This pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe adapts my favorite chocolate chip cookies with fall pumpkin and cozy pumpkin pie spice. They’re just as soft and chewy in the middle with crisp, golden edges, and just enough pumpkin flavor. Bring the butter to room temperature before you start, and the pumpkin cookie dough goes straight into the oven. Just scoop and bake, no chilling required!
These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite pumpkin recipes! Moist, chewy pumpkin cookies made with canned pumpkin and pumpkin spice, filled with chocolate and perfect for fall baking. Some pumpkin cookie recipes can be cakey, but these are perfectly soft-baked, just like my favorite chocolate chip cookies. I make them every year, several times in a season, and they always make the kitchen smell incredible.
Pumpkin cookies are my way of using up any cans of pumpkin purée leftover after a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie blitz. I’ll make batches of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin molasses cookies, and pumpkin sugar cookies, and freeze them so I always have them on hand when a pumpkin spice craving strikes.
What Makes These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Chewy, Not Cakey
These cookies taste unmistakably like chocolate chip cookies with a dense, chewy texture and cozy pumpkin spice flavor. Here’s why:
- While my classic pumpkin cookies are more cake-like, this recipe reduces the pumpkin purée, and therefore the moisture that would normally yield a cakey cookie. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of fall flavor.
- More brown sugar than granulated sugar recreates the moist, tender texture and rich flavor of chocolate chip cookie dough.
- There’s a whole cup of butter in the recipe, but that’s what makes the best cookies, if you ask me!
- The dough requires no chilling, so it goes straight from the mixing bowl into the oven.
Ingredients Needed
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe. See the recipe card for the exact amounts.
- Butter – Brought to room temperature.
- Canned Pumpkin Purée – Be sure to use pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling, which is also canned but NOT the same product.
- Sugar – A combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar, just like you’ll get in a classic chocolate chip cookie. Brown sugar adds more moisture and caramelized flavor.
- Egg and Vanilla – Bring the egg to room temperature and use pure vanilla, not imitation.
- Baking Soda and Salt – Make sure that your baking soda is fresh and don’t skip the salt; the salt reacts with the leavening in the oven, creating light, puffy cookies that settle as they cool. If you skip it, or if your baking soda has expired, your cookies may turn out flat.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – You can use a pre-made blend or make your own by combining cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
- Flour – Measure the flour using the spoon-and-sweep method or use a kitchen scale for accuracy. Too much flour leads to dry cookies.
- Chocolate Chips – Semi-sweet and dark chocolate pair exceptionally well with pumpkin, or you can use milk or white chocolate chips. Feel free to swap the chips for M&Ms. If you can get to Target to pick up a package of Pumpkin Pie M&Ms, they make a fun add-in to these chocolate chip pumpkin cookies!
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
When you’re ready to make your cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line your baking sheet.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Beat the butter and pumpkin purée until smooth, and add the sugars. Mix for a minute, then beat in the egg, vanilla, baking soda, pie spice, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients. Slowly mix in the flour. Don’t overmix! When the cookie dough just starts to come together, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop and bake. Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto your lined baking sheet. Bake these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies at 350ºF for 9-11 minutes. For soft-baked cookies, pull them from the oven when the middle is just set, and the edges are barely golden. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move them to a cooling rack.
More Mix-in Ideas
- Chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds
- M&Ms
- Reese’s Pieces
- Candy corn
- Craisins or currants
- Sprinkles
Recipe Tips
- Use pure pumpkin. Canned pumpkin purée is 100% pure pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling contains additives like sweeteners and thickeners, and won’t work in this recipe.
- Don’t overwork the cookie dough. I like to mix until the flour is mostly incorporated, then stir in the chocolate chips by hand. This prevents overmixing, which can make the cookies dense instead of moist and chewy.
- Keep them soft-baked. These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are done when they’re lightly golden at the edges and barely set (but not wet) in the center. They continue to set while they cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Check them at 9 minutes, and add time as needed. If your cookies are browned all over, they’re overbaked.
- Use up any leftover pumpkin. You only need ¾ cup canned pumpkin for this pumpkin cookie recipe. If you’re using a standard 15-ounce can, you’ll have about 1 cup of pumpkin purée left over. That’s just enough to make my pumpkin blondies, pumpkin apple muffins, or savory pumpkin pasta. You can also use smaller quantities of leftovers to make a pumpkin mug cake.
How to Store
- On the counter. Keep these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- To freeze the baked cookies, store them in a Ziploc bag with the air pressed out, with parchment paper between any layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the cookies at room temperature.
- To freeze unbaked cookie dough, portion the dough and pre-freeze the scoops on a lined baking sheet. Once solid, transfer the dough to a freezer-safe container or freezer bag. You can bake the cookie dough from frozen, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time.
More Pumpkin Recipes to Try
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 36 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies taste just like my favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies, loaded with cozy fall pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and pumpkin together until evenly combined, 2-3 minutes.
- Add both sugars and beat for another minute.
- Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Beat until smooth.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour.
- Finally, stir in chocolate chips.
- Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes until centers are just set and edges are golden.
- Allow to cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Notes
Store airtight for up to 3 days.
Substitute chocolate chips with M&Ms, chopped pecans, and other mix-ins.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 126
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 153.1 mg
- Fat: 5.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 19.2 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 5.2 mg
I have literally been using this recipe every single year since fall 2013, and these are always everyone’s favorite cookies! This is the best recipe out there for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. THANK YOU!
So glad you like these!!
I’ve made these several times over the last 5 or so years. They are always a hit, and I’ve never considered another recipe. They are pillowy and rich, the flavor is perfect for a fall treat
Thank you so much and I’m so glad you enjoy them!
Sorry but these ended up being mushy-never setting up as a cookie should despite increase temperature, cooking longer, baking second batch without parchment. Been cooking for 40 years so don’t know exactly what happened here. I did a double take at the amount of butter compared to other ingredients but was willing to try as written because I had 3/4 can of pumpkin left over.
Far too much butter. Too many chocolate chips. Any pumpkin flavour is lost.
ingredients say 1 egg, but the directions state ‘add eggs’. Can you clarify which is a typo?
Ahh just a typo! Sorry about the confusion. 1 egg!