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The best ever Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies…because Fridays in October deserve something sweet. Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, made with browned butter, pumpkin butter, pumpkin spice, and plenty of chocolate. Each cookie dough ball is rolled through cinnamon sugar for a “snickerdoodle” like finish before baking to perfection. There’s nothing not to love about these cookies. They’re slightly crisp on the edges, but soft and gooey in the middle. Perfect for Halloween night or Thanksgiving dinner…or simply when in need of a deliciously sweet pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.
It’s pretty hard to beat a good classic chocolate chip cookie. I grew up eating my mom’s homemade cookies and to this day, they’re still a favorite. She uses the recipe on the back of the Nestlè Toll House Chocolate Chip bag. But always adds an extra cup of chocolate chips. Because, well that’s mom, the more chocolate the better!
It really was not until the last few years that I started creating (and loving) pumpkin recipes. For the longest time my mom had it ingrained in me to only like chocolate-based desserts. No pumpkin, definitely not anything fruity, and vanilla? No way. It’s was chocolate or nothing growing up…and I will never ever complain an ounce about it.
What I will say however, is that I’m thankful I’ve opened up my horizons a bit…and in turn hers too. We’ve ventured onto the path of desserts beyond the “chocolate only” realm. Chocolate is still a favorite, of course, but I’ve now come to love experimenting with new flavors and desserts that don’t focus so heavily on chocolate…enter my cream cheese swirled pumpkin bread.
But what’s even more fun? When I can combine my serious love for chocolate along with my (relatively) new love for pumpkin.
And in comes these cookies. You have chocolate, you have pumpkin, AND you have pumpkin spice. So the best of all worlds. Cheesy, but true.
My secrets to the perfect pumpkin cookie…
Every time I’ve attempted pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the past, they’ve come out pretty cakey and much more muffin-like. Not bad, but just not a chewy chocolate chip cookie.
My goal with these cookies was to create a pumpkin cookie not only with amazing pumpkin flavor, but also a texture that’s closer to my mom’s chocolate chip cookies. It took some playing around with the recipe, but I’ve finally landed on a cookie that is so good. I will not say the texture is just as chewy as a classic cookie, but it’s close, and these cookies are so yummy.
Four secrets to these cookies…
Secret #1, brown half of your butter, but leave the other half at room temp. This gives you the flavor of browned butter but leaves you with a cookie that has great texture too.
Secret #2, use spiced pumpkin butter, not pumpkin purèe. This IS KEY. Pumpkin butter is more reduced down than pumpkin purèe and contains less moisture. Less moisture will give you a chewier, not as cakey cookie. You can use my homemade pumpkin butter or pick some up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, your local market, or via Amazon…though I am partial to my homemade recipe. Just make sure your pumpkin butter is spiced for best flavor.
Secret #3, roll your cookie dough balls in cinnamon sugar, as if making snickerdoodles. So yes, this cookie is actually a cross between a snickerdoodle and a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.
Secret # 4, bake the cookies, but about halfway through cooking, pull the cookies out of the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter a couple of times. Then return to the oven to finish baking. Remove the cookies from the oven, and again, tap the baking sheet once more. Why? This ensures you have the least cakey pumpkin cookie. Instead, you’ll have a cookie with crisp edges and a gooey center. Tapping the baking pan on the counter deflates the center of the cookie, pushing the edges out. It might seem weird, but it’s a method I learned from the New York Times and it works.
These cookies are…
…easy to make, require no chilling, and take less than an hour.
…full of actual pumpkin flavor – and actual pumpkin.
…rolled in cinnamon sugar, so kind of like a snickerdoodle, but better.
…studded with both chocolate chips and chocolate chunks
…just perfectly crisp on the edges, but soft and gooey in the center.
The very best thing you can bake up this weekend. Because it’s always a good idea to bake chocolate chip cookies, especially when browned butter, pumpkin butter, and cinnamon sugar are involved.
Just one more thing…
Eat these warm, while hot and gooey. And add a glass of milk…just like my mom and I would do!
If you make these pumpkin butter chocolate chip cookies please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 225 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup pumpkin butter, homemade or store-bought
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 4 ounces semi sweet or dark chocolate chunks
- 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar
Instructions
- 1. Add 1 stick butter to a small saucepan set over medium heat, cooking until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Stick in the freezer to chill, 10-15 minutes, but no longer. 2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the remaining 1 stick butter, the cooled browned butter, brown sugar, and sugar until combined. Beat in the pumpkin butter, egg, and vanilla, beating until creamy. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and chocolate chunks.4. Roll the dough into 1 tablespoon size balls and then generously roll through the cinnamon sugar and place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.5. Transfer to the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter 2 times to flatten them down. Return to the oven and bake another 1-2 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges, but still doughy in the center. Remove from the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter 1-2 times to flatten them down again. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. Eat warm (highly recommended) or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.Â
Notes
Pumpkin Butter: you can use my homemade pumpkin butter or just pick some up from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, your local market, or via Amazon.
If you want more Pumpkin Spice Flavor: add in 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice with the flour.Â
These are amazing. I followed the baking directions exactly and they turned out perfect!! Looking forward to making them more this season.
