What makes this pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe better than the rest? Perfectly spiced, thick and chewy, and loaded with gooey chocolate chips. Not cakey at all like most pumpkin cookie recipes. And no need to chill the cookie dough or dough balls, just rolls and bake.

Pumpkin Pie < Chewy Pumpkin Cookies

The main problem with most pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes? They come out soft and cakey, like giant muffin tops, instead of chewy and crunchy, like a cookie. The second problem with most pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes? They have little to no actual pumpkin flavor.

This is because a lot of pumpkin cookie recipes rely solely on pumpkin pie spice to flavor their cookie dough. As a professional baker, I understand the science behind this. Adding pumpkin pie spice to the dry ingredients will have little to no impact on the texture. Whereas adding real pumpkin in the form of a puree will completely change the texture of the pumpkin cookie recipe.

My solution to this pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe conundrum? Eliminate the eggs, and add pumpkin to make up for the lost moisture. I also add molasses to further increase the pumpkin flavor. The result is a chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookie that actually has pumpkin flavor!

Let’s Make Pumpkin Dough Balls: The Ingredients!

• Coconut Oil: Instead of butter, we use flavorsome coconut oil. If you’re not vegan and would like to use butter, feel free to use 1 cup of room temperature butter instead. If you’re using coconut oil, make sure it’s not liquid. And don’t sub vegetable oil, canola oil, or olive oil.
• Sugar: A combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar sweeten the cookie dough and given the dough needed structure.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds its signature rich flavor while enhancing the other flavors in this pumpkin cookie recipe. Always use real vanilla and skip the fake stuff.
• Molasses: I think molasses enhance the pumpkin flavor. But feel free to omit this ingredient or sub with maple syrup.
• Coconut Milk: (almond or soy milk will also work).
• Pumpkin Puree: I don’t suggest subbing pumpkin pie mix for the pumpkin puree.
• All-Purpose Flour: For best results, weigh your all purpose flour with a digital kitchen scale.
• Baking Soda: Make sure your baking soda is fresh and don’t sub with baking powder.
• Salt: A pinch of salt balances sweetness and enhances the flavors in the cookie dough.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: Feel free to add an extra teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice for even more delicious pumpkin pie spice flavor! Or make your own pumpkin spice with a blend of ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
• Chocolate Chips: I love these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies exploding with chocolate chips! But my husband argues the chocolate can blanket the pumpkin flavor. So you might want to reduce the chocolate chips if a pumpkin forward cookie is your main objective.
• Flaky Sea Salt: This is an. optional ingredient, but we love sprinkling the cookies with sea salt once they’ve come out of the oven.

Let’s Bake Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Unlike many recipes that call for your oven to 350, this recipe asks you preheat your oven to 375.
3. Make the cookie dough balls then drop the dough onto the lined baking sheets.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
5. Eat and enjoy these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQ

• 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 completely 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 ♥

If you don’t like chocolate, try my chewy cinnamon chip pumpkin cookies instead!

• 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

Ashley Manila

Thick and chewy Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! Loaded with flavor!

4.91 from 62 votes

PRINT RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Inactive Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cookies

Servings 16 cookies

Ingredients

 

• 1/2 cup (113g) coconut oil, solid (be sure it’s not melted at all)
• 3/4 cups (159g) dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons (40ml) unsulphured molasses
• 2 Tablespoons (28ml) unsweetened coconut milk (almond or soy milk will also work)
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix!)
• 2 and 1/4 cups (275g) cups all-purpose flour (be sure not to pack your flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 and 1/2 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.

Tried it and loved it?Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram @Bakerbynature and by using the hashtag #BakerByNature