Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are the best combination of pumpkin puree, warm baking spices, and sweet chocolate chips! These tasty autumn cookies are a family favorite, plus they're super easy to make and taste even better after storing for a day or two! Once you try them, they're sure to be your new favorite fall cookies!
Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Most of the time, I make the classic Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies for my husband (who is obsessed with chocolate chip cookies), but he does get to enjoy a wide variety of chocolate chip-based cookies and bars! And these delicious cookies taste exactly like pumpkin pie!
After a debate between Lauren and my husband, it was decided that these easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were definitely needed. No matter which dessert they would have loved most, everyone in my family agrees that these are the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies out there!
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🥘 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Ingredients, Notes & Substitutions
Ready to make these easy, perfect pumpkin cookies? These are all common baking ingredients you can buy anywhere if you don't already have them!
- Flour - 1½ cups of all-purpose flour or all-purpose flour substitute that has been spooned and leveled.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice - 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (you can try my recipe or use your favorite brand).
- Orange Peel - 1 teaspoon of orange peel.
- Baking Powder - ½ teaspoon of baking powder or use a baking powder substitute.
- Baking Soda - ¼ teaspoon of baking soda or use a baking soda substitute.
- Salt - ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Pumpkin Puree - ½ cup of pumpkin puree (homemade or canned).
- Butter - ½ cup of unsalted butter that's melted and cooled, or use a butter substitute.
- Brown Sugar - ½ cup of packed dark brown sugar, or you can use light brown sugar if desired.
- Sugar - ¼ cup of granulated sugar.
- Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Chocolate Chips - ¾ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, or you can use dark or milk chocolate chips.
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
These super-tasty pumpkin cookies mix up quickly and easily by hand! Chill them in the refrigerator for just 30 minutes and they're ready to bake!
You will need a large mixing bowl, measuring cups, measuring spoons, a silicone spatula, a whisk, a baking sheet, and parchment paper to begin.
This recipe makes 24 cookies so you can eat some and save the rest for later!
Prepare Cookie Dough
- Mix dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add 1½ cups (188 grams) of flour, ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) of baking powder, ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) of baking soda, ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) of salt, 1 teaspoon (5 grams) of pumpkin pie spice, and 1 teaspoon (5 grams) of orange peel. Mix together and make a well in the center of the bowl for adding the wet ingredients. Set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, add ½ cup (114 grams) of butter, ½ cup (123 grams) of pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) of vanilla extract, ½ cup (110 grams) of brown sugar, and ¼ cup (50 grams) of sugar. Combine until any chunks of brown sugar are dissolved.
- Add and mix. Add the wet ingredients into the well in the center of the dry ingredients and mix just enough to fully incorporate the flour. (Your cookie dough should be a little wetter than standard chocolate chip cookie dough.)
Chill dough, Bake, & Serve
- Add chocolate chips. Pour in ¾ cup (135 grams) of your favorite chocolate chips, then fold into the cookie dough. Next, cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat. Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175ºC/Gas Mark 4) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place dough. Portion the dough out in heaping tablespoon amounts and roll into balls that are roughly 1¼ inch in size. Place the dough balls onto baking sheets with 2-inch spacing between them. Finally, press down on each ball firmly to flatten it to cookie thickness.
- Bake and cool. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes at 350ºF (175ºC/Gas Mark 4), then remove and allow the cookies to chill on the baking sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer cooled cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite cookies to bake in the fall! If you love cookies as much as I do, check out my other cookie recipes! Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- I do prefer Libby's brand pumpkin puree because the moisture content is lower than other canned pumpkin purees. If you're not using Libby's, you may want to let some paper towels rest across the puree to soak up some of the liquid content in the puree.
- Don't skip the chilling. It solidifies the fat in the cookies so they don't spread too much while baking.
- Spoon and level your flour. Too much will make them cakey.
- Once your cookie dough is made, it can be chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking.
🥡 Storing
Baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for about a week. If stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, your pumpkin cookies will last up to 10 days.
Freezing Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
To freeze your baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, wait until they are completely cooled. Place the cookies into a Ziploc freezer storage bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months.
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❓ Recipe FAQs
Yes! Refrigerating your cookie dough allows the fats to cool. This causes them to not spread as much while baking so you get some nice, chewy cookies!
Yes, these pumpkin chocolate chips can be stored on the counter. Covered, room-temperature cookies are good for roughly one week. In fact, these cookies actually taste better on day 2!
Overall yes, they do freeze very well. I prefer to bake my pumpkin cookies first, then freeze them once they are completely cooled. I have frozen the cookie dough but found that I wasn't as happy with the baked cookie post-freezing.
🎃 More Great Pumpkin Recipes
- Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte - A fall favorite drink that combines espresso, milk, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice!
- Pumpkin Streusel Bread - A delicious snack or breakfast treat full of warm spices, pumpkin flavor, and a brown sugar streusel topping!
- Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins - These super moist muffins are easy to make and are a fantastic start to your day!
- Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice - A simple combination of nutmeg, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon for all of your fall baking recipes!
- Pumpkin Pie - This homemade pumpkin pie is incredibly easy to make and tastes better than any store-bought version!
- Pumpkin Seed Butter - A fantastic spread that's completely addicting and a great replacement for peanut butter!
Do you love a recipe you tried? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page.
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📖 Recipe Card
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (spoon and leveled)
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (see recipe)
- 1 teaspoon orange peel
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter (unsalted - melted and cooled)
- ½ cup dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar - packed)
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate, or dark chocolate chips)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and orange peel).
- Whisk the dry ingredients together until thoroughly combined, then make a well in the center for the wet ingredients. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients (melted and cooled butter, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract with the dark brown or light brown sugar and granulated sugar).
- Mix the wet ingredients together until thoroughly combined and all of the lumps of brown sugar are dissolved.
- Add the wet ingredients into the well in the center of the dry ingredients.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a spatula or spoon, just enough so that the flour is absorbed and you have a cookie dough that feels a little wet.
- Add the chocolate chips (milk chocolate, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate chips).
- Fold the chocolate chips into the pumpkin cookie dough. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat baking mat.
- Portion out the dough in heaping tablespoon amounts and roll into balls that are roughly 1 ¼ inch in size.
- Flatten the dough balls using the back of your spoon, a flat measuring cup, or your fingers. Flatten to about cookie thickness, as the dough will not spread without some help.
- Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies don't look doughy anymore. I removed mine at 8 minutes, after finding the longer cook time makes the cookies rise more. They ended up being a bit more cakey than chewy with the longer bake time.
- Top your baked cookies with more chocolate chips if desired. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Elizabeth Cousar says
Should I be using pumpkin purée, as you say in the ingredients and recipe, or pumpkin pie filling, as you say in the notes?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Doh! Definitely the pumpkin puree (100% pumpkin) and Libby's is preferred. Notes are updated, thanks for catching that!