Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are super chewy pumpkin spice cookies, loaded with caramelized butterscotch flavors and gooey chocolate chips. Not a hint of cakeiness here! This delicious fall cookie is so easy to make - you don’t even need a mixer.
Servings 25 cookies
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.
Video
Notes
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.
For larger cookies, shape use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop to roll into 3-tablespoon sized balls and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. This will yield about 12 to 13 cookies total.
Make sure to use canned pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling, in these cookies. I don't recommend using homemade pumpkin puree, which could add excess moisture to the cookies and create a cakier cookie. Check out my Fresh vs. Canned Pumpkin article for more information.