The BEST Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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!
Our new book is now available!
This unique cookbook guides the way through every step, including meal lists and easy-to-follow recipes, and features dollops of heartwarming family stories.
The BEST Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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.
Notes
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