Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
TASTE: The warm, spiced notes of pumpkin pair perfectly with semisweet chocolate, and the browned butter adds a caramelized, nutty undertone that brings it all together.
TEXTURE: These cookies are rich, chewy, and soft – not at all cakey.
EASE: Browning the butter is an extra step, but this recipe is still super simple to make. No mixer needed!
PROS: Big PSL vibes = fall baking perfection.
CONS: None.
WOULD I MAKE THIS AGAIN? Constantly throughout the fall!
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Fall baking just got a whole lot more delicious with these Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. And the best part? They’re SO easy to make!
There’s nothing better than a chocolate chip cookie that’s crisp at the edges and super chewy and soft throughout. But adding pumpkin can sometimes ruin this texture, creating a cakey cookie that’s so much less satisfying.
I tinkered with this recipe until I had the perfect pumpkin spice flavor AND that ideal chewy cookie texture. One of the key ingredients to these crave-worthy cookies? Browned butter!
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Browned butter can add so much depth of flavor to cookies, like in Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. It elevates simple recipes, such as Brown Butter Brownies. It adds complexity to rich desserts, like Browned Butter Maple Pecan Pie. And it’s the perfect complement to the warm spices in these pumpkin cookies.
These cookies do require a brief chill period before baking – but I promise, it’ll be SO worth it once you sink your teeth into a thick, chewy, and slightly gooey cookie that tastes like fall heaven.
Reader Love
Just baked a batch of these! So delicious and my whole family loved them. Thank you, Tessa, for the amazing recipe, you never disappoint! Definitely making them again!
–
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients:
- Chocolate chips – I love semisweet chocolate chips here, but feel free to use any chips you prefer – just keep in mind that this will impact the overall sweetness of your cookies and may overshadow the pumpkin spice flavor.
- Butter – Always use unsalted butter in baking.
- Sugar – A combination of granulated and light brown sugar for the perfect butterscotch flavors and crisp edges. Do not reduce the sugar in these cookies to avoid dry, hard, crumbly cookies that don’t spread. Learn about the role sugar plays in baking here.
- All-purpose flour – Be sure to measure your flour correctly to avoid dry, hard, or cakey cookies. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale, but if you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method.
- Salt – I prefer to use fine sea salt in baking. Learn more about salt in baking here.
- Baking soda – For the perfect amount of spread. Learn more about Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder here.
- Spices – We’re using ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves for that perfect pumpkin spice flavor. More on spices below.
- Egg yolk – Egg yolks contain protein and fat, which adds chewiness and richness, whereas egg whites can create a lighter, more cakey texture. To avoid cakiness, we’re skipping the egg white here.
- Vanilla extract – For flavor.
- Pumpkin puree – Make sure to use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling in these cookies. More on pumpkin puree below.
Browning Butter
Check out my tips and tricks for browning butter in my How to Brown Butter article here. I promise it’s simpler than you might think, and it adds so much depth of flavor to these cookies.
The Pumpkin
I recommend using a high-quality canned pumpkin, like Libby’s Pumpkin Puree, in these cookies. Do not use homemade pumpkin puree, as it can add too much excess moisture, creating cakey cookies. Check out my Fresh vs. Canned Pumpkin article for side-by-side comparisons between using fresh pumpkin puree, regular canned pumpkin, and organic canned pumpkin.
The Spices
Be sure to use fresh spices, as fresh spices will always impart a lot more flavor! If your spices have been sitting in your pantry for years and no longer have a nice, strong smell, they won’t give your baked goods any flavor and your cookies will be bland.
Help! I’m Out of Light Brown Sugar!
Dark brown sugar should work just fine in place of the light brown sugar. You can also make your own brown sugar – learn how to make brown sugar here.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes! Simply double all ingredients to yield approximately 50 medium-sized cookies.
Can I Make Larger Cookies?
Sure! Use a large 3-tablespoon cookie scoop and bake at 350°F for about 12-14 minutes.
Do I Have to Chill The Cookie Dough?
Yes – but not for long. Because these cookies are made with brown butter, the butter needs to re-solidify before baking, so chill for 30 minutes before baking.
You can also prepare the dough ahead and “marinate” the cookie dough by storing it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 48 before baking. This will make thicker, slightly chewier, and more flavorful cookies!
How to Store Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Store baked, cooled pumpkin cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days. Store with a tortilla to keep cookies soft for longer.
Can You Freeze Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies?
- Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies freeze very well! Allow cookies to cool completely, then store inside an airtight container for up to a month. Thaw at room temperature and allow to return to room temperature before serving.
