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Say hello to the BEST Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies ever! Thick, chewy, and loaded with real pumpkin flavor! The trick is to let them rest on the baking until cool… then they won’t be cakey!
Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
Do you have a can of pumpkin in your kitchen right now? Please, tell me you do… because you’ll need it to make these easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! And trust me, you’re definitely going to want to make these beauties ASAP.
Because let’s be real: can you think of any better way to spend a chilly Fall afternoon than baking and then devouring these pumpkin chocolate cookies? ↓
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- First of all, let’s talk about texture! These cookies are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They are NOT cakey pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. But they do come out of the oven VERY soft. So it’s crucial to cool the cookies on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes before serving. But if you can, I suggest letting them cool a full hour! The longer they sit, the firmer and chewier and they get. The silver lining is that these cookies taste even better with time!
- So now that we’ve covered texture, let’s move onto flavor. Because these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies have a lot of it! In addition to real pumpkin puree (be sure not to grab pumpkin pie mix by accident!), these cookies are flavored with brown sugar, vanilla, molasses, and pumpkin spice. Yum ♥
- These pumpkin choc chip cookies don’t spread out too much while they bake, so be sure to scoop the dough into mounds, then lightly press down the top of the mound before baking.
- I make VERY large cookies with this recipe, and usually get about 1 dozen. However you can make smaller cookies, just be sure to decrease the bake time a minute or two.
- For extra pretty – and extra chocolatey – cookies, press a few chocolate chips on top of them right when they come out of the oven. You can also add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt!
- If you don’t like coconut flavor, you should use refined coconut oil, which does not have a coconut taste or scent. If you don’t have coconut milk, almond milk or soy milk will work fine!
- Finally, be sure not to over bake your cookies! As I mentioned earlier, they will be very soft when you remove them from the oven, but they firm up a lot while they cool.
These are hands down the tastiest pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten! Not cakey, plenty of pumpkin flavor, and soooooo many chocolate chips… I mean, what’s not to love? The fact that they’re vegan is really just the icing on the cake 😉 
If you try this recipe for Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your kitchen creations makes my day.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes:
- The Most Wonderful Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
- Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Fudge Cookies (Vegan)
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, solid (be sure it's not melted at all)
- 3/4 cups dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk (almond or soy milk will also work)
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix!)
- 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (be sure not to pack your flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips (use vegan chocolate chips if vegan), divided
- Flaky sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat the coconut oil, both sugars, and vanilla on medium-speed until smooth; about 2 minutes. Add in the molasses, coconut milk and pumpkin puree and beat on low speed until well combined. Turn mixer off.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; whisk well to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and, with the mixer on low speed, beat until ingredients are combined. The batter will be very thick! Fold in 1 and 1/4 cups of the chocolate chips.
- Scoop three tablespoon sized mounds of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving a few inches between each cookie. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers are soft but set. Press remaining chocolate chips on top of warm cookies, and sprinkle with sea salt, if using. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 30 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Do you have any make ahead tips (Does the dough freeze well if we make it in advance?)?
And how long will these last if properly stored?
PS – Your vegan chocolate chip cookies have been a hit, so my friends and I are sooo excited for these 🙂
Hi Anna! You can definitely make the dough and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days. But you’ll need to bring it to a scoopable temperature before baking them. I haven’t had luck freezing this dough, but the cookies stay delicious for up to 3 days after being baked… not that they usually last that long 😉
Your recipe says 1/3 pumpkin purée, does this mean 1/3 cup or 1/3 of the can??
Hi Savannah! Sorry for the confusion – you’ll want to use 1/3 cup of pumpkin puree 🙂
I made these over the weekend and they were awesome! They’re my new favorite pumpkin cookie! Thank you for the recipe!
Can you use maple syrup instead of the molasses ?
I did and they came out great!! best cookies I have ever had!
Is the molasses to add taste to the cookie or for a texture purpose? Could I use syrup or agave nectar instead? I want to make these this week and I have everything but the molasses. TIA,
I used honey and the cookies turned out amazing! I think syrup/agave would maybe affect the integrity of the cookies because the consistency of those two are runnier than honey or molasses, but I’m really not an expert!
These are delicious!! Just made them and they turned out great. Thanks for an easy, fantastic recipe!
Could you use apple sauce instead of 1/2 cup of coconut oil?
I don’t recommend it.
