These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are soft, moist, and warmly spiced. Made in 1 bowl and ready in 30 minutes, they're a delicious, easy fall treat!
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These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are one of the first treats I bake every fall. They’re delicious, with a soft, cakey texture and perfectly spiced pumpkin flavor. And better yet, they’re easy to make. These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies come together in one bowl (without a mixer!) and are ready to eat in under 30 minutes. What’s not to love?
I originally published this recipe without an egg, but after making it again recently, I felt that an egg and some baking powder would actually improve it. Three tests later, and I couldn’t be happier with this updated version. These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are moist and puffy, like little pumpkin muffin tops. They’re such a fun, bite-size treat to enjoy throughout the fall season. I hope you love them as much as I do!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe:
- Pumpkin, of course! Canned pumpkin puree makes the cookies soft and moist and fills them with pumpkin flavor. I’ve tried just about every brand around, and my favorite is Libby’s. It has a smooth, creamy texture without too much excess moisture.
- Brown sugar – I LOVE the molasses flavor of brown sugar in fall baked goods. It also gives these cookies a moister, fudgier texture than white or cane sugar would. Light brown sugar and dark brown sugar both work well here.
- Melted coconut oil or melted butter – For richness.
- Baking powder, baking soda, and an egg – They help the cookies puff up and bake evenly in the oven. I originally published this recipe without the baking powder and egg, but found that readers were often underbaking the cookies, having them end up with dense, chewy centers. The egg and baking powder give them a little more lift and domed tops, perfecting their soft, moist texture.
- All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice – For warm, cozy depth of flavor.
- Chocolate chips – Dark chocolate chips are my personal fave, but you do you. Milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips would work just fine too.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
This pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe couldn’t be simpler! Here’s how it goes:
First, combine the wet ingredients. Place the brown sugar, butter or oil, egg, pumpkin, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
Next, add the dry ingredients. Sprinkle the pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt evenly over the wet mixture and stir to combine.
Add the flour and stir again. Mix until the cookie dough is just combined. Don’t overmix here, or the cookies will be dense.
Then, fold in the chocolate chips. The mixture will be soft, almost more like a batter than a dough.
Finally, bake. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to drop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350°F until the cookies are puffed and lightly set, 11 to 13 minutes. They will still seem very delicate, but they will set up more as they cool.
Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. These cookies will be very soft when you take them out of the oven, and they might seem a tad underdone. That’s ok! They’ll continue setting up as they cool. If you leave them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, the residual heat from the pan will help them set.
- No pumpkin pie spice? No problem. Replace it with 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and a pinch of ground cloves.
- Change up the mix-ins. We love the chocolate chips in this recipe, but other mix-ins would be great here too! Try swapping out some or all of the chocolate for dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, or pecans.
How to Store and Freeze Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Store these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. (They become very soft and “sweat” at room temperature.)
They also freeze well. Allow them to cool to room temp, then seal them in an airtight container or bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let frozen cookies sit at room temperature for around an hour to thaw, or quickly defrost one in the microwave in 20 to 30 seconds. A bonus of the microwave method is that the chocolate chips get amazingly melty and gooey. So good!!
More Favorite Pumpkin Recipes
If you love these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, try one of these fall pumpkin recipes next:
- Soft Pumpkin Cookies
- Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Easy Pumpkin Cake
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil or melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, pumpkin puree, egg, coconut oil, and vanilla. Evenly sprinkle the pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt over the mixture and stir to combine.
- Sprinkle the flour on top and stir to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and lightly set. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were a 10!
Easy recipe to whip up as you said, and we really enjoyed them. I’ll make them time and time again.
I had to bake an extra two minutes so that they were set, but they’re so good! I made a 4x batch and I doubt they’ll last the day.
I added 3 mins to the baking time (about 16 min). Don’t judge them until they’re mostly or fully cooled! Very good, quick and easy. Will make again.
Is there anyway to make this both gluten free and swap the pumpkin for yams/sweet potatoes? I’m not allowed to eat pumpkin anymore and these look delicious! 🙁
Can you sub flaxseed egg for the egg? I’m vegan.
