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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft, chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies loaded with melty chocolate chips — real pumpkin puree, warm pumpkin spice, and a thick, bakery-style cookie that stays soft for days. Thick, not cakey, and ready in about an hour.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24 cookies
Calories 185 kcal

Ingredients
  

Cookie dough

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling, blotted dry
  • 1 large egg yolk room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For topping

  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • Flaky sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Blot the pumpkin: spread the pumpkin puree on a plate lined with folded paper towels and press with more towels until very little moisture transfers. The puree will reduce by about a third — this step is what keeps the cookies chewy instead of cakey.
  • Whisk the dry ingredients: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon.
  • Whisk the wet ingredients: in a large bowl, whisk the melted butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Whisk in the blotted pumpkin puree, egg yolk, and vanilla until evenly combined.
  • Combine: add the dry ingredients in two additions, stirring with a spatula just until no flour streaks remain. Fold in 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips. Do not overmix.
  • Chill the dough: cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (up to overnight). Chilled dough scoops cleanly and bakes thick instead of spreading flat.
  • Scoop and top: scoop 2-tablespoon balls of dough and place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Press a few of the reserved chocolate chips onto the tops of each cookie.
  • Bake: bake at 350°F for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers still look slightly soft and puffy. Do not overbake — the cookies set as they cool.
  • Finish and cool: sprinkle with flaky sea salt while warm, if using. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Blotting the pumpkin puree is the whole trick: wet puree makes flat, cakey cookies; blotted puree makes thick, chewy ones. Do not skip it.
Use only 1/3 cup of pumpkin — more pumpkin means more water, and more water means cakey cookies. The spice and brown sugar carry the flavor.
Pull the cookies while the centers still look soft — they finish setting on the hot pan. Overbaked pumpkin cookies go dry fast.
Chill the dough at least 30 minutes. Warm dough spreads in the first minutes of baking; chilled dough stays thick with crisp edges.
Pressing extra chocolate chips on top before baking is what gives the cookies that bakery look — melty pools of chocolate on every cookie.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months. A slice of bread in the container keeps them soft.