Best Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Why This Recipe Works

Fluffy & Flavorful: These best easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies truly are the best. The are perfectly fluffy and flavorful when they come out of the oven. The beauty of baking with pumpkin is the amount of moisture it adds to what you are baking. It becomes nearly impossible to mess these pumpkin cookies up! This results in a soft-baked cookie that is super tender, with a crunchy edge, just like a cookie should be.

Perfectly Spiced: I am 100% on board with pumpkin spice everything at least for a few weeks in the fall. In this recipe, I used pumpkin pie spice to give the cookies the quintessential pumpkin flavor. You can always use your own homemade pumpkin pie spice with common spices you have in your pantry if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice!

Super Easy to Make: The beauty of this best easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe is that they are super easy to whip up! Just mix your dry ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients, and then combine! With a short bake time of just 11 minutes, you can have dreamy, freshly baked cookies ready in no time.

Ingredients

• Flour- All purpose flour works great in this recipe. If you need to, you can try a gluten free flour but use one that is a 1 to 1 replacement.
• Cinnamon– For added pumpkin spice goodness, add some extra cinnamon.
• Baking Soda– In this recipe, baking soda helps the cookies rise a little bit instead of spread in the oven.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice– If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use a combination of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, & cloves.
• Pumpkin Puree– Make sure to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. When you buy pumpkin puree, the ingredients are 100% pumpkin and nothing else.
• Sugar– Granulated sugar gives these cookies the sweetness they need.
• Vegetable Oil– Vegetable oil will add moisture and a tender crumb.
• Vanilla– For added flavor!
• Eggs– Eggs are important for rise and structure in these cookies.
• Chocolate Chips– You can use semi sweet chocolate chips like I did, or use milk or white chocolate chips if you are feeling extra sweet!

Here’s How to Make It

Step by Step Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with a nonstick cooking mat/parchment paper. (not pictured)
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. (photo 1)
3. In a second, larger bowl, combine pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, vanilla, and egg and mix until smooth. (photo 2)
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, being sure not to over-mix. Fold in the chocolate chips. (photos 3-4)
5. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, create small balls or mounds of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Mine always come out perfect at 11 minutes, right when the cookies no longer look “wet” on the top. (photo 5)
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheet. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. (photo 6)

Expert Tips

• To ensure these soft, easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies actually come out as delicious as possible, do not over-mix the mixture once you add the flour to the wet ingredients. As soon as the flour touches liquid, it starts to develop gluten. Too much gluten development can result in tough cookies!
• For even chocolate chip dispersement, mix the chocolate chips into the mixture and then right before you bake the cookies, press a few chocolate chips in the top so that the cookies look perfect coming out of the oven!
• Double the recipe and freeze half of the dough for easy cookie baking later on! Before freezing, roll the extra dough into balls and place in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months.