Bummer… I want to make these but I can’t eat coconut oil, it hurts my stomach so bad…
Use a vegan margarine or vegan butter
I was so excited to make these with my daughter, as we love trying new vegan recipes! They look so delicious and soft and chewy 🙂 Sadly, the ingredients are not 100% vegan, and that is a lot of sugar! The granulated and brown sugars are not vegan because granulated sugars (which is also what most brown sugars are made of) are processed using bone char, I know it’s gross and weird right? Ugh, well anyway, I wanted you to know. But Ill try to adapt a recipe from this one you have 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Leanne. I actually used Wholesome brand sugar, which I’m 99.9% sure is vegan 🙂 Here’s a great resource for sugars not made with bone char! I hope that helps! https://ordinaryvegan.net/vegansugar/
I used a wholesome brand as well. Organic brown sugar is not processed that way
My brown sugar and cane sugar are both vegan 🙂
Fabulous! I had leftover pumpkin from our oatmeal oven pancake. Thank you so much for warning us about how soft they come out. I resisted the urge to leave them in longer–so glad I did. These are so yummy.
I added some dried cranberries for a bit of tang. They’re perfect for our school’s fall bake sale.
white sugar in Canada is vegan if you use Redpath brand
Is Redpath Sugar suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans? We do not use animal products or by-products in our refining process for sugar, so Redpath Sugar products are suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans.
FAQs | Redpath Sugar
http://www.redpathsugar.com/faqs
Just made these and they were so good! I’m not even really into pumpkin desserts but the pictures looked too good. Refined coconut oil is a good call, I didn’t taste coconut at all, and I taste that nasty crap in everything. My dad and sister said they weren’t going to eat them because they’re VEGAN but they came around and loved them (duh)! Thanks for the heads up about how very soft they’ll be when the time is up. These were so quick to make and the clean up was SO easy. I will definitely make these again.
I made these cookies today and the flavor is great but they never hardened up. They pretty much fall apart. I’m not sure what happened. It looks like everyone else had good results.
I usually don’t bake sweet cookies , i like mine healthy with barely any sugar , I had frozen pumpkin from last year . I modified the recipe a little .
I didn’t use white sugar at all , just 2/3 cup organic brown sugar , did 1/2 cup pumpkin and 1/3 coconut oil I switched these 2 I didn’t want it to be to fattening , only 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup roasted walnuts and all organic whole wheat flour . They are very very good the texture of mine were crispy has I like my cookies hard not moist . I baked them 2 to 3 minutes longer . I got 19 cookies nice size about 1 big table spoon I patted flat a little .
Next time I will bake them just the way I did but reduce the salt I thought it was to salty to 1/4 ts and reduce the sugar because they were sweet to 1/2 cup brown sugar . I usually bake with coconut palm sugar which is less sweet but I wanted to get rid of my brown sugar . I couln’t imagine adding 1/2 cup of white sugar . You have molasses , brown sugar and the sugar from your chocolate , so if you don’t like to sweet reduce the sugar but notthe molasses because it gives the cookies depth . Thanks for a great recipe that you can change to your needs. I always like to comment after making a recipe so it helps others in baking it .
I followed your modifications to make it healthier but it made for cake-y cookies. I’m not really a fan of cake-y cookies but the added pumpkin puree made for a good pumpkin flavor. If I do make it again following your modifications, I will be using less pumpkin so they’re not too cake-y.
Made these last night, and I had just run out of brown sugar, so I subbed that with about 1/2 cup of maple syrup and subbed honey for the molasses. Added a couple extra tablespoons of flour because of the liquid sweetener sub. Used about 1 cup of chocolate chips. They still came out great! Thanks for this recipe!
Man, oh man! This is our favorite new cookie recipe! ! ! These are amazing! I did reduce the sugar and cut the chocolate chips by half and they were perfect. My husband has a sweet tooth and is not vegan. He absolutely loves these also. They might be closer to the best we’ve ever had.
I made this 2 days ago, made a batch on the spot and left half the recipe for later. I have to say the batch that stayed in the fridge tasted much better and had a nicer shape. The cookies are all gone now, I ate 6 cookies on my own and gave the rest away to friends who absolutely loved them. So so good. The only thing I did differently was that I reduced the sugar a little bit. I used 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar (110g) and 1/2 cup of organic raw cane sugar (100g). I am making another batch now for my husband and to have something delicious to snack on during the week.
These cookies turned out to be absolutely fantastic! My party guests got into the raw cookie dough and were sandwiching the baked cookies between raw dough on either side. Thanks for posting! This will definitely be a recipe I use again.
That is the funniest comment I’ve seen, and now I want to party at your place lol
These were so good, thanks! I used a cup for cup GF flour blend and decreased sugar to 2/3c brown sugar and1/3c white sugar. Still deliciously sweet and my whole family loves them, yum! Between all my kids there are wheat, egg, and dairy allergies so it’s great to have a cookie everyone can enjoy.
what brand of gf flour did you use?
