Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can not go wrong with a pumpkin and chocolate combination, and this cookie recipe proves it! These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, chewy and loaded with pumpkin spice flavor! Oh so decadent and oh so delicious; good thing they only take 35 minutes to make because they’ll be devoured in no time! 

I’ve done it again my friends, this combination is nothing short of delicious! Not only do we have that classic chewy chocolate chip cookie flavor lingering around in our mouth, but I’ve added some cinnamon and  pumpkin pie spice and we’ve got an official game changer! These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are super soft, moist and have a perfect light and fluffy texture. Every bite will have you coming back for more!

Does the idea of pumpkin freak you out? Well stop that – these babies have such an original, unique taste, I’m more than certain they’ll become a favorite after the first bite! Even if you’re not a sweet tooth kind of person, you’re gonna want in on this recipe, so get that glass of milk ready because we’re coming in hot, chewy, and tasty!

Ingredients

• Pumpkin – Canned or fresh!
• Wet ingredients – Eggs, butter (unsalted and softened), vanilla.
• Dry ingredients – Flour, baking soda, salt, white granulated sugar, brown sugar.
• Cinnamon – Freshly ground or prepackaged is great!
• Pumpkin spice – You can find this is your grocery store baking isle or you can create you own with equal parts cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger!
• Chocolate – I am using semi-sweet chocolate chips today.

How To Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree

This can be a daunting task, but if you’re up for it, I give you kudos and let’s get to it!

1. Preheat oven: To 350 degrees and put 1 Cup of water into roasting pan; set aside.
2. Prepare the pumpkin:  Cut the pumpkin in half and remove all the seeds, stringy fibres and innards – feel free to keep the seeds! Oil the cut surfaces and place the halves face down in the prepared roasting pan.
3. Bake: Bake the pumpkin for about 90 minutes, or until the flesh is tender. A trick is to poke it with a fork!
4. Puree: Once out of the oven, let the pumpkin halves cool enough to touch – but don’t let them get cold! Use a spoon to place pumpkin into a food processor and puree. Voila, homemade pumpkin puree!

Don’t forget! Pumpkin holds a lot of moisture so you may need to give yourself some extra time in order to drain a bit of excess water. You can do this by lining a mesh colander with paper towel or placing a coffee filter over a large bowl.

How To Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Preheat oven: To 350 degrees, and prepare baking sheets by lining with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Combine ingredients: In a large bowl use an electric beater or mixer and beat butter until smooth. Next, gradually beat in both white and brown sugars in order to maintain a light and fluffy texture. Then beat in eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin puree.
3. In a large bowl: In another large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice – then in thirds, gradually combine with the batter. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Bake: Using a spoon or a medium cookie scoop, scoop heaping tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until cookies are golden brown around the edges.
5. Cool: Once out of the oven let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes. Then using a spatula, transfer them to a wire rack to completely cool.

Some Tips

• Don’t over mix the dough – Once you add the flour don’t over do it on the mixing or the cookies will become more flat. Over mixing, activates gluten – do you want cookies or bread?
• There’s no need to create extra mess – Greasing baking sheets isn’t necessary – it’s easier to use parchment paper to line your baking sheets. You’ll thank me at clean up time!
• Don’t over bake – Keep in mind your cookies will continue to cook once you take them out of the oven and we want to maintain that soft chewy texture.
• Use canned pumpkin – If you really want to nail the consistency, using canned pumpkin is honestly the better way to go – and canned “pumpkin pie filling” isn’t recommended either as it has added sweeteners and spices.
• Top the cookies with more chocolate chips! Yes, this is a thing! Us bloggers use this trick all the time to make the cookies look that much more chocolaty! After scooping them on the baking sheet top each cookie mound with about 5 more chocolate chips! Trust me, you will thank me later.

Other Additions

Here are some option add-ins that you may want to incorporate into your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies:

• Cinnamon chips – Yes, these are a real thing!
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Nutmeg
• Frosting – Cream cheese or butter cream would be great options!

How To Store

Be sure to store these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container and they last anywhere from 2 – 3 weeks! This will ensure that they don’t get hard and maintain texture for as long as possible.

Freezing

You can place these cookies together or individually in an airtight container and they will last up to 3 months! When ready to eat, just warm them back up in the oven.

Want More Pumpkin Inspiration? Try These:

• Pumpkin Crumb Cake
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Bread
• Pumpkin Sausage Pasta
• Pumpkin Delight
• Pumpkin Goat Cheese Pappardelle
• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Pumpkin Pie
• The Best Pumpkin Bread