Cozy up with this easy recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies this fall. These irresistibly tender and chewy chocolate chip cookies are filled with rich pumpkin flavor and warm autumn spices.
Can you feel that? That hint of chill in the air? A little bite in the breeze every now and then? That’s right, folks. Summer is officially on the wind-down!
The sun is setting just a little bit earlier these days, and with the changing of the seasons well underway, I thought I’d share one of my best fall cookie recipes. These deliciously tender pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are the perfect comfort food for cooler weather. I like to think of them as a buffer, easing us into the fresh autumn days and eventually a frosty winter.
This recipe is loaded with chocolate chips and warm spices for fall, all wrapped up in a seriously tender, moist, and chewy pumpkin cookie. Trust me, the texture is just so irresistible! Soft, with just the right amount of bend, and full of pumpkin spice goodness. These are begging to be dunked into a tall glass of milk.
So, what does pumpkin do for these chocolate chip cookies? To start, pumpkin marries with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg perfectly, bringing to mind all the coziness of a freshly baked pumpkin pie. Aside from the glorious flavor factor, the extra moisture in pumpkin puree also lends loads of pillowy softness to the cookie dough. It’s just the best. You’re in for some serious autumn vibes with these cookies!
Recipe Ingredients
I love a cookie recipe that uses basic pantry ingredients, and these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies fit the bill. Below is an overview of what you’ll need to make them, with the full ingredient amounts available on the recipe card:
- Butter – I prefer to bake with unsalted butter, to prevent the cookies from coming out too salty. If you’re using salted butter, I suggest using less of the salt that comes later in the recipe (or omitting it altogether).
- Sugar – Like any perfectly moist chocolate chip cookie recipe, mine uses a combination of granulated white sugar as well as brown sugar.
- Egg – One whole egg, as well as a single egg yolk for richness and structure.
- Milk – Just a couple of spoonfuls, to help loosen up the cookie dough.
- Vanilla extract – I highly recommend pure vanilla extract for the most natural flavor.
- Pumpkin puree – Canned pumpkin puree works perfectly and is a major time saver (compared with making your own from scratch, which is also an option). Make sure you’re using pumpkin puree, and not pumpkin pie filling. Not the same thing!
- Bread flour – I prefer to use bread flour when making these soft pumpkin cookies. The higher protein content lends more elasticity to the dough, for a chewier, tender cookie. That being said, this recipe will also work with all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand.
- Kosher Salt
- Baking soda
- Spices – I use a blend of ground cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg, with allspice or ground cloves added for a stronger flavor. If you’re not a fan of cloves or allspice, feel free to leave them out. You can also sub in premixed pumpkin pie spice (which usually includes all of the above), found in most spice aisles.
- Chocolate chips – I recommend using semisweet chocolate chips.
Gather your ingredients and get out your tools, and let’s get this cookie show on the road. Before you begin, use the microwave to melt the butter. Once that’s ready to go, get started on your pumpkin-spiced chocolate chip cookies:
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. First, combine the flour and dry ingredients in a bowl and set this aside for now. In a separate bowl, cream together the melted butter with both sugars until the mixture is fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix in the remaining wet ingredients, along with the pumpkin puree. Next, add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients a little at a time, stirring in between.
- Add the chocolate chips. Finally, fold the chocolate chips into the batter. Be mindful to not overmix at this stage! Once your dough has come together, place it in the fridge to chill.
- Portion the dough. After about 2 hours, set your oven to preheat and take your cookie dough out of the fridge. Use a greased tablespoon to scoop balls of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave a couple of inches between each cookie to account for spreading, and give the tops a gentle press to flatten them slightly.
- Bake. Transfer the baking sheet with the cookies to a 375ªF oven to bake for about 14 minutes. Don’t forget to rotate the pan halfway through the baking time so that the cookies bake up evenly! Once they’re baked, I recommend letting the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack.
Summer might be over, but these pumpkin cookies are here to keep things nice and toasty! To ensure your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies turn out incredible, keep these tips in mind:
- Use the right kind of pumpkin. These cookies call for cans of pumpkin puree. This is easy to find in most baking aisles! Not to be confused with pumpkin pie filling, which isn’t the same thing and will not work for this recipe.
- Chill the dough. Make sure to give your cookie dough enough time to chill, at least for the recommended 2 hours. As tempting as it may be, don’t skip this step! Chilling the dough is important as it firms the melted butter up again, and prevents the cookies from going flat while they bake.
These tender homemade cookies will stay fresh when stored airtight on the counter for up to 1 week. To ensure my chocolate chip cookies stay moist and chewy, I like to place a piece of white bread into the container, too. The cookies will absorb the moisture from the bread over the time that they’re stored.
Can I Freeze These?
This pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe can be frozen before or after it’s baked.
- To freeze the dough, portion the balls of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, and then place the whole thing into the freezer. Once the dough balls are frozen solid, transfer them to a resealable freezer bag to store for up to one month. The frozen cookie dough can be baked straight from frozen, simply add an extra 2 to 5 minutes to the baking time.
- To freeze the baked cookies, follow the same pre-freezing process as above, with the baked cookies laid out on a baking sheet. Store the frozen cookies airtight, and keep them in the freezer for easy thawing, any time!
Cozy up with irresistible pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for fall! An easy recipe for tender and chewy chocolate chip cookies filled with rich pumpkin flavor and warm autumn spices.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Chilling Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 29 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, packed
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 2 ¾ cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice or ground cloves (optional)
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Baking spray, separate use
Instructions
Melt the butter. Melt butter in the microwave, heating for 30-second increments until the butter has completely melted.
Mix the dry ingredients. Combine bread flour, salt, baking soda, and spices in a medium bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients. Pour the melted butter into the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. (You can also use a large bowl and a handheld mixer.) Add both sugars and cream on medium speed until slightly fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, milk, vanilla, and pumpkin puree. Mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the flour mixture ½ a cup at a time, mixing between additions. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Chill. Chill dough for approximately two hours in the fridge.
Prep your tools. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Portion out the cookie dough. Remove dough from the fridge and spray a tablespoon measurer with baking spray. This is to prevent the dough from sticking to the measuring spoon. Scoop generous, rounded balls of dough onto a baking sheet, spacing them two inches apart. Gently press balls of dough down so that they look like thick, rounded circles.
Bake. Bake for 14 minutes at 375 degrees F, rotating the pan halfway through baking to ensure even browning.
Notes
- Storage: These cookies will keep in an airtight container for 1 week.
- Freezing: To save cookie dough for later baking, freeze raw balls of cookie dough on a cookie sheet before transferring them to a freezer-safe airtight container. The dough will keep for 1 month. To bake, place frozen dough on a lined cookie sheet and proceed as above, adding 2-5 minutes to baking time, depending on your oven.
Last Step:
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More Chocolate Chip Cookies to Try
- Chocolate Chip Latte Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Quintuple Chocolate Monster Cookies
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