Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: The warm autumn aromatic spices balance just perfectly with the slightly sweet pumpkin. Toss some chocolate in the mix and you have a totally craveable treat!
Texture: Thanks to all my endless cookie experimenting, I’ve discovered *exactly* how to manipulate a cookie’s texture. These pumpkin cookies are soft yet chewy, with no cakey texture you typically find in pumpkin cookies.
Ease: Super easy, but they do require a 30-minute chill, so it’s a practice in patience.
Pros: Easy, fun, and festive twist on cookies.
Cons: Absolutely none.
Would I make this again? Oh yes, again and again and again.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are the quintessential fall cookie!
I love baking with pumpkin and fall spices. It always fills me with warm, cozy feelings, as it fills the house with the most delicious aromas.
I also absolutely love chocolate, so it’s no surprise that adding chocolate chips to these delicious spiced cookies was something I simply could not resist.
These cookies are soft but chewy, with no cakiness in sight. No one will be able to stop at just one!
There are a few tricks to getting these cookies chewy without being cakey. Check out the pink tip box below, where I outline the important ingredients, arming you with everything you need to make the perfect fall cookie.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bread Flour
- Bread flour has more protein than all-purpose flour, which allows the dough to form more strands of gluten.
- The end result is a thicker, chewier cookie.
- If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose – but you won’t get the same chewy bite.
Egg Yolk
- Egg yolks also have protein, which adds a bit of chewiness to a cookie and helps increase spread.
- Since we’re adding pumpkin puree to the dough, we’re already adding a significant amount of moisture.
- In fact, pumpkin puree can be used as an egg replacer in baking.
- Because of this, I only added 1 egg yolk in this recipe, without any whole eggs.
- Too much moisture would make these cakey.
Sugar
More granulated sugar promotes spread, chewiness, and crunch. More brown sugar promotes thicker, softer cookies. So, I decided to use mostly granulated sugar in these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with just a touch of light brown sugar for that rich butterscotch flavor. Don’t reduce the sugar – learn why here.
Melted Butter
Instead of creaming the butter and sugar together, this recipe simply calls for stirring melted butter and sugar together. Using melted butter helps the cookies spread more and develop slightly crisp edges. Perfect for when you want a more chewy and crisp cookie, which is what we want here.
The Pumpkin
Make sure to use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling in these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip 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.
Chilling the Dough
- Since we’re using melted butter, the dough ends up being quite wet and warm.
- It needs to go in the fridge for 30 minutes, or until slightly firmed, before being shaped into balls and baking.
- You can alternatively scoop the dough, and store the dough balls in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days.
- This will help develop the flavor and yield a thicker, chewier, more flavorful cookie.
Shaping the Cookies
Once the dough is chilled, use a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop to portion the dough into 1.5 to 2 tablespoon-sized balls, and flatten the balls with the palm of your hand. DO NOT SKIP THIS. This will help the cookies spread as they bake, which will make them look and feel more chewy. If you forget, your cookies will be tall and thick and slightly more cakey.
Storage
These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies keep for quite a while in an airtight container at room temperature – up to 5 days. You’ll notice that the pumpkin and spice flavor intensifies the longer they sit, so you may want to keep that in mind if you plan on serving these to your friends and family.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake
- Pumpkin Bars with Brown Sugar Frosting
- Pumpkin Muffins
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) bread flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (75 grams) pumpkin puree
- 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In a large bowl, combine melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with a rubber spatula. 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 chocolate chips.
- Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, or until firm enough to scoop. Using a spring-loaded cookie scoop or a spoon, roll the dough into 1.5 to 2-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.
- Let cool completely. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Pumpkin flavor will intensify after a day.
This post was originally published in 2014 and updated with new photos and metric measurements. Photos by Lauren J. Photography
I am trying to figure out what is the best Vanilla brand to use for managing Taste
Hi Don! Tessa’s favorite vanilla brands are (from high to low price) Nielsen Massey, Simply Organic, and McCormick. We always recommend saving expensive extracts for uncooked or lightly flavored preparations like frosting, custard, or whipped cream. Hope that helps!
Do you have any test taste results , I want to use it in making cookies
DON B better know Mr D Homemade cookies
We unfortunately do not have any test taste results published, it’s just been something we’ve experimented in our own time with to find which type we prefer. I would suggest experimenting with the most popular brands, such as the ones I listed above, to see which you prefer and go from there. Sorry I can’t help more! Maybe this could be a future article Tessa writes 🙂
Texture is exactly as described and delicious! My only regret is not doubling the batch. Making again right away!
So thrilled to hear this!
So delicious and a great alternative to a regular choc chip cookie. The flavor gets more pumpkin-y the next day.
So glad you enjoyed these cookies!
How cool should the melted butter be in this recipe (by degree)? I made it once but they spread too much even after putting in the fridge for an hour and not flattening them at all. I wondered if I did not let the butter cool long enough. I want to try again and get it right this time. I weighed all ingredients so I wondered if this might have been the problem or maybe I mixed them too much??
What are the calories per cookie for this recipe?
I discovered Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies when I moved to UT from the East Coast and they are cakey. I like the texture of this recipe more. It’s more regular cookies texture. I did a batch with semi-sweet, milk chocolate (that’s my fave) and white chocolate for my sister who is not a chocolate fan. I love baking with pumpkin this time of year.
These cookies look delicious. Gonna try making them. Great recipe!
I was so nervous to make this, as I’ve NEVER made cookies before (!!!), but they turned out so heavenly, really easy and perfect recipe! I only had black baking pans, so I doubled them up and had a double layer parchment paper and it was perfect. Thanks for making my cookie-baking dreams come true!
Do I need to make any adjustments to double the recipe? I’ve made it before – delicious! – but I don’t think one batch will be enough.
Are the cloves supposed to be whole or ground?
Definitely ground.
best pumpkin cookies i’ve ever made, and i’ve baked many. glad i found your web-site, as i loooooove to bake. my baked good just went up a notch thanks to you!
This is arguably the best recipe that crossovers between pumpkin and chocolate chips. The kids loved chocolate since they were inside me but now that with all that pumpkin pie spice, there’s a new flavor in town. And to keep up with that much pressure is something that becomes easy with recipes like this. I like how you have mentioned that the taste of pumpkin intensifies after a week because yes, It becomes stronger due to all that sweetness. Great recipe, and one that I am going to try before the Thanksgiving weekend.