WOW! these are PERFECT cookies!! I just found this recipe on google since i didn’t have eggs or butter for non-vegan cookies, but wanted something sweet. Went with this recipe since I had all the ingredients and I’m so glad I did–the cookies were soft, chewy, gooey, and had a delicious taste without being too sweet! Will definitely make these again and again! <3
These are really good though not quite as orange-y like yours. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I love all things pumpkin and these cookies just hit the spot! Sweet but not overly so! I used vegan butter because I didn’t have coconut oil and almond milk because that is also what I have on hand. Will definitely make again!
How are your cookies so orange with just 1/3 cup of pumpkin? Mine don’t look like that at all.
Mine either lol
Same here. I was wondering that too.
I remember now that mine didn’t have that pumpkiny orange like yours. I’m guessing food color? That’s what I’m going to try this time! I have turmeric but I don’t like the flavor at all so food gel it’s likely going to be!
So delicious!! Made them twice already !!! going to make the all the time
Yay! So happy to hear that, Aisha!
I’m not a big pumpkin lover but these cookies WERE. THE. BOMB. I think they are definitely my favourite choc chip cookie. I do have a question: when I baked some of these right away, they looked very much like your pics. The next day, I baked the remainder that had been in the fridge and for some reason, they spread more.
Any ideas as to why this may have happened?
Regardless, this was a fabulous recipe Ashley 🙂
Excellent!
These are absolutely delicious! I made them using a medium scoop (1-1/2 T) and the baking time was roughly the same (but I think my oven runs a little cool so take that with a grain of salt). Non vegans won’t know the difference and the vegans in your life will love you for these.
These were good.
These came out perfect. I actually used a gluten flour (oat flour) and they came out fantastic. The crisp and chew were spot one! Super easy!
I love baking gluten free and I am so glad I came across your comment! I have a lot of oat flour! Thanks!
These were easy to make and perfect for a preschool pumpkin patch trip!! Thank you for this recipe.
I made this recipe exactly as written, minus the salt flakes. I have tried SO MANY vegan cookies and these turned out to one of my favorites of any vegan/non-vegan cookie! And I bake a lot. Spice is perfect and I wound up with crispy-edged, chewy cookies. I do plan to reduce sugar a bit the next go around just because I think I can get away with it. I will say though, as other’s have mentioned, my cookies are not the pretty orange in the picture. In fact, I’m not getting much of a pumpkin taste at all. They are more reminiscent of molasses cookies to me, which is fine because I love molasses cookies. I only point this out because others may want to increase the pumpkin a bit. Thanks for such a great recipe!
How do you personally measure flour? Do you just stick the whole measuring cup into the flour and then level off? Or do you add the flour spoonful by spoonful to the measuring cup and then level off? When I read about what you’re supposed to do (spoonful by spoonful into measuring cup, then level off) that never seems to match what bakers usually do, since it’s more of a pain. Which is fine, but I’m perpetually in doubt if I’m actually recreating the recipe as intended by doing it “properly”.
This recipe is simple yet SUCH a winner. Thank you! 😀 taking these babies to a bake-off at work.
I just made these, and while they are delicious, my cookies spread soooo much and were super greasy. They left huge grease spots on my parchment baking liners. Maybe I measured the flour incorrectly? Or perhaps my kitchen was a bit warm? My coconut oil was solid however. Either way, they still tasted delicious, I was just too embarrassed to share them with my neighbor who’s daughter is allergic to eggs. I’ll have to try again soon!
BEST COOKIES I’VE EVER MADE!!
Tip- after mixing put dough in fridge/freezer then scoop into balls and bake.
Added walnuts and roasted my own pumpkins. Holy cow, will make again and again. Thank you!
Stop what you’re doing and make these cookies! Soooo yummy for vegans and non-vegans alike. Don’t over bake.
Litterally the best textured & tastiest cookie i have ever eaten and made. I could win a cookie contest with these. Sooo freaking delicious!!!
Delicious! I used the leftover pumpkin purée to make pumpkin butter and ate them together. Love this recipe, great for fall!
Ooooh! Pumpkin butter! Thanks for the idea! My cans of pumpkin puree are the huge 29oz ones!
Can you use Oatmilk in this recipe or your Vegan Chocolate Chip recipe?
What are the macros on these? I used Lily’s chocolate chips, stevia, and truvia brown sugar. Gluten free flour too – they turned out fantastic!!!
Did you get a reply? And what kind of flour was used?
These were delicious! I made them smaller, 1 tbsp, for my kids and it made 30 cookies. Cooked at the same temp and time. I used cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips and it was still amazing. Will repeat.
These cookies are the best. I have made them twice in the past few weeks. I added a little cinnamon & allspice to the batter. I also put them in the fridge once cool & they get even better!!
