Simple Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

If you need an easy seasonal cookie recipe one random afternoon (when you find you magically have just enough time to bake something), then I have I got just the thing for you!

These simple chocolate chip pumpkin cookies take less than 30 minutes to make and are the perfect autumn baking project for absolutely any skill level (including tired moms keeping one eye on their baby throughout the whole process, lol).

Other than pumpkin puree, there are really no special ingredients in this recipe. For me, as someone who bakes fairly often, I pretty much have all these ingredients on hand as they are things I always have. If you never bake, you might feel differently. But there aren’t any “weird” ingredients in this recipe—it’s super basic AND delicious.

You do want to use pumpkin puree, and not pumpkin pie mix. Pumpkin puree is simply pumpkin (no other ingredients like sugars or spices). Pumpkin pie mix is just a couple ingredients shy of pumpkin pie, and although that’s great, it’s not what we want for this cookie recipe.

You’ll note how this recipe calls for just one cup of pumpkin puree, which is about half a can. What do you do with the other half? Maybe make these pumpkin muffins. Or you can also stir it into a chili recipe, or even mix it in with your dog’s food (we do all of the above at my house). There are lots of ways to use up leftover pumpkin puree!

This chocolate chip pumpkin cookie recipe is already non-dairy, but if you’d like to try making it vegan you will need to substitute the egg. You can easily substitute the egg in this recipe for a flax egg or chia egg, which is just ground flax seeds or chia seeds mixed with a little water.

Try our best vegan sugar cookie recipe to learn more about that if you need a vegan option.

I like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips when I make these cookies. But you can use dark chocolate, chocolate chunks, mini chocolate chips, milk chocolate, or even swap them out for chopped walnuts or raisins instead.

If you are using chocolate chips, I also recommend topping with flaky sea salt before baking. I love the combination of chocolate and salt!

I’ve already baked these chocolate chip pumpkin cookies twice this month. Lol. I hope you enjoy these as much as me! xo. Emma

Simple Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

An all basic-ingredients recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin cookies

Prep Time 6 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 18 minutes

Servings 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup granulated white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
• 10 ounces chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the pumpkin, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg.

2. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir until a thick batter forms.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper and lightly spraying with nonstick spray.

6. Spoon the cookie batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Top with flaky sea salt if using.

7. Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes.

Recipe Notes

These soft pumpkin cookies have a tendency to stick to baking sheets, even if lined with parchment paper (which I recommend). This is why I include instructions to lightly spray with nonstick spray as well. 

You can use any kind of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. 

See post for my recommendation to make these vegan if you prefer.