These are not your average pumpkin chocolate chip cookies… they’re chewy, soft, and packed with rich chocolate and warm spices. My secret: using nutty brown butter and blotting the pumpkin, which keeps the dough dense and the texture perfectly chewy (never cakey). If you’ve tried my viral chewy pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies, these pumpkin cookies have that same gooey center, just with pockets of melty chocolate!
Best of all, they come together in one bowl, no mixer needed. Bake them once, and I bet they’ll earn a permanent spot on your fall bake list.
Table of Contents
Why These Aren’t Cakey
To keep these pumpkin cookies thick, chewy, and rich, I made three key changes:
Using egg yolks instead of whole eggs. Egg whites are mostly water, while yolks provide fat and richness. Using only yolks helps create a denser, chewier cookie with fudgy centers.
Brown butter. Browning the butter cooks off some of its water while adding a deep, nutty flavor. Less water means less steam during baking, helping the cookies spread like a classic brown butter chocolate chip cookie instead of puffing up.
Blotted pumpkin puree. Before mixing the dough, the pumpkin puree is blotted with paper towels to remove excess moisture. This concentrates the pumpkin flavor without adding unnecessary water to the dough.
How to Make Them
Find the full ingredient measurements and instructions in the recipe card below!
1
Brown the butter. Cool the brown butter in the fridge, stirring occasionally. It will thicken but still be liquid, as shown above.
This recipe is a little more particular than most, so don’t rush this step. Recipes like my brown butter chocolate chip pumpkin loaf are much more forgiving when it comes to the temperature of the brown butter.
2
Blot the pumpkin. You’re aiming to remove enough moisture that the pumpkin is reduced by about half and can be rolled into a soft ball, just like you see above.
This simple step is what keeps the cookies thick and chewy instead of fluffy and cake-like.
3
Whisk together the wet ingredients. To completely emulsify the butter and sugar, whisk for exactly one minute. The mixture will resemble pale, wet sand.
4
Mix in the pumpkin. Whisk in the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and dried pumpkin puree until combined.
5
For the best chocolate pools, use chopped chocolate. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers that help them keep their shape during baking, while chopped chocolate melts into rich, gooey pockets in every bite.
6
Freeze the dough for later. Freeze the cookie dough balls on a baking tray until firm, then transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1–2 extra minutes to the bake time.
Want smaller cookies? Use a standard 2-tablespoon cookie scoop. They’ll bake a little faster, so start checking them 2–3 minutes earlier while the centers still look slightly underdone.
You won’t use the whole can of pumpkin puree here, so save any extras to bake another fall favorite, like my pumpkin spice cheesecake cookies or pumpkin cream cheese cupcakes.
Enjoy 🫶🏻
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments; I love hearing from you! Also, please leave a star rating while you’re there! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup Libby's Pumpkin Puree, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, *See notes below for measuring*
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup chopped chocolate bar, *semi-sweet chocolate bar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F(180°C). Line two baking trays with parchment paper and set them aside.
- Brown the butter in a large stainless steel pan. While it cooks, it will foam, pop, and crackle—this is normal! Stand nearby, watch, and stir it occasionally so it doesn’t burn. When the bottom is covered in brown bits of butter, and it smells nutty, remove the pan from the heat. You should have just under 1 cup of browned butter (184 g). Scrape the butter into a glass measuring bowl and place it in the fridge for 50-60 minutes, stirring it every 10-15 minutes until a thermometer inserted reads between 70-75°F. The butter must be cool but still liquid!1 cup (226 g) cold unsalted butter
- Spread the pumpkin puree on a plate. Press a stack of paper towels into it and soak up the extra liquid. Then, scrape the pumpkin into a pile and re-spread it around the plate. Continue doing this, using a new stack of paper towels to absorb the extra liquid, until the pumpkin feels pretty dry, like soft playdough, and now measures roughly 1/3 cup (75 grams).2/3 cup (160 g) Libby's Pumpkin Puree
- When the butter is cool, whisk in the brown sugar and granulated sugar for exactly 1 minute.1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- Whisk in the egg yolks, vanilla, and dried pumpkin puree until combined.2 (36 g) large egg yolks, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Fold in the flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips until just combined.1 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (220 g) all-purpose flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1 cup (125 g) chopped chocolate bar
- Scoop the cookie dough with a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop, roll them between your palms, then place them on the prepared baking trays spaced 2-3 inches apart. For pools of melted chocolate, chop the chocolate into larger pieces and press more on top before baking.
- Bake one tray at a time for 9-13 minutes or until the edges are golden brown but the middle is slightly underbaked. Straight out of the oven, use a large round cookie cutter to scoot the edges in to make them thicker and perfectly round. Let the pan cool on a wire cooling rack completely, then remove the cookies and enjoy!
These look amazing, can’t wait to try them out! Will blotting the pumpkin have the same results if using homemade pumpkin puree instead of canned? The homemade one seems more liquidy so I don’t want it to ruin the dough.
Yes! I would just keep blotting until it has a similar texture to the consistency in the photos.
Loooove these!
In the process of putting these cookies together and had to pause and comment- Thank you for the way you write the recipes/instructions – clear, precise and so easy to follow. Very appreciated! I can’t wait to see how they turn out!
Could you dehydrate the pumpkin puree in the air fryer or oven at a low temperature instead?
Great question! I’ve seen a few readers cook it in a pot and had great results, so I think it could work. I would watch it carefully and stir it occasionally. Let me know how it turns out!
Can the dough be made a day before baking and refrigerated?
Yes!
Can these be frozen after baked?
They should be fine. I can’t say for sure though, as they never last that long in my house!
So good! I had never done brown butter and these instructions made it easy and not intimidating. The cookies are delightful and such a great party snack.
In the process of making these now! Curious what the recommended weight of the flour is? The notes recommend using a scale, which I have and would like to do, but I don’t know how much weight to shoot for!
Hi McKenna! If you click the “Metric” button on the recipe card, it will give you all the gram measurements!
These are *chef’s kiss* perfect! I made them two or three times last fall/holiday season and again tonight. Safe to say these will be a yearly tradition for me and mine!!!
Time consuming but incredible!! Thank you for the recipe they were amazing best cookies ever
So happy to hear they were worth it!
If the eggs I have are not “large” should I use an extra?
It’s hard to say! Depending on how much they weigh, you may only need 1 1/2
This is the best baking website ever! This is fantastic! The no dark screen mode, video, and even being able to check off ingredients!! 10/10! Forever using this for any recipe!
This made my day! I’m so glad you’re loving the site and the features, it means so much to hear that. Thank you for being here and baking along!