I give them all the stars!
I love this recipe – but as many of them did – I too left the white sugar out, and used only half the suggested amt of molasses. Also I switched out the coconut milk to soy milk. I added oats to the mix as well. And I made smaller cookies – I managed to get about 30 decent sized cookies. This is a lovely and by far the easiest cookie dough I’ve ever worked with – but with adding the oats in – I may up the content of pumpkin next time. Thank you for a great recipe.
Delicious! Probably the best vegan cookies I have made.
Best chocolate chip cookie!! I love this. It’s perfect for fall. The texture and flavor is unbeatable.
These are delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I have two questions though:
Mine were a little more cakey than chewy. I ended up using maple syrup since I didn’t have molasses. Could that be the reason for the different texture?
How do I get my cookies to look like yours? Mine were smooth on top.
I made these with gluten free 1:1 flour, and they came out great. New favorite at our house!
Can you use canola oil instead of coconut oil?
Amazing cookies – and with all my heart I am so grateful to enjoy something close to my childhood Chocolate Chip Drop archway cookies. As is usually the case for me, I was out of apple sauce, so subbed in more pumpkin and a splash of maple syrup and it all worked out fine! Thanks so much!
Every time I make these cookies, I get loads of compliments!! These are showstoppers and everyone should make it once in their life! I don’t actually make them vegan, but man when I say people scarf them up! A wonderful and easy recipe! Make them!!
Holy cow! I just finished making these cookies and they turned out so good! I used vegan butter instead of coconut oil, and oat milk instead of the milks that were suggested. I did approximately 1.5 tablespoon sized scoops and baked for seven minutes then let them rest on the pan for three minutes. They turned out perfect.
Wow! These look so perfect for the season!
My daughter has severe food allergies so I am constantly attempting vegan recipes for her and these are THE BEST COOKIES I HAVE EVER MADE – vegan or not! Truly perfect, and I’m not even a pumpkin lover! My question is whether or not I can freeze some. I’d love to make another batch with my leftover pumpkin purée and keep a stash in the freezer, if they’ll thaw ok! Thank you so much for this perfect treat!
I’ve been able to freeze the dough and make them later. Sometimes I just eat the frozen dough. The cookies came out fine.
Delish! If you don’t have coconut oil, I used 1/2 cup of butter…turned out great!
I normally ever leave reviews but I’ve been making these cookies for years and they’re the best vegan cookie I’ve made to date!! I look forward to making these every year and no one can tell they’re vegan. I brought them to a house of five 25 year old boys and they devoured all 4 dozen cookies within an hour. Highly, highly recommend.
These are my go-to pumpkin cookies! Love them! I’ve made them a few times. Even though I am always too impatient to wait, they really do taste better the longer you wait. I ran out of coconut oil this time. I substituted vegan butter successfully.
I usually bake something for my daughter’s college softball team for the weekends they have in-conference games. They have a vegan player, so I am hunting for good treats that freeze well, transport easily, and that I can make for 25 players and coaches.
This recipe is the first time I have had about half the team and the coaches make a point of specifically telling me these are the best cookies ever. They always thank me and comment, but the reaction to these cookies was much more enthusiastic than usual. I have now made them 3 times this season. It has been fun for me to find and try new recipes, but it has also been very fun to listen to the girls who have never specifically tried vegan cookies or brownies, comment on how good some of the recipes are….but this one is the favorite.
Thank you!
I am going to experiment this week with King Arthur Flour, gluten free all purpose flour substituting 1 for 1 for regular flour to make them gluten free.
By the way, I have frozen the cooked cookies for 3 weeks with great success, I also made one batch with vegan butter, Earth Balance, with great success, and since I ran out of both vegan options and had non-vegans coming for dinner, I have also used unsalted butter successfully. All have been wonderful.
Also, I recommend weighing your dry ingredients like sugar and flour rather than measuring it. I took a baking class where the first thing we all did was measure a cup of all purpose flour. The weight of the 15 different cups of flour ranged from 95 grams to 155 grams. Their point being it is really hard to measure a cup of flour consistently.
King Arthur flour Has an ingredient weight chart that will help convert volume to ounces and grams.. a cup of all purpose flour should weigh about 120 grams.
I am not an employee of King Arthur Flour, but I have taken classes at their cooking school and use many of their flours, and recipes.
I tried King Arthur gluten free all purpose flour. It was marginally satisfactory. I think the king Arthur flour Measure for Measure flour would be a better gluten free substitute. I noticed that option in the grocery store today. The cookies with the gluten free all purpose flour came our flatter and caramelized/crunchy around the edges. Still great flavor, but not as good as the original recipe.