It was hard work but someone had to do it. We searched for the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe and today we are sharing it with all of you!!
Creating This Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
You know where this all started for us, don’t you? The grocery store. It’s not very often that I buy cookies at the grocery store because:
- We enjoy making cookies together
- We love cookie dough (don’t you dare pull the egg thing on me. I know, I know.)
- I happen to think we make really good cookies, so why buy them?
None of that matters when it comes to pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We tried so many recipes and just didn’t love them so we kept buying the big, pillowy cookies on a tray from the store. Until last year. Last year everything changed. We discovered the most melt in your mouth pumpkin cookie recipe EVER.
You see, Pinterest was bonkers about pumpkin last year. I’d say it was one of the biggest pumpkin years ever, and with all of the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes we just had to start testing them all. And you know what, it was the one that was plastered all over Pinterest we liked the least.
We discovered that often those really high cookies were either too dense and soggy or 90% of the time way too dry. So scratch that. We needed pillowy but height was no longer a concern.
Too little or too much pumpkin led to flavorless or eating squash tasting cookies. We found that 1 cup was the perfect amount. Recipes that were doubled or even tripled didn’t come out as well so we stuck to our 3 dozen batch.
It took some time and patience, but now that we’ve discovered the secret to making truly phenomenal pumpkin cookies with gooey chocolate chips, we’ll never go back to the store-bought kind.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients
The ingredients for these pumpkin cookies are nothing out of the ordinary, but the amount of certain ingredients is what makes these cookies so addicting. For these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, you’ll need unsalted butter, granulated sugar, pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, spices, and chocolate chips.
See? Nothing fancy here. We didn’t want to think too far outside the box for this cookie recipe since we wanted to stay true to the classic flavor and texture we love.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’ve made classic chocolate chip cookies before, you can certainly handle this pumpkin version! Here’s how to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies:
- Cream together the butter and sugar.
- Gradually add in the remaining wet ingredients, followed by the dry.
- Scoop the cookie dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
- Bake until the edges are set and the tops look firm.
How to Store Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
These pillowy, cakey cookies can be stored for 2-3 days in a cool spot in an airtight container. Pumpkin cookies are very soft and cake like, so when storing you’ll want to place them in an even layer at the bottom of a large cake pan or tupperware. Place a sheet of parchment on top, add more cookies and then cover with plastic wrap.
You can also wrap them up and freeze them for later. When you’re ready to enjoy a frozen cookie, either reheat it in the oven or microwave.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
You can safely freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months. Honestly, ours has never kept that long. Because once you know you have cookie dough you can pull out and bake quickly, there’s no stopping late night cookie cravings. Just make sure to freeze the cookie dough after you’ve rolled it into balls, because it’s impossible to scoop it into balls once frozen.
How to Make Gluten and Dairy Free
We had a reader reach out to us with some tips on making this recipe gluten free and dairy free that we wanted to share with you. The butter was replaced with fake butter, Bob’s 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour was a substitute for the regular flour, replace the baking powder with baking soda and vinegar, and swap the chocolate chips for dairy free chocolate chips. The reader said you couldn’t taste the difference at all!
Tips for Making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
To ensure the chocolate chips get evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough, we tossed them with the dry ingredients before mixing them into the wet dough. Coating the chocolate chips in the flour mixture prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the dough and makes for a prettier cookie!
You can use any chocolate chips you’d like in these pumpkin cookies. Semi-sweet chocolate chips pair nicely with the sweet cookie dough and warm spices, but milk or even white chocolate chips would work here too.
Lastly, make sure you’re using pure pumpkin puree and not canned pumpkin pie filling in these cookies! Pumpkin pie filling is pre-sweetened and would make these cookies far too sweet.
More Easy Pumpkin Dessert Recipes:
- Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Crunch Twists
- Pumpkin Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Sheet Cake
- Pumpkin Spice Double Chip Cookies
- Nutella-Swirled Pumpkin Bars
- Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting
- No-Bake Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust
- …All of our Pumpkin Recipes!
