Deliciously soft and chewy 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!
So after all of my pumpkin baking this year, my daughter spotted the Tupperware in the refrigerator that had my remaining pumpkin puree. There is no way that my pumpkin-addicted daughter was going to let any pumpkin go to waste!
After a debate between Lauren and my husband, it was decided that these easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were definitely needed. You see, these cookies taste like pumpkin pie! So my daughter is thrilled!
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My husband, on the other hand, is a chocolate chip cookie addict. Most of the time I make the classic Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies for him, but he does get to enjoy a wide variety of chocolate chip-based cookies and bars!
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!
🥘 Ingredients
Ready to make these perfect pumpkin cookies? Gather the following ingredients to get started:
- Pumpkin Puree - Homemade pumpkin puree or canned puree will both work wonderfully! 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. If using homemade canned pumpkin puree, check the water content by spreading the puree and topping with paper towels as well.
- Dry Ingredients - Your basic cookie dough dry ingredients like all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and a combination of white sugar and brown sugar. You can use either light brown sugar, which has a lower molasses content, or dark brown sugar. I personally feel that the dark brown sugar pairs perfectly with everything pumpkin and pumpkin pie spiced!
- Butter - Salted or unsalted butter adds a wonderful chewy texture to these cookies. If you are using salted butter, simply omit the additional salt called for in the recipe card below.
- Chocolate Chips - Milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate are all loved in my household. Typically my husband and I meet in the middle with semi-sweet chips in our cookies (he loves dark chocolate the most, and I lean toward milk chocolate) but hey, I'm the one baking. So this batch of pumpkin cookies was married with my preferred, sweeter chips.
- Vanilla Extract - Just a bit of vanilla makes everything better, truly! All you need is about a teaspoon of vanilla in anything to really bring out the flavors in your baking.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice - My homemade pumpkin pie spice is super easy, but also incredibly good with intense flavors! It's the perfect combination of warm baking spices to make your pumpkin desserts really fabulous!
🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions
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!
- Dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients minus the sugars (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and orange peel). Mix together and make a well in the center of the bowl for adding the wet ingredients. Set aside.
- Wet ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients plus the sugars (melted and cooled butter, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and 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.
- Chips, fold, cover and chill. Pour in your favorite chocolate chips then fold into the cookie dough. Then, cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat and line. Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
- Portion, place, shape, and flatten. Portion the dough out in heaping tablespoon amounts and roll into balls that are roughly 1 ¼ inch in size. Place the dough balls onto baking sheets with 2 inch spacing between the dough balls. Press down on each firmly to flatten to cookie thickness.
- Bake and cool. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes 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.
Once your cookie dough is made, it can be chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking.
💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes
- Brands matter here! Use Libby's brand 100% pumpkin puree (if possible).
- Don't skip the chilling.
- Spoon and level your flour, too much will make them cakey.
🥡 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.
'Do pumpkin chocolate chip cookies freeze well?' This is a commonly asked question! Overall yes, they do freeze very well.
I prefer to bake my pumpkin cookies first, then freeze 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.
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.
🎃 More Great Pumpkin Recipes
- Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte is a fall favorite of coffee drinkers nationwide! Served hot or cold, this popular espresso drink can be made so easily at home that there is no need to go anywhere for this spiced treat!
- Pumpkin Streusel Bread is the absolutely perfect combination of tender and moist pumpkin bread and crunchy, sweet brown sugar streusel! And it's a versatile recipe! Bake it in an 8 x 8 square cake pan for an equally perfect pumpkin coffee cake!
- Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins are the most wonderful pumpkin muffins featuring the best flavors of fall and late summer! The perfectly moist muffins are sure to please the entire family!
- Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice is the best way to get large-batch fall baking underway! Blend your own batch up, and double or triple ( or more ) the quantity as fits your seasonal baking routine! The spice blend is easy to store away for later use!
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📋 Recipe
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)
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.
Notes
Storing & Freezing Pumpkin Cookies
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. 'Do pumpkin chocolate chip cookies freeze well?' This is a commonly asked question! Overall yes, they do freeze very well. I prefer to bake my pumpkin cookies first, then freeze 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. 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.Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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!