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These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are soft, chewy and celebrate the perfect flavors of fall. Pumpkin puree is placed in these chocolate chip cookies in place of eggs. Pumpkin spice makes these an autumnal favorite! Make these alongside other fall favorites like my Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins, Apple Hand Pies and Cranberry Cake.
Phew! I love a seasonal rendition of a classic chocolate chip cookie. Lemme tell you, these are delicious. I’m really good at buying too many cans of pumpkin puree. This means that it then becomes a full-time job to figure out where to put the rest of it. Well, I found our next recipe to use up that pumpkin puree you have hanging out!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin puree – I like to use canned, Libby’s brand. Be sure to use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin puree can be very wet so for this recipe I blot away the excess moisture before mixing the dough. This helps avoid spongy cookies and ensures we get that chewy texture we’re looking for.
- Melted unsalted butter – Using melted butter removes trapped air, creating a dense, chewy, and fudgy cookie center.
- White and brown sugar – The white sugar adds chewiness, and light brown sugar adds a little molasses flavor. (Reminder that if you find yourself with rock hard brown sugar, I have a post on How to Soften Brown Sugar. Game-changer!)
- Pumpkin pie spice – A small amount brings warm, autumnal spice to every bite without overpowering the chocolate. It’s a very fall-coded cookie.
- Semi-sweet chocolate – I love Guittard or Ghirardelli. You can use chips or wafers, depending on what you have on hand.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Drain the pumpkin. Spread the puree over a paper towel to absorb excess moisture.
- Mix the wet batter. Whisk the drained pumpkin, both sugars, melted butter, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt until smooth.
- Fold in the flour just until no dry spots remain.
- Finish the dough. Fold in the chocolate.
- Scoop. Place six 2-ounce portions on each parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches between them.
- Bake and tap. Bake at 350°F for 6 minutes. Tap the baking sheet to deflate the cookies, then bake for another 6 minutes.
- Finish and decorate. Sprinkle with flaky salt and transfer to a cooling rack. If you’re adding marshmallow webs, skip the salt and let the cookies cool before decorating.
- Warm the marshmallows and stretch “webs” over the cookies. Add some edible eyes for an extra spooky touch.
Quick Tips for the Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Don’t skip draining the pumpkin. It’s a small step that removes extra liquid before it goes into the dough.
Give the cookies room. These spread as they bake, so stick with six cookies per sheet.
Mix just until combined. Once the flour disappears into the dough, you’re ready to add the chocolate.
A little puffiness is normal. The cookies may look puffy when they come out of the oven. They’ll settle as they cool.
Make Ahead & Storage Info
Bake the cookies ahead and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you’re adding marshmallow webs, save the decorating for the day you plan to serve them.
To freeze these cookies, follow my post on How to Freeze Cookie Dough!
If you tried these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Cooling rack
- (2-ounce) cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250g) pumpkin puree
- 1⅓ cup (300g) white granulated sugar
- ½ cup (96g) light brown sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Flaky sea salt, for garnish
- 1 cup mini marshmallows, for decorating (optional)
- Edible eyeballs, for decorating (optional)
Instructions
- Start by removing the excess moisture from the pumpkin puree. Line a small plate or bowl with a paper towel. Place the pumpkin puree on top and spread it slightly over the paper towel. Allow it to sit for about 3 minutes to drain.
- Preheat the oven to 350degreesF. In a large bowl, add the pumpkin puree, white sugar, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until smooth.
- Then fold in the flour mixing just until you no longer see any speckles of flour. Now, fold in the chocolate chips or wafers until combined.
- On 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, scoop out six (2-ounce) cookie dough balls on each, spacing them about 3 inches apart (they will spread a bit).
- Transfer them to the oven to bake for 6 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully bang it on the counter to deflate the cookies and encourage them to spread then bake for another 6 minutes.
- Sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt and transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
To Make Marshmallow Web and Decorate:
- This process can be a bit messy but the end result is such a cute, spooky cookie! In a microwave safe bowl, microwave your marshmallows for 10 seconds. Take a peek at them, we want them a bit melty but still tacky! Microwave them for 10 more seconds if needed.
- Carefully use your forefingers and thumbs to grab a melty marshmallow. Gently pull your fingers apart, stretching the marshmallow into a “web” and drape it over the surface of the cookie. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.