That is so great! I hope you continue to love these cookies, Joyce! xTieghan
I just made these for our Halloween Bake-off at work and won 1st place! I used your pumpkin butter recipe and followed your suggestion on tapping to flatten out a bit. They are so tasty and will be my go to cookie this holiday season! What a treat. 🙂
That is so amazing!!! Thank you so much for trying these and sharing them with everyone! xTieghan
Hi! I made the recipes exactly as directed and while I found them to excellent chocolate sugar cookies, I could not really taste the pumpkin. So I find it hard to call them pumpkin cookies. I used TJ pumpkin butter which was a suggested alternative. More pumpkin flavor please!
Hi Debbie! I am sorry about that. Please let me know if you have any questions! xTieghan
I wish I could give these ten stars. I made them for the company Halloween party yesterday. Every single one of my colleagues died of awesome. Kidding of course, there were no REAL fatalities, but they were a HUGE hit – and they came out absolutely perfect according to your instructions.
YES!! That is so awesome! Thank you Aline! xTieghan
Whoa MAMA, these are good! I accidentally browned all the butter, but they still came out terrific! Warm, gooey, and magnificently spiced.
That is so amazing! Thank you so much Julie! xTieghan
Hey Tieghan,
I can’t say enough great things about these cookies I loved them!! I took them to work to share with my other chefs and they were in awe of how great they were. Thank you for the recipe as its a great combo!! I love anything at all that’s pumpkin. Feel free to keep sharing I’ll want to read them all. The only I mistake I made was not spreading the cookies far enough part on the cookie sheet. When they finished baking they were right next to each other. They were soft and gooey and just tasted perfect!! Whenever I cook which is frequently it’s always your recipes I use thank you!! 🙂
Hi Mike! I am so glad to hear that these cookies tasted amazing for you! Thank you so much for trying them and I hope you continue to enjoy my recipes! xTieghan
These cookies are fantastic! It was my first attempt ever at making cookies and everyone loved them – the whole thing from beginning to end was so easy (including the homemade pumpkin butter, yum!). For some reason though my cookies don’t flatten like yours do, mine are sort of inflated but cooked all the way through? Do you know why this may be? I used a dark coated baking sheet – perhaps could this be the reason?
Hey Samantha, was your dough dry at all or did it look like “normal” cookie dough?
If so, I do think it is your baking sheets. I always recommend baking with light colored baking sheets as dark baking sheets tend to burn cookies/cook them too quickly. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I so glad you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
loved the way they tasted! I used your homemade pumpkin butter recipe!! Mine never puffed up like yours did so Im not sure if that was the reason or where I went wrong. Amazing either way!
Hi Haley! I am so glad these turned out so well for you!! Is there anything you missed in the recipe? xTieghan
How would this work as 2 ounce cookies? Would I have to change the ingredients or can I just double the recipe?
Hey Mark, I am sorry, what do you mean when you say 2 ounce cookies? Sorry, just not sure what you are asking. Can you clarify?
I had to wait until the weekend to make these because I’ve been so crazy busy – they were delicious! I had a jar of your pumpkin butter in the fridge so obv I had to make cookies, haha. I can’t believe I never knew about tapping the cookies on the counter before now! That makes them exactly how I like them. I made half & then froze the rest of the dough, because I leave tomorrow for Disney World. 🙂 These will definitely be coming onto the plane with me as a snack!
I am so glad you loved this Lauren! Thank you so much! Also, have the best time at Disney World!! xTieghan
These cookies are tasty, but I also added a tablespoon of pumpkin spice. The spice flavor was still subtle. However, the cookies were unfortunately cakey. The brown butter pumpkin cookies from handle the heat had more of the chewy cookie texture that I was looking for. I think it had to do with the amount of flour this recipe called for. The cookies still tasted good, just not the right texture.
Hi Sarah! I am sorry about the texture! Is there any questions I could help you out with? xTieghan
This is an amazing recipe. I followed the directions to the letter, and honestly you have created one of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted. The browned butter is key.
Thank you so much Katherine! I am so glad you loved this! xTieghan
Yum yum and yum! I made these cookies and boy are they delicious! The pumpkin flavor, spices and chocolate are a match made in heaven. I took the advice and added 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. I would recommend this step for anyone who wants a fabulous pumpkin moment. I followed the directions but my cookies did not spread as they do in your pictures. My oven is VERY old and the temperature can vary wildly (I have to watch my oven thermometer like a hawk), so I’m wondering if that would contribute to them not spreading? I also used a Silpat versus parchment paper, do you think that would’ve effected the cookies spreading? Thanks for any help!
Hey Liz!! My first guess is your oven because that can have a huge affect on baking cookies properly. BUT I am not familiar with baking with silpats so I am really not sure how that works. Was your dough dry? Did the cookies taste delicious or a bit cakey? HOpe I can help you a bit!
I made a double batch tonight so I could bring some to each of my 3 weekend Halloween gatherings. I ate one fresh out of the oven and it was scrumptious! Can’t wait to indulge more tomorrow and Sunday! Thanks for the yummy recipe, Tieghan!
Thank you!! I am so glad you loved these cookies Sarah! xTieghan
These are incredible. I’ve made them twice already this week. My new favorite fall cookie
I love to hear that! Thank you Olivia! xTieghan