From Nigel's Kitchen Table

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe by Nigel Clease Kitchen-tested

Autumn & Winter 11 min read

Soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies flavoured with warming autumn spices and dark chocolate.

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These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are crisp around the edges, wonderfully chewy in the centre and filled with pumpkin, warming autumn spices and generous chunks of dark chocolate.

Being British, I didn’t grow up eating many pumpkin desserts. However, with Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to make some seasonal cookies for our friends’ children. The combination of pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and chocolate was a real success—the children loved them, and the adults were rather fond of them too!

I’m not a big fan of cakey cookies. I much prefer cookies that are crisp on the outside with a soft, chewy centre. The secret to achieving this texture is controlling the amount of moisture in the cookie dough.

I started with my eggless classic cookie recipe and adapted it to include pumpkin purée and autumn spices. Because the original recipe contains no eggs, the dough begins with less moisture than many other pumpkin cookie recipes.

The pumpkin purée naturally adds moisture, so removing as much excess liquid as possible is important. This helps prevent the cookies from becoming overly soft or cakey.

Chilling the dough also gives the flour time to absorb some of that moisture. For the best flavour and texture, chill it for at least 30 minutes or, even better, overnight. However, I completely understand if you can’t wait—you can bake the cookies immediately.

For an even softer and chewier centre, remove them from the oven while they still look slightly underbaked.

As this pumpkin cookie dough doesn’t contain eggs, it may be tempting to sneak a taste. Just remember that raw flour should also be heat-treated before being eaten uncooked.

If you enjoy these chewy pumpkin chocolate chipcookies, you will also love my double chocolate cookie and giant flat chocolate chunk cookies recipe. Choosing which recipe to bake next may be the hardest part. I suppose another round of taste testing will be required!

Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crisp around the edges and chewy in the centre
Filled with pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and dark chocolate
Easy to prepare with simple ingredients
Made without eggs
Perfect for autumn, Halloween or cosy weekend baking
Delicious with dark, milk or white chocolate

Recipe Highlights

EASE: easy.
TASTE & TEXTURE: Crisp around the edges, chewy in the centre and filled with dark chocolate.
SERVING: Delicious on their own or served with a cold glass of milk.
QUANTITY: Depending on their size, this recipe makes approximately 12–24 cookies.
TIME: 1 hour and 7 minutes, including an optional 30-minute chilling time.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – preparation step 1

Ingredients

For these easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, you will need the following ingredients:

Butter – Gives the cookies a rich, buttery flavour and helps create crisp edges. Make sure it is at room temperature before you begin.
Brown sugar – Adds moisture, depth of flavour and a subtle caramel note.
Caster or granulated sugar – Provides sweetness and helps the cookies develop lightly crisp edges.
Golden syrup, corn syrup or honey – These invert sugars help create a flexible, chewy texture rather than a completely crisp cookie.
Pumpkin purée – The star ingredient. You can roast or boil fresh pumpkin and purée it, or use canned pumpkin purée. Make sure it is 100% pure pumpkin rather than pumpkin pie filling, which already contains added sugar and spices.
Plain or all-purpose flour – Provides structure and gives the cookies their crumb.
Bicarbonate of soda or baking soda – Helps the cookies rise and spread while giving them a lighter texture. Make sure yours is fresh and has not expired.
Cinnamon and ginger – Add the comforting autumn flavour that works so beautifully with pumpkin and chocolate.
Dark chocolate chips or chunks – Add rich pockets of melted chocolate throughout the cookies. The more, the merrier!

Chocolate recommendations: bars – Lindt Excellence dark 70% bar 100g, Montezuma’s darkside 51% bar 90g, Menier dark cooking chocolate 100g, Green and Black’s Organic dark Chocolate 100g, 1kg bags – Callebaut dark chocolate, Callebaut milk chocolate, Callebaut white chocolate.

