The easiest vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! One bowl, 7 ingredients and no chilling time. Chewy and crisp edges, a soft centre and everything you want from cookies!
These are just like your classic vegan chocolate chip cookies but with a touch of pumpkin and spice. Perfect for Autumn, Fall or Thanksgiving. Or check out my popular fudge stuffed chocolate chip cookies.
What you can expect from these cookies
These are truly the best ever vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They are:
- Simple to make. Eggless, dairy free and no whipping of aquafaba!
- Crispy and chewy. Unlike many pumpkin cookies, these are NOT cakey cookies!
- Melt in your mouth
- Addictive
- Customisable!
Ingredients to make these cookies
These vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies use only common pantry ingredients. That means no aquafaba and no egg replacers! You will need:
All-purpose flour which is also known as plain flour. I haven't tried making these gluten free but they may work with a 1:1 gluten free flour blend.
Light brown sugar (or dark brown sugar or coconut sugar). I prefer light brown sugar as it doesn't overpower the pumpkin flavour, spices and chocolate chips. The other sugars work but just make the cookies more caramelly and darker in colour.
Vegan block butter, ideally one with around 80% fat as this will help the cookies turn crispy and chewy!
I know some people can only access vegan spreadable margarine (with ~50% fat)... this can be used BUT will make your cookies spread more and cakier which isn't ideal for cookies! If you do use margarine, I'd recommend chilling the cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking!
Pumpkin puree, either canned or fresh homemade. See my TOP tip in the next section.
Baking soda to bake the cookies (surprise haha). When I was testing recipes for my cookbook, I found that baking soda makes cookies crispy whereas baking powder makes them cakey!
Chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) because yum!
Or you can take your vegan chocolate chip cookies to the next level and add pecans, oats or whatever you desire!
Key ingredient: pumpkin puree
To make sure these aren't cakey cookies, the MOST important step is to ensure your pumpkin puree is as dry as possible! This is particularly important for fresh pumpkin puree but sometimes even canned puree needs has too much moisture. Moisture leads to cakey cookies but we want crispy and chewy cookies!
Whether you have canned or homemade pumpkin puree, you can remove the excess moisture by:
- Patting the puree with disposable paper towels.
- Quickly cooking the puree in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until a lot of the liquid has evaporated and you get a thick puree like below! If in doubt, the thicker the puree, the better :).
How to make these pumpkin cookies
Making the cookies couldn't be easier. Add all the sugar, butter and pumpkin to a mixing bowl and mix until combined. We are doing this first to dissolve the sugar and break down the vegan butter.
Then add the flour, spices and baking soda and mix until just combined. At first, the mixture may look a little crumbly but it'll eventually come together. I used a hand mixer so it looks a little more crumbly than what it actually is!
The dough should be moist and pinchable between two fingers without breaking. Once the dough comes together, add the chocolate chips then fold them through!
Shaping and baking the cookies
For ease, I highly recommend using an ice cream scoop to portion your dough for your vegan pumpkin cookies (or all cookies in fact). An ice cream scoop is easy to use and provides consistently sized cookies. I used a mini ice cream scoop and heaped each one with the dough (making each cookie around 42g).
Scoop the cookie dough on a lined baking tray and FLATTEN each ball with your hands or the back of a spoon. It's a personal preference how flat you make your cookies but mine were ~5 cm (2 inches) wide.
If you don't flatten the dough, the cookies will not fully flatten in the oven (and will be taller and cakier). When you arrange the cookies on your baking tray, leave some space in between them as they will spread a little when baking!
The pumpkin chocolate chip cookies can be baked immediately. Alternatively, you can chill or freeze the dough for later.
I love the idea of freezing portioned cookie dough then baking a couple when cookie monster cravings hit... unfortunately, my cookies never last that long haha!
How to store pumpkin cookies
Due to the pumpkin, these cookies have a little more moisture than regular chocolate chip cookies so it's important to store them in an airtight container. Like all cookies, these will soften over time!
To refresh your cookies, you can reheat them in the oven. Pop them on a baking tray for 5-10 minutes at around 100°C (210°F). This will give the cookies some new life!
TIP: You know when you buy a packet of crackers and sometimes it comes with little inedible packets of silica? Pop a couple of those packets inside your container with the pumpkin cookies and it'll help the cookies stay a little crispier for longer. But of course... don't mistake a cookie for a packet of silicia and eat both!
Customising these vegan cookies
I love the cookies as they are but if you'd like something different, you can also:
- Add pecans or walnuts for extra crunch
- Add pumpkin seeds or oatmeal for healthier pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
- Add some orange zest to make pumpkin orange cookies
- Make mini pumpkin cookies which are utterly adorable 🙂
Check out my other vegan cookie recipes
- 3 ingredient almond flour shortbread cookies
- Fudge stuffed chocolate chip cookies
- Gluten free triple chocolate cookies (no butter)
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (145g) light brown sugar, dark brown sugar or coconut sugar (note 2)
- ½ cup (115g) vegan butter, room temperature (note 3)
- ¼ cup (50g) pumpkin puree, moisture removed as much as possible (note 1)
- 1 ¼ cup (155g) plain or all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice, or ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg and ¼ tsp ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter
- 1 cup (100g) roughly chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) (See note 3).
- Add the sugar, butter and pumpkin to a medium-size mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Add the flour, spices and baking soda and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and fold until combined.
- Using a regular size ice cream scoop, scoop the cookie dough into balls. Slightly flatten each cookie with your hands (see images in the blog post for a guide). Arrange your cookies on two lined baking trays with around 5 cm (2 inches) between each one.
- Bake in the oven for ~12 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden brown. When you take them out of the oven, they will continue baking!
- Enjoy the cookies warm or store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days.... although they never last that long in my house!
Notes
- The cookies in the pictures used a light brown sugar. Coconut and dark brown sugar taste good but will make your cookies darker.
- Vegan margarine spread will also work but your cookie dough will be softer and your cookies will be thinner and cakier. To compensate for this, chill your dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.
- Make sure you don't use pumpkin pie puree! For the ideal consistency of pumpkin puree, see the pictures in the blog post. To remove excess moisture, you can either:
- Pat the puree with disposable kitchen towels
- Heat the puree in a small saucepan for 5 minutes or until some of the water evaporates and the puree thickens.
- Alternatively, you can shape then refrigerate or freeze the cookie dough and bake when you have a cookie craving!
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help other readers and Rainbow Nourishments.
Hi Anthea,
I was already drooling when I saw them on your feed. Made them today right after dinner. So easy, so delish! Love the chewiness a LOT. Sprinkled them with Murray river sea salt flakes=perfection.
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe.
Hugs,
Heike
Hi Heike! Awww! I'm so happy you made these and loved them! I love your addition of Murray River sea salt too. Thank you so so much for leaving your feedback, I appreciate it beyond words! Much love, Anthea xx
I made these using Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten-free flour and I also substituted half the sugar with xylitol. I was very happy with them! I think I can even cut the xylitol down if I make them again and they will be fine.
I'm so glad it worked with your substitutions Jennifer! I need to try it with exactly those ingredients next time :). Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment x
Hi Anthea, thanks for another great recipe. Do you think sweet potatoes can replace the pumpkin in this recipe?
My pleasure! Yes, sweet potatoes will work too 🙂