I love your cookbooks. I would love to own all of them, but unfortunately I cannot make the recipes, because I have to be GF. I wish you could have alternative ingredients with the recipes.
For the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies can I use honey or maple syrup instead of brown sugar?
Tomorrow I’m taking three four-year-olds to the pumpkin patch. But first we’re going to make cookies. Yes three four-year-olds I’m taking to the pumpkin patch by myself.
The batter was kind of too wet for me but honestly I think it was user error because I melted the butter all the way and used canned puree without trying to remove its oil, and so I just added a ton of flour and a bit of white sugar and now its in the freezer. I also didn’t use pumpkin pie spice and had to resort to only using cinnamon. Although I didn’t really follow the recipe as it is lmao I still hope these are tasty when I finish making them. I will be updating
Often when I am using pumpkin I let it drain or I put it in the oven on a cookie sheet spread out at 250° for at least 30 minutes and let some of the moisture evaporate. If I want pumpkin I want intense pumpkin and this is good this way. It is also important to follow directions
Excellent tip, thank you for sharing. I’ve always just tried draining any excess liquid, but this would really amp up the flavour.
My favourite version of this recipe is with dried cranberries. It comes together super fast and freezes very well.
I followed the recipe using melted coconut oil (TJ’s) vs butter and the were just ok. They seemed a little heavy and dispite loving pumpkin and chocolate chips will not be makeing them again, there are better options out there.
This recipe looks amazing! I want to make them for a party — do you know how many cookies one batch of dough makes? Thinking of making extra dough to freeze for later.
Hi Katie, this recipe makes about 15 cookies.
These cookies are soft and absolutely delicious! The texture is incredible. I live alone so baked half a batch and froze the other half. Once they cooled, I immediately ate 3 and prayed for the discipline to not eat the entire batch in less than 24 hours!
I tested this recipe twice successfully, and then used it with a cooking class of 18 5th and 6th graders. The kids rocked following the recipe and the techniques involved. The cookies turned out so well. Thanks for all the joy and fall-flavors your lovely recipe provided my students.
I followed this recipe exactly and they did not spread even a tiny bit. I know the author of this recipe responded and said cookies with pumpkin will be puffy but these look absolutely nothing like the picture. Super misleading.
The cookies came out great, but were puffy rather than flat. I used melted butter, not oil. Wondering how to get flat and chewier cookies?
Hi Sue, these cookies are slightly puffy – it’s hard to get fully flat cookies with pumpkin in them.
I usually love and can trust any recipe on this site to turn out really well. Maybe it’s the egg missing from this recipe? Like other reviewers, these stayed raw looking and didn’t spread in the oven, despite continuing to cook them. I followed the instructions exactly.
Hi Hal, thanks for your comment! I’m sorry to hear you were disappointed with the results. The cookies may look underdone when you take them out of the oven, but they should set up as they cool. Did they still seem underdone after they cooled completely?
I used a way better recipe a couple of weeks ago. I think they need more butter and likely more pumpkin spice or other spices. The only reason I’m not totally ditching them is the chocolate chips.
I read the reviews after my cookies were half baked in the oven. So I quickly pulled them out and used a fork to gently flatten, as they were not spreading at all. I did use less sugar, but feel like something is missing…not sure what. And, I baked for an additional 8 minutes as they were definitely not baked with recommended time.
They did taste food afterall.
Sorry, I meant that they tasted good afterall.
I doubled the recipe and was disappointed to see they did not spread but stayed exactly in the balls. However, when I tried them they were moist and delicious. I ran out of pumpkin spice so I just used the spices she listed and portioned them myself and wow did the spice pop, but in such a good way. It compliments the pumpkin well and made it feel like the holidays are beginning!
I had the same issues as some others. Cookies never settled/spread. Taste was okay. I could see them being really good with some tweaks.
Just made this recipe and my experience exactly mirrors Catherine’s review from September; the cookies look like mounds of bland, uncooked batter, even 15 minutes in. I used butter and made no alterations, apart from forgoing the pumpkin pie spice powder since I didn’t have any. It feels like there’s something critical missing in this recipe, as I’ve never had this experience before where the end result looks nothing like the photos.