Nigel Recommends

The Vanilla I Recommend

I recommend Taylor & Colledge vanilla products because they add a delicious depth of flavour while enhancing the other ingredients in the recipe. Choose from pure vanilla extract, vanilla paste or vanilla pods, depending on the recipe and the intensity of flavour you prefer.

VIEW THE VANILLA I RECOMMEND

Nigel Recommends

Don’t Skip the Salt

I highly recommend adding a generous pinch of fine sea salt to your biscuit dough. It balances the sweetness, softens any bitterness and enhances flavours such as chocolate, vanilla, citrus and spices. You should not be able to taste the salt itself—it simply makes every flavour brighter, more pronounced and beautifully rounded.

VIEW THE SALT I RECOMMEND

How to Prevent Pumpkin Cookies From Becoming Cakey

Pumpkin purée contains a considerable amount of water, which can easily produce soft, cakey cookies. To make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that are crisp and chewy, remove as much excess moisture from the pumpkin as possible before adding it to the dough.

You can do this by spreading the purée onto a plate lined with kitchen paper and gently blotting it. Alternatively, cook it briefly in a saucepan over low heat, stirring regularly, until some of the water has evaporated.

The purée should still be soft, but it should look thicker and less watery.

Chilling the finished dough will also help. It gives the flour time to absorb moisture and firms the butter, preventing the cookies from spreading too quickly in the oven.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – preparation step 4

Variations

Try Different Chocolate

Swap the dark chocolate for milk or white chocolate, or use a mixture of all three.

You don’t have to use chocolate chips either. Roughly chopped chocolate works beautifully and creates pools of melted chocolate throughout the cookies.

Add Nuts or Seeds

Add approximately 100 g of coarsely chopped pecans, pistachios, almonds or walnuts.

Pumpkin seeds would also complement the autumn flavours perfectly. You can add them alongside the chocolate or use them as a replacement.

Add Dried Fruit

Dried cranberries or raisins work well in these cookies and add an extra burst of sweetness and texture.

Add More Autumn Spice

For a more strongly spiced cookie, add a small amount of nutmeg, ground cloves or mixed spice alongside the cinnamon and ginger.

Nurition

Serving: one pumpkin chocolate chip cookie

Nutrition per serving

Calories:	249.5 kcal — 12%
Total Fat:	11.5 g — 16%
Carbohydrates:	34.9 g — 13%
Sugars:	20.7 g — 23%
Protein:	2.3 g — 5%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

Storage and Freezing

Allow the cookies to cool completely before placing them in an airtight container.

Store the cookies at room temperature for 5–7 days. Placing a sheet of baking paper between the layers will help prevent them from sticking together.

Because pumpkin cookies contain more moisture than traditional chocolate chip cookies, make sure they are completely cool before storing them. Otherwise, condensation may form inside the container and soften the crisp edges.

Can You Freeze Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Freezing the cookie dough – The unbaked cookie dough can be portioned into balls and frozen. Bake the dough directly from frozen, adding a few extra minutes to the baking time if necessary. They will last up to 3 months in the freezer.

Freezing the baked cookies – The baked cookies can be frozen in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag. Allow them to cool completely before freezing. Place baking paper between the layers to prevent them from sticking together. They will last up to 1 month. When you are ready to serve, allow the cookies to reach room temperature.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – preparation step 2

Tools You’ll Need

Here is some of the kitchen equipment I use and recommend for making these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies:

Large mixing bowl – I recommend the 29 cm Mason Cash cream earthenware mixing bowl because it is sturdy, chip-resistant and has a generous four-litre capacity, making it ideal for everything from cake batters to bread doughs. It is also microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe. You can find this bowl and more of my favourite kitchen tools in my Amazon Baking Essentials collection.

Electric hand whisk – I recommend the Breville Classic Combo Stand and Hand Mixer because it includes a generous 3.7-litre stainless steel bowl and a convenient stand, so you do not have to hold the mixer throughout use. You can find it and more of my favourite baking equipment in my Amazon Kitchen Equipment collection.

