Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Soft Pumpkin Cookies– reminiscent of a muffin top dotted with pools of melty chocolate! These cookies taste like they are straight from a bakery and can be whipped together in one bowl.

If you’re hoping for pumpkin cookies without chocolate chips, these Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting are every bit as soft and thick.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Last year, I worked hard to perfect a pumpkin cookie recipe with the texture of classic Chocolate Chip Cookies. After much experimentation, I created Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. These offer the rich flavors of pumpkin pie in a cookie that’s soft and chewy with crisp edges.

These cookies stand out from the usual varieties. They’re thick, chewy, soft, and cake-like, much like a muffin top. This recipe echoes the Soft Pumpkin Cookies my mom made during my childhood. While they might not fit the traditional cookie definition, they’re one of my favorite fall treats. If you’re a fan of thick, soft pumpkin cookies with chocolate, this recipe is for you!

Ingredients

• Canned Pumpkin: Use pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
• White Sugar & Brown Sugar: Makes the cookies sweet and soft. Lightly pack the brown sugar to avoid over-sweetening.
• Vegetable Oil: Keeps the cookies moist and tender. If you want a richer flavor, swap some oil with melted butter.
• Egg: Helps hold everything together.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds a sweet, warm flavor.
• Cinnamon & Pumpkin Pie Spice: Brings in that warm, spiced pumpkin flavor. Adjust the spices to your taste if you want more or less.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise and stay fluffy. Use fresh baking powder and soda for the best results.
• Salt: Balances the sweetness and boosts flavor.
• Flour: Gives structure to the cookies. Spoon the flour into the cup and level it off to avoid making the cookies dense.
• Chocolate Chips: Adds chocolatey bites. Save some mini chips to press onto the cookies after baking for a prettier look.

How To Make Soft Pumpkin Cookies

1. Mix Wet Ingredients: Combine canned pumpkin, white and brown sugars, vegetable oil, an egg, and vanilla extract in a large bowl until smooth. Add food dye if desired for a darker color.
2. Add Dry Ingredients: Add ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, and both types of chocolate chips. Mix until just combined; the dough will be wet and sticky.
3. Chill Dough: Optionally, chill the dough for easier handling and enhanced flavor.
4. Bake: Preheat the oven and line a baking tray. Scoop balls of dough onto the tray and bake.
5. Add Chocolate Chips: Press extra chocolate chips onto the tops of the hot cookies.
6. Cool and Enjoy: Let the cookies cool briefly on the tray before transferring to a cooling rack. For a fudgy texture, chill the baked cookies. Enjoy your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

Use Leftover Pumpkin In These

• No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
• Healthy Pumpkin Bread
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

SaveSaved Pin Print

5 from 13 votes

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

By Chelsea Lords

Soft Pumpkin Cookies, reminiscent of a muffin top dotted with pools of melty chocolate! These cookies taste like they are straight from a bakery and can be whipped together in one bowl.

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Chill Dough: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 32 minutes minutes

Servings: 54

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 cup canned pumpkin, not an entire can
• ▢ 1 cup white granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• ▢ ½ cup vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (See Note 1)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 2 cups white flour
• ▢ 1 cup semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips, divided
• ▢ 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• ▢ Optional: red or orange food dye

Instructions 

• WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, add in ONE CUP of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling and not an entire can of pumpkin), white sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, the egg, and vanilla. Mix until completely smooth. If desired, add in the food dye. This will give you a darker more "pumpkin-looking" cookie. (The photos in the post have 3 drops of orange food coloring.) Mix until completely smooth.
• DRY INGREDIENTS: Without stirring in between these additions, add in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, ¾ cup miniature chocolate chips, and regular chocolate chips. Mix by hand or with an electric hand mixer until just combined. Do not overmix. The dough is wet, thick, and sticky!
• CHILL DOUGH: Cover tightly and chill the dough for 30 minutes up to 10 hours. Chilling is not necessary but it makes the dough easier to work with and intensifies flavors.
• BAKE: When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large tray with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Use a 1-tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop out balls of dough. Each cookie should be about 1 tablespoon in size. Once dough is in the tablespoon measuring spoon, use a small spoon to scoop it out of that onto the lined sheet pan. Try to smooth or round the balls, but it's okay if they're a bit bumpy; the dough is messy to work with. Bake for 8-11 minutes and remove. Use the remaining 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips to press a few more chocolate chips onto the tops of the cookies straight out of the oven.
• ENJOY: Let cookies stand on the cookie sheet for 3-4 minutes before using a spatula to transfer the cookies from tray to cooling rack. Repeat the baking process with the rest of the dough, keeping dough in the fridge until it's scooped into cookies (colder dough = easier to work with!) For a fudgy pumpkin pie-type cookie, chill the cooked cookies in the fridge -- delish!

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Spice: We like a mild amount of spice in these pumpkin cookies. If you'd prefer more, use another teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or an additional 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

 Storage: Soft Pumpkin Cookies do not store well at room temperature. Because of the canned pumpkin and the oil, these cookies tend to get wet and sticky when kept at room temperature for more than a day. We prefer baking what will be eaten the same day and then freezing the unbaked dough (see next note). However if there are baked cookies that won't be finished, I've found it's best to freeze them after the first day. Put the completely cooled (and baked) cookies in a freezer-safe container or bag. Freeze for 2-3 months and bring back to room temperature by warming one in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.

Freezing the unbaked dough: Place the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen dough balls to an airtight container/bag separated by parchment paper (so they don't all stick together in one clump) and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake: You can bake cookies straight from the freezer; just add 1-3 minutes onto the cooking time (or thaw the dough in the fridge and bake according to directions).

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 63mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 697IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!