Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Bakery Style)

Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies made with pumpkin puree, spices, molasses, and chocolate chips to name a few. Eating one is a special autumn experience that makes you feel warm and cozy, and immensely satisfied. I dare say these cookies capture that “Je ne sais quoi” factor that Baker Street Society always strives to achieve.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe

What are Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies? | Stand Mixer Vs Stirring Method | How to Make Soft and Fluffy Cookies | How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

What are Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies consist butter, sugar, pumpkin, spices, flour, chocolate chips, leavener, and a few additional ingredients. This recipe creates a cookie that is light and fluffy but not too cakey. They are soft, delicate, and almost melt in your mouth.

It’s basically one of the easiest cookies to eat, and the pumpkin, spices, and chocolate altogether are immensely satisfying!

Stand Mixer Vs. Stirring Method

Using a stand mixer is usually my go-to for most cookie recipes. For these soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, however, stirring is the best and easiest method. Because this batter has a more delicate cake-like consistency, the stand mixer has too much power.

✨ One of the most important parts of creating a cookie is knowing how to mix the ingredients together. For example, mixing these cookies too long results in hard and tough cookies.✨

And no one wants that. Right?

Good technique and proper mixing methods are two things I teach the bakers in my program who want to learn how to create recipes from scratch.

Even if you know which ingredients to use, a recipe can still turn out wrong without the right mixing method.

And for this particular cookie, mixing by hand is the “right’ way.

Why?

Because stirring gives you absolute control over how much gluten develops.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

How to Make Soft and Fluffy Cookies

Several factors contribute to the softness and fluffiness of a cookie. Here are some general rules of thumb:

Use Brown Sugar

You can use brown sugar to make most cookies softer, except cookies where brown sugar won’t work. (such as my super soft cutout out sugar cookies).

Brown sugar adds moisture, softness, and tenderness to a cookie. Too much brown sugar can make a cookie chewy, so it’s important to find the right balance. In this recipe, that perfect amount is 1 1/4 cups of light brown sugar.

Add the Right Leaveners

Baking powder (this is my favorite kind) also adds to the tenderness and height of a cookie. A little goes a long way in a soft cookie batter, so don’t overdo it.

Baking soda can make cookies more tender as long as it has an acid to react with. Otherwise, baking soda won’t do anything without an acid, such as milk, yogurt, molasses, brown sugar, lemon juice, or vinegar.

Purees Work Wonders

Puree of any sort can make a cookie more tender, but you have to be careful not to add too much. Have you ever eaten a pumpkin cookie that is really dense or that seems underbaked?

One possibility is that the cookie wasn’t cooked long enough. Most likely, however, too much puree makes for a heavy, almost custard-like cookie that isn’t always satisfying to the palette.

This cookie took 4-5 tries to get the balance just right. That’s a lot of cookies, but so worth the effort to bring you this amazing recipe.

pumpkin cookies recipe with chocolate chips on a baking tray

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Melt the butter, and stir in the brown sugar, and sugar together.
  2. Add pumpkin puree, molasses, vanilla, and eggs.
  3. Add flour, spices, salt, and chocolate chips. Mix gently until combined.
  4. Scoop cookies, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, then bake.
  5. Important: Let the cookies cool completely before eating. Cookies may seem underdone when warm, but the texture sets properly once they cool.
close up of interior of pumpkin chocolate chip cookie

If you want to know just how good these cookies are, read below to see what a Baker Street Society member said:

“These are the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. Everything is perfect. They’re soft in the middle but have the tiniest little crunch on the sides. It’s the most perfect baking of a pumpkin cookie I’ve ever had. I’m absolutely floored. The amount of chocolate was just right too!”

Elise P.
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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Bakery Style)

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
  • Author: Camille
  • Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 31 minutes
  • Yield: 24 cookies 1x
  • Category: Cookies

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 226 g unsalted butter, melted (1 c)
  • 250 g light brown sugar
  • 155 g granulated sugar
  • 226 g canned pumpkin puree
  • 2 large eggs, cold
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 30 ml molasses
  • 1 1/2 cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 400 g all-purpose flour
  • 350 g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Melt butter and let cool for 15 minutes. In a large bowl, stir butter, brown sugar, and sugar together until smooth.
  2. Stir in egg, vanilla, and molasses, and then stir in pumpkin puree.
  3. Add all dry ingredients including chocolate chips, and stir until dough comes together.
  4. Scoop pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with a large cookie scoop onto a tray lined with wax paper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  6. Place 6-8 cookies on a parchment-lined half-sheet pan, and bake for 17-22 minutes. You know they are done when you can gently touch the top of a cookie, and it almost springs back. The cookies should not dent on top (similar to a cake).
  7. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before eating.
  8. These cookies are best eaten within 2 days. Because of the pumpkin puree, the cookies will soften each day as they sit, so they are the very best on day one.

Notes

This soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe is a Baker Street Society original recipe.

Keywords: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, bakery style cookies

One Comment

  1. These cookies are seriously my favorite! The recipe is so easy to follow, and they turn out perfect every time I make them!

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