Baking trays
Baking paper
Wire cooling rack
Kitchen paper for removing moisture from the pumpkin

Ice cream scoop

My recommendation: Ice Cream Scoops with Easy Trigger Set of 3, large (3 Tbsp/45ml/6cm/1.5 oz), medium (2 Tbsp/30ml/5cm/1 oz), small (1 Tbsp/15ml/4cm/0.5 oz) – These three different sized scoops are perfect for ice cream, melons and cookies.

Recipe Tips

Use Room-Temperature Butter

Cold butter will not cream properly with the sugars. Take it out of the fridge in advance and allow it to soften naturally. The butter should be soft enough to press with your finger but should not look melted or greasy.

Remove Excess Moisture From the Pumpkin

Pumpkin purée contains a lot of water. Blotting or gently cooking it to remove some of this moisture helps the cookies stay chewy rather than becoming soft and cakey. This is one of the most important steps when making chewy pumpkin cookies.

Expect a Slightly Sticky Dough

The dough should be a little sticky because of the pumpkin. Don’t be tempted to keep adding flour, as too much flour can make the finished cookies dry, thick or cakey. Chilling the dough will make it easier to handle.

Rest and Chill the Cookie Dough

Chilling gives the dry ingredients time to absorb moisture from the pumpkin. It also deepens the flavour and firms the butter, helping to prevent the cookies from spreading too quickly during baking.

How Long Should You Chill the Dough?

Patience isn’t exactly my strong suit, so I completely understand if you don’t want to wait. You can bake a few cookies immediately and place the remaining dough in the fridge. For the best results, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. If you have time, leave it in the fridge overnight. The flavour and texture will be worth the wait.

Make Sure the Oven Is Hot

Allow your oven to reach the required temperature before placing the cookies inside. If the oven is not hot enough, the butter may melt before the structure of the cookies has time to set, causing them to spread too much. An oven thermometer can be helpful if your oven tends to run hotter or cooler than the selected temperature.

Don’t Overbake the Cookies

Remove the cookies from the oven while the centres still look slightly soft. They will continue to set as they cool on the baking tray. Overbaking can make the cookies dry and reduce their chewy texture.

Leave Space Between the Cookies

Place the cookie dough portions far enough apart on the baking tray to allow them to spread without joining together. Bake in batches if necessary rather than overcrowding the tray.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – preparation step 3

Frequently Asked Questions

Are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies cakey?

Many pumpkin cookie recipes have a soft, cakey texture because pumpkin purée contains a lot of water. Removing excess moisture from the pumpkin, chilling the dough and avoiding too much flour will help produce a crisper, chewier cookie.

Can I use canned pumpkin purée?

Yes. Use canned pumpkin that contains 100% pure pumpkin. Do not use pumpkin pie filling, as it contains additional sugar, flavourings and spices.

Can I use homemade pumpkin purée?

Yes. Roast or boil the pumpkin until tender, drain it thoroughly and blend it until smooth. Homemade purée can contain more water than canned pumpkin, so remove as much excess moisture as possible before adding it to the dough.

Do I have to chill the cookie dough?

No. You can bake the cookies immediately, but chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes will usually give you a better flavour and texture. Chilled dough is also easier to portion and is less likely to spread excessively.

Why is my pumpkin cookie dough sticky?

Pumpkin naturally adds moisture to the dough, so it should be slightly sticky. Avoid adding too much extra flour. Chilling the dough will make it firmer and easier to handle.

Can I make these cookies without dark chocolate?

Yes. You can use milk chocolate, white chocolate, chopped chocolate, nuts, seeds or dried fruit instead.

Are these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies eggless?

Yes. This pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe does not contain eggs.

How do I keep pumpkin cookies chewy?

Remove excess moisture from the pumpkin, avoid adding too much flour and take the cookies out of the oven while their centres still look slightly soft. Allow them to finish setting on the baking tray as they cool.