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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, pillowy, and cakey, packed with warm fall spices and pools of melty chocolate in every bite. I bake a double batch the first cool October weekend and Maddie and Lizzie sneak them straight off the cooling rack. They are the coziest treat next to a slice of our pumpkin snack cake.
These cookies are wonderfully soft and almost muffin-like, so they stay tender for days and could not be easier to make.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 14 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 34 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 48 cookies
- ⚡ Calories: 119kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Soft, cakey, and warmly spiced with pumpkin and melty chocolate
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, as simple as our soft frosted lofthouse cookies
Quick Answer
To make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and warm spices, then cream butter with both sugars. Beat in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla, mix in the dry ingredients, and stir in chocolate chunks. Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until set.
Jump to:
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs
- Other Recommended Easy Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Pumpkin keeps them soft and cakey. Canned pumpkin puree adds moisture and a tender, almost muffin-like crumb, so these cookies stay soft for days.
- Warm spices taste like fall. Cinnamon, ginger, and cloves give every bite that cozy pumpkin-spice flavor everyone craves in autumn.
- Chocolate chunks melt into pools. Big chunks or chips melt into gooey pockets of chocolate that balance the spiced pumpkin perfectly.
- No chilling required. The dough is ready to scoop and bake right away, so you can have warm cookies in about half an hour.
- They make a big batch. One bowl yields four dozen cookies, which is perfect for parties, bake sales, and the freezer.
- Simple pantry ingredients. You likely have everything on hand already, just one can of pumpkin turns staples into a fall favorite.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They are unbelievably soft and tender, more like a little spiced cake than a crisp cookie.
- They are the ultimate fall bake, perfect on a dessert table next to our pumpkin whoopie pies.
- They come together fast with no dough chilling, so warm cookies are just half an hour away.
Key Ingredients
Simple pantry staples plus one can of pumpkin make these cozy cookies. Here are the ones that matter most.
- Pumpkin puree: Use pure canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, for the right moisture and flavor.
- Chocolate chunks: Big chunks or chips melt into gooey pools, use semi-sweet or your favorite chocolate.
- Warm spices: Cinnamon, ground ginger, and cloves give these cookies their signature fall flavor.
- Brown and white sugar: Brown sugar adds moisture and a soft texture while white sugar lightens them up.
- Butter: Softened butter creams with the sugars for a rich, tender cookie base.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
These cozy cookies are easy to make your own:
- Add a glaze: Drizzle with a simple maple or cinnamon glaze for an extra-special finish.
- Swap the mix-ins: Use white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or chopped pecans instead of chocolate chunks.
- Make them spiced: Use a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice in place of the individual spices.
- Roll in sugar: Roll the dough balls in cinnamon sugar before baking for a snickerdoodle twist.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.
- With an electric mixer, beat the softened butter with both the granulated and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla, and beat until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Mix until the batter is smooth and no streaks of flour remain.
- Stir in the chocolate chunks, then drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are set. Cool on the sheet 5 to 10 minutes before moving to a rack.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which is pre-sweetened and spiced and will throw off the recipe.
- Do not overbake, pull them when the edges are set but the centers still look soft for the best tender texture.
- Use a cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies that bake at the same rate.
- Let them cool on the sheet for a few minutes so they firm up before you move them.
- Blot the pumpkin with a paper towel first if it looks very wet, which keeps the cookies from spreading too much.
- Store them airtight at room temperature, these soft cookies stay tender for up to five days.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a cozy treat all on their own with a glass of cold milk or a warm latte. Pile them on a fall dessert board next to our pumpkin whoopie pies, pumpkin cheesecake bars, and a bowl of pumpkin dip.
They are perfect for fall parties, school bake sales, and Halloween gatherings since one batch makes four dozen. Pack them in lunchboxes or set them out alongside our chocolate sugar cookies for a crowd-pleasing cookie tray.
For a fun dessert, sandwich a scoop of ice cream between two cookies, or crumble them over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. They also freeze beautifully, so stash a batch for the holidays.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs
Pumpkin cookies are meant to be soft and cakey rather than chewy, thanks to the moisture from the pumpkin puree. This is part of their charm. If you want them a bit less cakey, blot some moisture from the pumpkin with paper towels first and avoid overmixing the dough.
No, be sure to use pure canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and heavily spiced, which will change the flavor and texture of the cookies. The can should list pumpkin as the only ingredient for the best results.
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. Because they are soft and moist, you can place a piece of parchment between layers to keep them from sticking. They stay wonderfully tender thanks to the pumpkin.
Yes, these cookies freeze well. Freeze the baked, cooled cookies in an airtight container with parchment between layers for up to three months. Thaw at room temperature. You can also freeze scoops of raw dough and bake them straight from frozen, adding a minute or two to the bake time.
Too much moisture or butter that was too soft can cause spreading. Make sure your butter is softened but not melted, and blot excess liquid from the pumpkin if it looks very wet. Chilling the dough for 30 minutes before baking also helps the cookies hold their shape.
Absolutely. These pumpkin cookies are delicious with all sorts of mix-ins. Swap the chocolate chunks for white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, chopped pecans, or dried cranberries, or leave them plain and add a simple cinnamon or maple glaze on top.
Craving more cozy fall bakes? Try our pumpkin snack cake or a batch of double chocolate muffins next.
For a savory bite, serve our mummy dogs alongside these cookies.
Use leftover candy in our easy chocolate fudge too.
If you love baking with pumpkin, our soft frosted pumpkin cookies with oats are next level cozy.
Keep the pumpkin going with our quick cranberry pumpkin muffins.
For a dramatic Halloween treat, my poison apples with dripping candy faces are pure showstopper.
Add my adorable mummy cookies to the same Halloween cookie tray.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or place parchment paper on two baking sheets.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla and beat to combine.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Stir in chocolate.
- Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden brown on edges. Cool on a baking sheet 5-10 minutes before moving to the cooling rack.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Use any of your favorite chocolate chips or chunks, we used semi-sweet.
- This recipe can be halved to make a smaller batch.
- These can also be frozen for later consumption.
- You can add in nuts to these cookies if you like of more of a texture and flavor contrast.
- Make sure you use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
Nutrition
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