- Alternatively, freeze the portioned, slightly flattened cookie dough balls on a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container. Store for up to one month. Bake directly from frozen, lowering the temperature to 325°F and adding a minute or two to the bake time. Learn more about freezing cookie dough here.
More Fall Baking Recipes You’ll Love:
Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups (204 grams) all-purpose flour (see recipe notes)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (75 grams) pumpkin puree (see recipe notes)
- 3/4 cup (128 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium stainless steel sauté pan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. Once the crackling becomes quieter, continue to swirl the pan or stir until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Be sure to keep the brown bits at the bottom of the pan as well, they hold so much flavor!
- Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the hot butter and stir to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- To the cooled butter mixture, add the egg yolk and vanilla, stirring to combine. Stir in pumpkin puree until smooth. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing well after each addition, until a soft dough forms. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firm enough to scoop. You can also refrigerate the dough for up to 48 hours, which will intensify the flavors. If refrigerating for an extended period, let dough sit at room temperature until soft enough to scoop, about 1 hour.
- Using a medium spring-loaded cookie scoop or a spoon, roll the dough into 1 ½-tablespoon-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned.
- *For larger cookies, shape use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop and roll into 3-tablespoon sized balls and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Let cool completely. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Pumpkin flavor will intensify after a day.
Recipe Notes
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This recipe was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2024 with recipe improvements and additional tips. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Well written recipe, easy to follow, results are great! Also I love that the measures for the dry goods is also listed by weight in grams, which is what I used, and the cookies came out perfect.
So happy you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for the comment!
The flaver is good but they came out so thin. Not at all like the picture or chewy as described. I weighed my ingredients so I’m sure why it came out thin. I was very disappointed. But the browned butter and spices do make good flavor, but otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it.
Hi Britt! So sorry to hear your cookies turned out thin! I wonder if your brown butter was still a bit too warm when it was added to the other ingredients. Even with chilling the dough, too warm of butter to start with can unfortunately affect the outcome of your cookies. How long did you chill your dough for?
Thanks I’ll keep that in mind. I’m not sure how long I let the butter cool, it did have some time. I chilled the dough for about an hour. Thank you for the response, I appreciate the level of detail and care in every recipe on this site!
Wow these are good…unusual b/c of their buttery pumpkin spice flavor & they do have a crunchy shell w/a chewy center. Did not add choc chips b/c I find they overpower the other flavors, but I may try adding some small chunks of bittersweet chocolate next time, these are definitely worth making!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Kim!
Just baked a batch of these! So delicious and my whole family loved them. Thank you, Tessa, for the amazing recipe, you never disappoint! Definitely making them again!
These cookies were very good and chewy but were spicy with 1 tsp cinnamon in the recipe. Next time I would reduce the cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. I used bread flour instead of AP flour to ensure chewiness and I blotted out some of the water in my pumpkin puree because it had puddles of water in it. This was due to the freezer burn. I had frozen my leftover pumpkin puree.
I made these subbing chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. They were really good; not excessively sweet; texture was nice. I’ve just been asked to bring them to an office party, so I think they went over well. 🙂 Also, I should say I played with the spices a little bit (to taste) and subbed white chocolate, but otherwise I followed the instructions TO THE T and they turned out great.
This is a super delicious cookie. I followed the recipe the first time I made them, and they were very flat. The second time around, I added a quarter cup more flour and half teaspoon more baking soda. Much better. 🙂
Tessa, I just love your cookie recipes and these certainly did not disappoint! The brown butter really turns these into something special. Now I’m just wishing I’d made a double batch because 25 is not enough!
Oh. My. Gosh. TESSA. These are the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had!! Absolutely amazing!!!
Made these tonight! Didnt have any clove so left that out! My roommates loved them and cant wait to hear what my co-workers think tomorrow
Response to Mary and Rebecca: I freeze leftover pumpkin in usable sizes, so I can have recipe size amounts available, and not waste anything. Canadian flour: You could replace some of the flour with cake flour or cornstarch. I would try a maybe 1 or 2 Tablespoons per cup for the first go around and experiment til it seemed right.
I want to try this recipe. Will try reducing the fat, but am aware that the cookie will not be quite the same with less fat.
I am new to baking and I have heard (like you said) the colder the cookie dough the thicker the cookies, and obviously you can freeze dough. But when you store dough in the freezer, do you need to let it thaw a little bit before putting in the oven, or is it okay to put the dough in frozen?