How to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
- Melt the butter: melting the butter is going to give these cookies that soft & chewy texture
- Add sugars to the cooled butter: once the butter is melted, it needs to cool back down to room temperature otherwise the butter will melt the sugars and make these cookies greasy and flat
- Stir the sugars into the butter until smooth
- Add the pumpkin, vanilla extract, and the egg yolk of an egg. Save the whites for a different recipe like this egg wrap
- Mix until smooth
- Add in all the spices, salt, and baking soda: spices can be added to preference, how the recipe is written is exactly how we like these cookies. You could also replace all the spices (except the cinnamon) with 1 to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
- Stir until everything is well incorporated: we don’t want a pocket of spice ending up in one cookie!
- Add in flour and chocolate chips: we love milk chocolate chips in this recipe, but semi-sweet or dark chocolate would also be delicious — use whatever is your favorite
- Mix until you’ve got a thick (sticky) cohesive dough. Cover tightly and chill the dough for one hour.
- Roll cookie dough balls that are taller rather than wider. Cookie dough balls should be 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of dough or about 30 grams if you’ve got a food scale handy.
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies troubleshooting
- Why are my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies hard?
- Most likely because the cookies were baked too long or at too high a temperature. Make sure your oven is correctly calibrated and watch the cookies closely near the end of bake time.
- You cookies could also be hard if you over-measured the flour or if other ingredients weren’t fresh. Ensure your baking soda is fresh and your brown sugar isn’t too hard.
- Why are my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies flat?
- Most likely because the cookies did not chill long enough. Since there is melted butter in the batter, it needs a chance to firm up again. Also, if the butter was too hot when you added in other ingredients, they’ll likely end up a bit flat and greasy.
- These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies will also be flat if the flour was under-measured. One other factor that comes into play is if you live in a high altitude area.
How do you keep cookies soft after baking?
- After baking the cookies, let them cool completely on a wire rack (this will keep the bottoms from getting soggy from the steam). Once cooled, place cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature. For tips on how to “revive” cookies, check out these tips from Cooks Illustrated. Note that these cookies are best eaten within 3 days; after that they begin to lose texture and flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (111g) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (53g) white sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg yolk (discard whites or save for another recipe)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup (72g) canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling; not an entire can)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon EACH: ground cloves and nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) white all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup (110g) chocolate chips (we like milk chocolate best!)
Instructions
- MELT BUTTER: In a large, microwave safe bowl, melt the 1/2 cup butter. Let the butter stand at room temperature until cooled to room temperature. It is very important the butter isn't hot or it will melt the sugars and cause greasy cookies.
- ADD SUGARS: Add in 1/4 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar to the room temperature melted butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.
- REMAINING WET: Add in the large egg YOLK (discard or save the whites for a different recipe), 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/3 cup canned pumpkin. Make sure the pumpkin isn't watery; dab off excess moisture IF it is watery. Stir until ingredients are combined.
- SPICES: Add 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, and 3/4 teaspoon baking soda. Stir until spices are well incorporated.
- FLOUR AND CHOCOLATE: spoon and level (See Note 1) to measure 1 and 1/2 cups flour and add add that to the bowl. Add the 2/3 cup chocolate chips right on top. Gently stir to form a dough. It will seem dry at first, continue to stir until you have a thick and sticky dough. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for one hour.
- BAKE: preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silpat liner. Measure cookie dough balls that are 1 and 1/2 tablespoons big (or 30 grams). Roll the balls so they are taller rather than wider (see photo in post). Place 6 cookie dough balls on the sheet pan and then place in the freezer for 8 minutes. Remove and bake for 8-11 minutes (we like them best at 9 minutes! Slightly under-baked will yield super soft and chewy cookies) or until no longer glossy on top. Remove from the oven and let cookies stand on sheet pan for 5 minutes. IF desired, press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies.
- STORAGE: using a metal spatula, transfer cookies to a cooling rack and allow the cookies to finish cooling. They firm up more as they cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
- Note 1: if you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour you will pack way too much flour in; use a spoon to scoop it into a measuring cup and then level the top with the back of a butter knife. If your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies turn out cake-y, there was likely too much flour added. Best case: use a food scale! We want 190 grams of flour.