More COOKIE RECIPES You’re Going to Love:
- Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
- Chocolate Reese’s Pieces Cookies
- NY Times BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Thick Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Glazed Lemon Cookies
- Million Dollar Cookies
- White Chocolate Molasses Cookies
- Nutella and Dulce de Leche Stuffed Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Lemon Drop Cookies
- Best Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- Copycat Swig Sugar Cookies
- Cowboy Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- All our COOKIE RECIPES here!
The BEST Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Description
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Butter, unsalted and softened
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 Cups Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cloves, or up to 1/4 Teaspoon
- 2 Cups Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Place a silpat or parchment paper on each cookie sheet.
- It's very important that you start with softened, not melted butter. Add the butter and sugar to a standing mixer and beat for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and beat for 30 seconds.
- Add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix on low, gradually increasing the speed until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
- After thoroughly mixing the dry ingredients, add in the chocolate chips and stir.
- The flour will help the chocolate chips be evenly distributed throughout the cookie.
- Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Using a cookie or ice cream scoop, scoop the dough on to cookie sheets and bake for 11-12 minutes or until dry looking on top.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
- See notes for storage.
Goldie Bradley
Delicious. Mine turned out more rounded like a little pumpkin cake with chocolate chips. The spice mixture is just right. Will be nice throughout the fall with a cup of tea.
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Goldie! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Ooz
Sad.. I had high hopes but I find these cookies rather flavorless. I followed the recipe exactly and it tastes like something was lacking.. sugar? or spices? sad sad
Sweet Basil
Hello! I’m so sorry for the disappointment! We have several reviews of this recipe and everyone has loved it. The amount of sugar and spices in these are a standard ratio for these types of cookies. I add more cinnamon too because I love it!
K.G.
I don’t usually comment on recipes I find but I made these and took them into work as thanks cause everyone is always working so hard and EVERYONE loved them. They were gone in seconds and for the rest of the day I kept getting comments about how good they were.
I think cause I’m a guy and in my 20s people just assume I don’t know how to bake but boy were they wrong lmao.
Just thought I should say thanks for sharing this recipe it was a hit with my co workers and was easy to make 👌🏻
Sweet Basil
So happy to hear that!! And yes, men can cook even in their 20s. In fact, often they do even better than the girls!
Sandi Thor
I have to tell you, I made your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies twice in one week!! My family, neighbors and co-workers raved they were the best cookies ever.
Always look forward to your wonderful blog.
Amanda
If these beat the ones from Harmons… I’m in!!!
shawnna
hey girl- these cookies look oh so yummy!
Sharon
Will be making soon but wonder about pumpkin. You said pumpkin filling and I assume not pumpkin pie filling? Thanks
Sweet Basil
Right, pumpkin puree. Let me correct that.
Deloris
I’m a little confused– is it the pumpkin purée or pumpkin pie filling this recipe calls for?
Sweet Basil
Sorry about that, filling rolled right out of my finger tips but it is puree.
A
Loved These!
Although, I think the Nutrition Label for this recipe seems off. I think it would be closer to 170 calories when the batter is divided up into 3 dozen cookies? Thanks for sharing.
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much! We have been having such a tough time with our nutrition calculator working. It hadn’t counted the chocolate chips. It ends up being about 125 calories per cookie.
Tricia
These look delicious and I want to make them but how many chocolate chips do I add? Thanks.
Sandi Thor
I added 1 1/2 cups and it was perfect.
Sandi Thor
I found it helpful to chill the dough for about an hour. Easier to work with.
Sharon
Hi Carrian and Cade,
We are in the midst of harvest on our family owned potato farm and these cookies just might keep our crew around to the end! It’s certainly worth a try right? I don’t see the chocolate chips listed. I will check back later!
Thanks so much as always.
Sweet Basil
Yay! Love spud harvest!