- For an extra spooky flair, I added little edible eyeballs. They stick right onto the marshmallow web perfectly.
Notes
Quick Tips
Don’t skip draining the pumpkin. It’s a small step that removes extra liquid before it goes into the dough. Give the cookies room. These spread as they bake, so stick with six cookies per sheet. Mix just until combined. Once the flour disappears into the dough, you’re ready to add the chocolate. A little puffiness is normal. The cookies may look puffy when they come out of the oven. They’ll settle as they cool.Make Ahead & Storage
Bake the cookies ahead and store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you’re adding marshmallow webs, save the decorating for the day you plan to serve them. To freeze these cookies, follow my post on How to Freeze Cookie Dough!Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Pumpkin Recipes
Breakfast
Pumpkin Waffles
Desserts
Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake
Quick and Easy
Pumpkin Tahini Loaf
Desserts
What a horrible recipe. I ended up with just raw cookies no matter how long I cooked them or at what temp. Total fail
These cookies were delicious! Definitely making them again!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
So glad you loved them!:)
Our pumpkin spice was a year or two old and it came out not-very pumpkiny. If your pumpkin spice is old, I would suggest adding 50% more pumpkin spice.
Super excited to make these! Just clarifying – the recipe says at the top Chilling Time: 1 hr but doesn’t mention chilling the dough in the instructions. Is it necessary?
it’s not! you can skip it entirely! I’ll fix the mistake – thanks
FYI – I followed the instructions for 16 cookies, using a scale to measure the flour and the final dough balls (+/- .1 oz), and I only got 12 cookies. Just a heads up for people who truly need more than a dozen cookies.
Otherwise delicious!
Perfectly cake-like texture and wonderful flavors. I especially like this recipe made with butter. It seems like the texture is smoother than the recipes that call for oil. I was also surprised at how moist but firm these came out. Excellent recipe!
These cookies are terrific!! However mine don’t look like yours 🙁 could it be the oven? Thanks so much for the help!
Hi! Can these be made with almond four?
These are SO delicious! I didn’t end up chilling them for a full hour, and they turned out so wonderfully soft and chewy — best pumpkin cookies I’ve had 🙂
Easy peasy and SO good! Essentially pumpkin bread but in cookie form.
I’m so embarrassed. I’m just starting to bake this and I realized I bought canned pumpkin pie instead of just canned pumpkin. It’s still pumpkin purée just already sweetened! Am I still ok to use it? How much less sugar would you recommend? Thank you!!
hi! sorry i have no idea. i’ve never baked with it. but i’m guessing it won’t work!
These looks so good and I can’t wait to make them! However, I’m not seeing pumpkin pie spice in the ingredient list or instructions. How much do you suggest adding to the dry ingredients? Thanks!
just added it! you may have to refresh your browser but i addd 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and i added it to the dry ingredients 🙂
Hi Adrianna,
I recently tried a different pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookie recipe; my kids loved them but I found them just a little too cakey (they were nearly falling apart) so I’m hoping your recipe has a better balance of softness and sturdiness 🙂 Just wondering – you mention in the preamble that you add pumpkin pie spice, but the recipe doesn’t show how much. What do you recommend?
Thanks for sharing such great from-scratch recipes!
This looks delicious! I see pumpkin spice in the picture but not in the recipe, can you clarify?
These cookies look mouth watering delicious, but honestly, you don’t need all those ingredients. Just simply buy a spice cake mix, a can (large or small) of pumpkin puree and chocolate chips. Mix all the ingredients well and bake! These are honestly hands down the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat 🙂
No disrespect but that is a somewhat US-centric comment. Canned pumpkin puree is becoming more readily available in Australia but is quite costly. Cake mixes in general are available but also very expensive compared to what the basic ingredients cost. As an expat who moved to New Zealand in 2000, I find great satisfaction in “baking from scratch” and love to encourage newcomers who are flummoxed when they can’t find their usual quick and easy mixes on the store shelves to go back to basics and improvise when required.
I feel like you should start your own food blog and suggest this :)clearly there’s a reason why she made the recipe this way, and it’s delicious!! Perfect texture
Some of us, especially those on a baking blog, prefer to bake from scratch. I haven’t bought a cake mix in over a decade!
Also, what a weird comment on a cooking/baking blog. I’m sure if someone wanted to make things from mixes, there are hundreds of “semi-homemade” tips and hacks out there. Maybe you should start your own!