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 | 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.
I want to say Thank -you, for all of your recipes that you share!!! Great stuff. I made your Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cooke’s and added some walnuts as well to it. Wife came home and loved them!!
I added about 5 minutes to the baking time due to the high altitude in Colorado Springs.
Enjoy your emails too!
Wonderful! My daughter in law loves these so I ship them. Today I added pecans for her. Thanks!
I love all of your recipes. Do you think this would work for the chocolate chip cookie brownies bars? I want to make a pumpkin version. I have pumpkin spice Oreos for the middle.
Hi Caroline, absolutely! This dough as written is ideal for a 9×9 pan, so you will want to double it for the 9×13 pan for the chocolate chip cookie brownie bars. If the cookie layer is too thick, feel free to use the extra dough for a few cookies on the side. Sounds like a delicious combo, so please do let us know how it goes!
These are great!! I was a little worried about baking them at high altitude (7200ft) but it only took a few more minutes in the oven to come out perfectly.
Mine turned out very cakey as I didn’t remove any moisture from the pumpkin- but honestly I wouldn’t change it! Beautiful texture and flavour! I used 1 cup of whole meal flour and 1/2 cup of AP flour and they were great. Will make again but will remove moisture to make as intended
Hello!! Love you but just wanted to let you know this person is plagiarizing your recipe: https://www.marnistockhausen.com/post/chewy-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies
Love this recipe!
This was the best pumpkin cookie recipe ever! I’m the worst baker and terrrible at following directions so I literally threw everything in the bowl, mixed it up and plopped it on a baking sheet. No blotting or chilling required and it was still the best. Two thumbs up!
This is the best cookie recipe in the world. The first time I made it, I squeezed out all the liquid from the pumpkin and messed up the recipe. But since then I learned to squeeze out just a bit, and they turn out perfectly chewy.
My son is not a dessert person, but he loves these cookies and asks me to make them all the time! I would like to make a crustless cookie pie version of this cookie for guests. Can you let me know how long I should bake in a 9 inch pie plate and for how long? Thanks!
Hi Diana, we’re unsure of the exact bake time, but it’s likely closer to 20-25 minutes like this chocolate chip cookie cake. Keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Glad this recipe is such a hit for your family!
Thank you for your reply! That looks great!
We loved this recipe and made as written and another batch with white chocolate chips. I added two minutes of bake times for more chew and so far people have loved the white chocolate version! Thank you for a great pumpkin cookie!
I am a huge fan of your recipes, but this recipe is so good that my office gave me stickers of appreciation for bringing these cookies in yesterday! Thank you!
Oops! I didn’t see the instruction to measure the pumpkin AFTER blotting. I saw the dough was way too dry (my wet ingredients didn’t even pour!) so I added 3-4 T of (un-blotted) pumpkin. They look great and smell great — I hope my “fix” was enough to save them! It’s because of the education you’ve given me, Sally, that I was brave enough to try a fix. Thank you!!
Vegan baking stick turned this very good cookie into a very great vegan cookie!
I followed the directions, except added a little more chopped chocolate with the chocolate chips.
My testers did not know they were vegan.
I haven’t tried them yet so can’t comment. Want to know though why nutrition info is not included in this or other of your recipes? I try to limit fats and sugar so it’s great to have this info included. Please consider adding nutrition info along with your recipes.
Hi Kye, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I wanted to make this recipe using Kabocha squash instead of pumpkin. It has a lot less moisture than pumpkin. Thoughts on adding a yolk or small egg to the recipe if the “pumpkin” is not so watery — even after blotting..?
Hi Pam, We’ve never tried it and it would take some additional recipe testing for us to be confident on exactly how to change the recipe. But let us know if you try anything!
I made these with cinnamon chips instead of chocolate chips and they were a hit! I followed all the tips and instructions including squeezing the liquid out of the pumpkin and letting them cool for several hours on the rack. My partner tried one out of the oven and was about to denounce them as “cakey,” but I always read all of your notes, so I knew it would be worth the wait. After cooling they were denser and more delicious, though I would classify them as a “soft” cookie rather than chewy, though definitely not cakey! I may bake them a hair longer next time, but this recipe is definitely a keeper. An easy treat to whip up on a fall weeknight.
I want to make these for a party where my gluten-free friend will be attending. Can I substitute gluten-free flour? And if so, any recommendations or suggestions?
Hi Joan, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Although some readers report using an all-purpose 1:1 gluten-free flour in many of our recipes with success, you should expect slightly different results anytime you substitute ingredients.
Delicious!!
These cookies were amazing! Super easy, one bowl, no need to drag out the mixer. I seriously made them with my 4 year old in 10 mins (and it’s IMPOSSIBLE to bake with my 4 year old!). They are the best, soft, chewy texture. Enough “pumpkin-y fall vibes” but not overwhelming or cloying. My husband is usually indifferent about cookies and he begged me to make them again. I’ll have to double the recipe so I can give some to friends. Thank you for the great recipe that I’ll be making again and again!
HI, I make this recipe all the time. But, it seems the ingredients have changed since I last made last week. It no longer has syrup, and the measurements for the pumpkin are different. I just made and the consistency of the pumpkin mixture was solid. Please advise.
Hi Adriana, this recipe has not changed. It’s been a favorite for years! Are you thinking of these pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies instead?
Hello Sally!
Does 100% pure pumpkin in the can work(Libby’s)/
Or is that what you are calling pumpkin pie filling?
Thank you!
Hi Susan, as long as the only ingredient is pumpkin, that will work! Pumpkin pie filling will have other ingredients listed on the can. Libby’s brand 100% pure pumpkin is great!
This may be a dumb question but other than buying a pumpkin & then puréing it, can you buy purée pumpkin at the grocery store??
Hi Betsy, yes, you sure can! You can find canned pumpkin puree often in the baking aisle or in seasonal displays. Just make sure you are buying 100% pure pumpkin with no other ingredients. You don’t want pumpkin pie filling, which contains other ingredients.
I loved this recipe!
If I add butterscotch chips in addition to chocolate chips will the texture be okay?
Absolutely! As long as the total amount of chips/add-ins is 1/2 cup (about 90g).
I tried this last night! Mine didn’t spread as much as the photos but honestly I think it’s an issue with my oven. They were still delicious! Trying the pumpkin bread recipe next!
Not at all!! They were amazing!!
I made these last night for a dinner parity and everyone loved them. The texture was perfect. I think taking some of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree is a brilliant idea. They are my new favorite cookie for fall. And I can make them vegan for my daughter. Win Win! Thank you!
Hi. I would like to “veganize” this recipe by using vegan margarine instead of unsalted butter. Would this change the outcome?
Love the flavors but my first batch was not cooked through and very doughy at 12 minutes so I had to add minimum 4 minutes to the cooking time for the remaining ones. With the additional time they came out great. I did flatten them before cooking and they didn’t really spread beyond that but they are a nice size height even without spreading.
I usually bake with my toddlers “helping” so i always appreciate when recipes are somewhat forgiving – i find this to be one of those gems . I subbed all the AP flour for 100% whole wheat and they’re still soft with a little more heartiness to them. Great recipe.
My family’s and friend’s favorite pumpkin cookie recipe! Have you ever tried this with persimmon pulp? It has about the same consistency as pumpkin, do you think it would work the same?
Hi Elizabeth, we haven’t tried baking with persimmon pulp before so we’re unsure of the results, but please do let us know if you do any experimenting!