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’m looking forward to cozy hats and scarves, too. And boots. And crisp fall leaves, all the vibrant fall colours, and all the apple and maple and cinnamon! These cookies look pretty good, for pumpkin! I’m thinking I’m going to try your pumpkin crumb muffins soon; I have never liked pumpkin, despised it really, but I like pumpkin donuts. So I thought maybe I’ll like cake-y pumpkin stuff 🙂 I’ll let you know if I try them!
These cookies are not only my favorite cookie, but my favorite dessert too! I’ve made them more than a few times and they don’t last more than a day in my house. Thank you for this delicious recipe Sally.
SO YUMMY!!! I think I ate more batter than cooked cookies but both were delicious! Thank you!
Can you cut the sugar back at all? They are delicious, and my kids love them, but I feel the sugar amount is too high.
Also, I saw a comment above about using fresh pumpkin. I did, as in aus we don’t have canned pumpkin, worked out great.
I’m so glad you enjoy then and that fresh pumpkin worked! You can certainly try reducing the sugar for your taste – just keep in mind sugar is also needed for the correct texture in baked goods and it helps cookies to spread so if you reduct it too much you will change the texture of your cookies.
Delicious taste! These cookies are very soft, and the next day instead of becoming chewier they became softer – too soft in my opinion, and I’m a fan of soft-baked. Any tips for getting a firmer cookie? More flour? Keep in fridge instead of at room temp – perhaps keep in the fridge? Lovely recipe!
Hi Ro! To prevent the cookies from getting too soft in storage, keep the cookies lightly covered– not in a sealed container. The exposure to air will help. If you bake them again, you can add a couple minutes to the bake time, too!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been on a quest for non-cakey pumpkin cookies for a long time! This is hands-down the best recipe I have come across and I appreciate all your hard work and your willingness to share with the masses.
Thanks so much for this recipe – the chewy texture makes them so good! It’s my husband’s favorite cookie. I’ve made them 3 different times over the past several weeks!
OMG, these are to die for. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! I have to make a double batch otherwise they are just gone in no time. The only thing is they were way too sweet for us, so I cut the sugar in half and only use a coconut one. Absolute favourite in my household!
I have been using this recipe for YEARS!! I found it around 2014 and make these cookies every fall! People always want the recipe and I direct them back here. Delicious, SOFT, eggless cookies. Thank you so much for sharing this!!!!!!
Hi Sally
Want to make these,but hard to find certain spices here in Saudi Arabia.
I have Cininmon, Ground allspice,and nutmeg. No cloves.
I found a mixed spice ground it has.cininmon,coriander,nutmeg,clove,pimento,ginger.
What should I use,and how much of what?
Thank you
Shelley
Hi Shelley! You can leave out the cloves. Simply add a pinch extra of each other spice to make sure there’s enough flavor. 🙂
I had some leftover pumpkin puree and decided to use them for this recipe. They turned out great and I love the taste and texture!
Just wondering – do you know if the results would be similar if I substitute the pumpkin puree for apple sauce?
Hi Melissa! I fear the cookies wouldn’t set up properly with applesauce as it’s a little more wet than pumpkin. You can certainly try it though!
HI Sally,
Can i blot the pumpkin just a little bit in this recipe?
to get some moisture out of it?
i made pumpkin cookies in the past and they have molded after a few days
even when they were in the refrigerator. they were the cake-y style of cookie
so i really would like to blot out some moisture with these as well.
please let me know.
Hi Heather! You can blot some of the excess moisture out of the pumpkin before adding to the cookie dough. I do that if the pumpkin seems extra wet. Have fun baking!
Can you leave out the chocolate chips? Potbelly has this amazing pumpkin pie cookie a year ago that they no longer make. It was as you describe – soft but not cakey. It was wonderful, and I don’t even like pumpkin pie! Wondering if this recipe would get me close to that….
Hi Elizabeth! You can leave out the chocolate chips, yes. Let me know what you think!
Thanks! They turned out great (though they didn’t spread as you had warned). I sprinkled some cinnamon sugar in top before baking. I think if I make the cookies bigger they will be just like the potbelly ones were!
Your comment about the “cakey cookie issue” was so on point! As soon as I read that you had solved this issue, I knew I found my next favorite pumpkin recipe. I followed everything exactly as you outlined and the cookies were perfection!! I let them sit as directed before having one (or maybe 5!!) and the texture and flavor was perfect. Thank you so much for spending countless hours perfecting recipes and taking the time to give so many tips so that others will get it right on the first try!
You are so welcome, Stephanie! I’m so glad you tried them and loved them!
I was wondering if I use mini chocolate chips, would it change the texture?
Nope! You’d just have more chocolate chips in each bite. 🙂
these cookies are beautiful!!! i will always keep this recipe. i browned my butter quite a bit to give the cookies even more flavor, and i accidentally added in the chocolate while the dough was still quite warm, so some of it melted! D E L I C I O U S
These cookies prove again why your recipes are my favorite! I love that the recipes are measured out in grams (so helpful because I like to measure out ingredients with a kitchen scale most of the time rather than using measuring cups). I wanted to make these cookies vegan, so I used triple filtered coconut oil instead of butter and I could not be any happier with the results. So deliciously soft and chewy!! I’m definitely making these again and again throughout the season!
Okay, question!? I love this recipe. I want to make these for a friend who is a vegan. What would you substitute the butter with? This is the best recipe I think because we melt the butter and do not use eggs. Brilliant!
A vegan butter substitute should be OK or melted coconut oil.
Hi Sally,
Is there a substitute for all spice? I have trouble finding it in the grocery store.
thanks!
You can leave it out and simply add a little extra of the other spices.
Oh My Goodness! Deliciousness! My friend made these for our ladies church group on Sunday and we were all LOVING them sooooooo much! I am super picky about my cookies and I was in heaven with the texture and flavor (not too pumkiny). I got the link to your recipe and am baking them for my family today! YUM! Thank you!!!!
These are amazing!! I made a batch and after they cooled I tried one and first thought it didn’t have much pumpkin flavor nor were they very sweet. However a few hours later the pumpkin flavor did intensify and were even better the next day. Because I was worried that they weren’t sweet enough I proceeded to mix up a powdered sugar glaze icing and drizzled over them. The glaze were an excellent compliment but please know that after the flavor intensified the next day that they would’ve been just as amazing without the icing. I then made another batch of dough & put it in the freezer so I can quickly bake a batch for Thanksgiving.
Hi Chris! You definitely can (and I sometimes do), but it’s not necessary for this cookie recipe.
Hi Angie! I haven’t tried that, but let me know if you do!
Hi Veronica! Yes, you can just use the cinnamon and leave out the pumpkin spice 🙂 Enjoy!