Enough said.
I love these cookies!! Thank you for sharing! They are better than regular chocolate chip cookies!!!