My Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are carefully crafted to be soft, thick, and chewy (not cakey!). This is a simple and easy recipe made without a mixer! Recipe includes a how-to video.
A Fall-Flavored Chocolate Chip Cookie
These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are like a pumpkin-spiced version of my worst chocolate chip cookies. They’re soft, chewy, full of flavor, and infused with just the right amount of pumpkin and pumpkin spice–there’s a lot to love about them! It took a lot of testing to achieve these results though.
Baking with pumpkin can be a bit of a science; pumpkin contains a lot of water, and incorporating water in your baked goods produces cakey results. This isn’t necessarily a problem if we’re making something like pumpkin cake, but if you’re trying to make a chewy cookie, it’s definitely not what you’re looking for.
To compensate, I’ve made a few careful selections with my ingredients, which you’ll see below. The end result is perfectly chewy and NOT cakey–just how cookies (especially pumpkin cookies!) should be!
What You Need
Several key ingredients come together to make these pumpkin cookies soft and chewy instead of cakey:
- Melted butter. I am a huge fan of using melted butter for chewier, buttery-er cookies. Melted butter also means we avoid the creaming process, which creates air pockets that puff up cookies and make them more cakey. Just make sure to let your butter cool until it’s no longer warm to the touch before adding your sugars!
- Brown sugar. I use a blend of light and dark, but all light brown sugar would work too! I don’t recommend using all dark brown sugar.
- Pumpkin. To reduce the amount of water in our pumpkin, we’re going to blot it. If you’ve made my pumpkin scones before, you’re already familiar with this process. To do this, you’ll simply measure out your pumpkin and use a paper towel to blot it until most of the water has been removed.
- Egg yolk. Another way to cut the water in this recipe is to use a single egg yolk and leave out the egg white. Egg whites contain a lot of water, so removing the white in this instance helps to yield a more chewy, tender, and less cakey cookie.
- Chocolate chips. I like to use a blend of milk and semisweet chips, but you can use whatever you prefer.
SAM’S TIP: If you don’t have enough pumpkin pie spice, make your own! My recipe for homemade pumpkin spice is simple and uses spices you already have on hand.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Combine cooled butter and sugars, then stir in the pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Stir in the chocolate chips before wrapping the bowl in plastic and chilling for at least an hour.
- Scoop dough onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes.
SAM’S TIP: For a pretty finished look, I like to press a few chocolate chips in the tops of my cookies just after removing them from the oven. This is optional, but it does make a difference appearance-wise!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This will obviously make the cookies a bit sweeter, but if that’s what you like, go for it!
If your butter was too hot when you added the sugars, it may have actually melted the sugars. If this happens, your cookie dough is likely to be a runny mess and your cookies will be a mess, too. Unfortunately no amount of chilling will help salvage this.
Yes! This dough can be prepared, covered tightly, and chilled up to 3 days in advance. You may also chill and scoop the dough, individually wrap the scoops, and freeze it for up to several months — just note that the cookies typically take a bit longer to bake from frozen and don’t spread as much this way.
Most of you know that pumpkin isn’t really my thing, but I can assure you the pumpkin lovers in my house love this recipe!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar firmly packed (I like to use a blend of light and dark brown sugar, but either will work) (200g)
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup pumpkin puree (165g), blotted (¹see notes in recipe for instructions on blotting) (weigh before blotting, I find this usually weighs 127g after blotting)
- 3 cups all purpose flour (375g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (click the link for instructions to make homemade pumpkin pie spice)
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips Use your preferred type, I like to use a blend of milk and semisweet chocolate chips (255g)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine melted, cooled butter and sugars.
- Add pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir well.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice until well-combined.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough in refrigerator for at least 60 minutes.
- Once cookie dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350F (175C), leave cookie dough in the fridge until oven has fully preheated.
- Scoop dough by 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized scoops and, if desired, roll between your palms to form a smooth round ball. Drop onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet or an ungreased cookie sheet and bake on 350F (175C) for 12-14 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet before enjoying.
Notes
¹Blotting Pumpkin
Blotting the pumpkin is an important step that keeps these pumpkin cookies nice and chewy and not cake-y. To blot, simply measure out the pumpkin puree and place in a bowl. Press a folded up paper towel into the pumpkin repeatedly to extract as much moisture as you can. Repeat with more paper towels until they are no longer picking up substantial amounts of liquid. You can see this technique demonstrated in my video.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Chelsea
Could you use cinnamon chips instead of chocolate chips?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sure! Sounds delicious. Enjoy, Chelsea ❤️
Cassie
Made these for a halloween potluck at work and people really liked them! Not cakey like other pumpkin cookie recipes I have tried in the past, thank you for another great cookie recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear everyone enjoyed, Cassie! 🙂
Friesndakittens
BEST COOKIES! This is my second recipe I’m using and I’m hooked! I just subscribed and I’m so excited to try more!!! Keep up the excellent work! One of your many fans
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you like them! Thanks so much ❤️ Let us know if you try anything else! 😊
Audrey
I made these for some friends, and they told me they were the best cookies they’d ever had! 100/10
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Audrey! 🙂
Brianna
So easy to make and delicious!! I’m planning on baking these for Thanksgiving this year for the family 🙂 Thank you!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am glad that you enjoyed them. 🙂
Lucy
Another trick is to reduce the pumpkin by cooking it down. it is a pain but it really makes pumpkin cookies less mushy cakey and I love making things with pumpkin. This is an excellent recipe. I reduce an entire can of pumpkin which leaves 3/4 to one cup. the leftover I use in another recipe or for my dogs, as they get pumpkin once or twice a day with meals.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Lucy! 🙂
Tracy
So moist and delicious. I will definitely make again!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you loved them, Tracy! Thank you so much for commenting. Enjoy! 🙂
Chloe
Easily my favorite pumpkin recipe!! I loooove chocolate in everything but my husband doesn’t. I made him a batch and instead of chocolate chips, put 1/2 cup of chopped up craisins and 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Chloe! 🙂
Christina
Would you use the same amount of pumpkin purée if using fresh pumpkin instead of canned?
Sam
Hi Christina! You would still use the same amount of puree. As you are probably already aware, you need to use the right type of pumpkin and cook it before using it. 🙂
Mesha
Sam, best soft and moist pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Thanks for the recipes!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Aaron
Made these over the weekend.Not as much of pumpkin flavor as I thought it would have.It has already become a household favorite.
Sophie
Yum yum yum! I love your pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe so much but my husband is much more of a chewy cookie guy so these were perfect and a big hit with everyone! I personally love both!! And sure will be making them both lots in the future. Thanks for always delivering delicious fool proof recipes Sam! You’re my favourite baking blog!
Sugar Spun Run
What a sweet comment, thank you so much, Sophie! I am so glad that the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies were a hit. I hope that you try more of my recipes soon. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Tom Kirkwood
Sam: watched your video (great job!) and then tackled these cookies. They were delicious, easy to make and I have had requests for more so I will be making another batch this weekend! Trying the pumpkin cupcakes next week. Thank you! Tom K.
Larry Darnell Akins
These cookies are so delicious I am going to make them again
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Larry! I am so happy that you enjoyed the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! 🙂
Annette
I just made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies last night that are supposed to be chewy, not cakey. Nope. No pumpkin blotting and the recipe called for 1 egg. Can’t wait to give these a try and see if that is the secret. They look delicious!
Sugar Spun Run
Thanks, Annette! I hope that the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies turn out the way you had hoped the others would. I think you’re really going to like these! 🙂