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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.
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.
These are amazingly delicious. Just made these for Thanksgiving tomorrow but am not sure if they will survive the night.
I am so happy you are enjoying these Tealisha!! Thank you so much! Happy Thanksgiving! xTieghan
These came out so good. I followed directions to the letter except I used all chocolate chunks.
I am so happy to hear that, Katharine! Thank you! xTieghan
So these seemed like everything I love and was dying to make these. I made my own pumpkin butter, following your recipe, I accidently misread the amount of chocolate chips to put in so I only put 1/2 cup. I thought it was strange but I trusted the process but obviously, the cookies had almost no chocolate. I thought it would still be fine since I rolled them in cinnamon sugar and put pumpkin butter/spice in them. Wrong. The cookies had no flavor at all. Like a bland sugar cookie. They had a good texture except they were super puffy because I didn’t flatten the dough after rolling them in the sugar. I was so determined to love these and make them to look like your beautiful photos so I made another batch, this time flattening the dough balls and adding a full tablespoon of pumpkin spice to the mix and the right amount of chocolate. The cookies were super flat this time, honestly too flat. I still taste 0 pumpkin flavor. SUPER bland, nothing special cookies that just overpowered by chocolate now, which I guess is fine (who doesn’t love cookies filled with a ton of chocolate?) but I’m super bummed because I love pumpkin.
FINALLY a pumpkin cookie that isn’t cakey. I was ready to give up when I came across your recipe and I’ve NEVER had a bad recipe from you so I gave it one last shot. Absolutely delicious. None of my friends/family care about pumpkin the way I do but they all LOVED these. Literally everyone said “best cookies ever.” And the PUMPKIN BUTTER!!!! SO good (I made yours) two delicious recipes in one! Thank you!!
I am so happy this recipe turned out so amazing for you, Sue! Thank you so much for trying this one! xTieghan
Delicious! No complaints at all. Only feedback would. be…. these are also EXCELLENT without chocolate chips. Hear me out… the amazing taste of the browned butter and the spices of the pumpkin butter get a bit lost/overwhelmed by the chocolate. I made a batch with and without the chocolate and they are both delicious. I also rolled them in a mix of brown sugar, regular sugar, and cinnamon. Good stuff.
I am so happy these turned out so amazing for you, Rebecca!! Thank you so much for trying this one! xTieghan
These cookies are amazing. Made with King Arthur’s Gluten Free Flour Blend. Added 1/2 cup extra flour to improve dough consistency. Cooked for 12 minutes. Cookies were perfect.
Thank you so much!! xTieghan
These are the best cookies I have ever made! Thank you! 3 days later and they are still so soft and perfect! I made the pumpkin butter (with the HBH 6-ingredient pumpkin butter recipe) and it was very easy to do. Will be repeating for the holidays for sure!
I am so happy you loved these, Tanya! Thank you for trying them! I hope they turn out just as amazing (or more!) for the holidays! xTieghan
These cookies are absolutely AMAZING! I bake chocolate chip cookies often and this is most definitely going to replace that recipe. They are the perfect texture, pumpkiny and chocolatey, HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Also the browned butter was so yummy!
Yes!! So happy this recipe turned out so well for you, Amie! xTieghan
What ratio do you use for the cinnamon and sugar at the end..these I’m making today and u can’t wait..thank you!!!!
Hey Rose,
Use 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
OMG, I made these cookies yesterday and they turned out absolutely amazing! I can’t stop eating them. I followed your recipe word by word. Except that I’m not a fan of pumpkin so I always replace it with butternut squash. I first made the pumpkin butter using your recipe replace it with butternut then I baked the cookies. I loved them. Thank you.
I love that you are replacing it with butternut squash! Thank you so much Soha! xTieghan
These were so delicious! Different and good, and my husband who isn’t a pumpkin cookie fan gobbled them up. I think I made them slightly smaller than I should’ve and they didn’t quite flatten as much as I’d hoped, but the taste can’t be beat.
Thank you so much for trying these, Darcie!! I am really glad they turned out so well for you! xTieghan
These were AMAZING! My husband requested that I make them, and he rarely requests anything baking/cooking wise lol so I jumped at the opportunity! I added the 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin spice but will add more next time as I wish they had more pumpkin flavor.
Wow yes! So happy these turned out so well for you both, Kati! Thank you! xTieghan
These taste amazing, and I love how soft they are on the inside but with a crisp outside! Mine don’t look like yours though. How do you get the wrinkly look around the edges and melty chocolate spots if the dough is all rolled up in a ball? In mine, the chocolate chips are covered with dough and I tried sticking some in the top on the dough before baking and they still don’t look like that.
Hey Katie,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! The get the wrinkle around the edge try removing the cookies while baking and “slamming” the baking sheet on the counter. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These cookies are very good, but barely taste pumpkin-y. Myfamily loves them but you wouldn’t know they are pumpkin flavor, more just a cinnamon sugar-y chocolate chip cookie.
Thank you so much! I am really glad these cookies turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Hi! Would I be able to use white whole wheat flour instead of white?
Thank you!
Hey Carolyn,
Yes that will work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan