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18 cookies (3 inch cookies)

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are thin & chewy and they're dappled with melty puddles of chocolate! Made in under 30 minutes with no chilling time needed.

Orange cookie with brown swirls of chocolate on a black cooling rack over an orange checked cloth.

As much as I love my vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I really wanted to develop a pumpkin cookie that's actually thin and chewy.

Pumpkin cookies are often puffy because of pumpkin puree. In order to make a thin and chewy pumpkin cookie, we need the cookies to spread a bit more and we also need to cut back on leaveners like egg.

I realized that my chewy M&M cookies were the perfect place to start when developing a chewy pumpkin cookie. The butter is melted instead of softened, which results in a flatter cookie reminiscent of those big chewy mall cookies.

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Why this recipe works
Ingredients
Step by step instructions
Cassidy's tips
Storage notes
More pumpkin recipes
Recipe
Comments

Why this recipe works

Not cakey! These pumpkin cookies are thin and chewy, not cakey like a lot of pumpkin baked goods.
Melted butter: Using melted butter instead of room-temperature butter creates a thinner cookie with crisp edges.
Swirls of chocolate: Mixing chocolate chips and chopped chocolate into the warm batter creates swirls of chocolate throughout the cookie dough. Yum!
Pumpkin-spiced: Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon add depth and warmth, resulting in a cozy spiced cookie.

Ingredients

Pumpkin puree: Not to be confused with pumpkin pie filling. We use a small amount to add color to the cookies. Pumpkin is also a good stand-in for butter in baking, so using it in this recipe allows us to slightly decrease the amount of butter.
Pumpkin pie spice: Pumpkin pie spice: You can either buy pumpkin pie spice at the store (that's what I typically do) or use a recipe to make your own blend of pumpkin pie spice.
Chocolate chips: I prefer dark chocolate chips, but semi-sweet chips also work. For pumpkin cookies with puddles of chocolate, you can roughly chop a chocolate bar instead of using chocolate chips.
Chocolate bar: I use a bar of unsweetened baking chocolate, but I know that's not for everyone, so semi-sweet baking chocolate also works. Roughly chop the chocolate. Tiny shavings will create chocolate throughout the cookie dough, while bigger pieces make puddles of chocolate.
Egg yolk: Instead of using an entire egg, we use the yolk to help with the chewy texture of the cookies. Pumpkin puree makes fluffier baked goods, so using a yolk instead of an entire egg also cuts back on fluffiness.
Dark brown sugar: I typically say you can swap light brown sugar for dark and vise versa, but in this case dark brown sugar works best because it adds extra depth and makes the cookies a touch chewier than light brown sugar.

Step by step instructions

Start by melting the butter on the stovetop. Slice the butter then add it to a medium pot over medium heat. Once melted, remove from heat. For cookies with melted chocolate throughout, use the pot to make the cookie dough. For cookies with less melted chocolate, transfer the melted butter to a new mixing bowl.
To the melted butter add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and pumpkin puree. Stir until well combined, about 1 minute. Whisk in the egg, stirring continuously until evenly distributed.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Add half of this to the wet ingredients, stirring until well combined. Stir in the remaining flour mixture.
Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate, if using. The more the dough is stirred, the more the chocolate will melt and distribute throughout the dough.
Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to portion cookies out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Leave 3 inches between cookie dough.
Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are set. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack once firm enough to handle.

Cassidy's tips

To save on dishes, I typically mix up the cookies in the same pot I used to melt the butter. This isn't required, I just find it practical.
The butter doesn't need to cool before adding the sugars and pumpkin, but you should wait to add the egg yolk second. This is because mixing in the sugars and pumpkin cools the butter slightly, preventing the yolk from scrambling when it's added to the melted butter.
I tested these pumpkin cookies with chilled and unchilled dough, and I like the unchilled dough better. Chilled cookies took longer to bake, and resulted in slightly puffier cookies.
If you want to make the cookie dough in advance, you can definitely do that. Just note that the texture will be slightly different than if the cookies are baked immediately because the butter has a chance to resolidify in the fridge. Add 1-2 minutes to the baking timer if using chilled dough.

Stacks of pumpkin cookies with brown swirls of chocolate covering the entire image.

Storage notes

Leftover cookies can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies freeze well and can be thawed at room temperature or eaten straight out the freezer.
Freezing or refrigerating the dough: While the cookie dough can be made in advance or frozen, note that it will change the texture of the cookies because the recipe calls for melted butter.

More pumpkin recipes

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