Pumpkin can easily push cookies toward a soft, cakey texture, so this recipe uses just enough pumpkin purée to bring the flavor without overwhelming the dough with moisture. The result is much closer to my classic vegan chocolate chip cookies - chewy in the middle, crisp around the edges, and loaded with chocolate.
If you're planning more pumpkin baking this season, you can find all of my vegan pumpkin desserts in one place, from cookies and muffins to cakes, pies, and no-bake favorites.
They make 8 giant bakery-style cookies, but you can make them smaller if you prefer. They're an easy fall bake for weekends, Halloween parties, or whenever there's an open can of pumpkin in the fridge. Use any leftovers in my vegan pumpkin muffins or pumpkin bread with pecan streusel.
Note: This recipe was originally posted in September 2020. It has since been modified and improved to be even more delicious and easy to make!
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Why this recipe works
- Soft and chewy, not cakey. Keeping the pumpkin quantity relatively low prevents the dough from becoming overly wet.
- Crisp edges and soft centers. Melted vegan butter and a combination of brown and granulated sugar create that classic chocolate-chip-cookie contrast.
- Plenty of chocolate. Chocolate chips hold their shape while chopped dark and vegan milk chocolate create bigger melted pockets.
- Extra depth from espresso. A small amount enhances the chocolate and complements the pumpkin spice without turning these into coffee cookies.
- A short chill controls the spread. Thirty minutes gives the dough time to firm up and hydrate before baking.
Key ingredients
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Pumpkin purée: Use 100% canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. The quantity is intentionally quite small: adding more pumpkin introduces more moisture and gives you a softer, more cakey cookie.
I prefer canned pumpkin here because its consistency and water content are much more predictable than homemade purée. If you're opening a can especially for these cookies, use the leftovers in my vegan pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins.
Vegan butter: Use a firm, block-style vegan butter rather than spreadable margarine from a tub. The latter generally contains more water and can change how the cookies spread.
Aquafaba: You only need a tablespoon of the liquid from a can of chickpeas. It helps bind the dough without eggs. I've also tested vegan Greek-style yogurt as an alternative, so you don't need to open a can of chickpeas especially for the recipe if yogurt is more convenient.
Pumpkin pie spice: I use a full tablespoon because these are deliberately quite warmly spiced. If you don't have a premixed blend, use the homemade combination listed in the recipe card.
Chocolate: I like using a mixture of chocolate chips, roughly chopped dark chocolate, and vegan milk chocolate. Chips give you defined pieces while chopped bars melt more irregularly, which is how you get those big chocolate puddles on top.
Espresso powder: This is optional, but I love the extra layer of flavor it adds. It emphasizes the chocolate and gives the cookies a subtle PSL-like flavor rather than making them obviously coffee-flavored.
How to make the cookies
Here's a visual overview of this recipe. Please refer to the detailed card at the end of this page for full written instructions.
The dough should end up thick and scoopable rather than loose or batter-like. Pumpkin adds a lot of moisture, so if yours looks unusually wet, that's usually a sign that the purée contains more water than expected.
When you add the flour, stop mixing while a few streaks are still visible, then fold in the chocolate. This lets you finish bringing the dough together without overworking it.
Even if the dough already seems firm, give it the full 30-minute chill. That short rest allows the flour to absorb some of the moisture and helps the cookies spread more predictably.
In the oven, watch the edges rather than waiting for the centers to look completely baked. The edges should be set and just beginning to color while the centers still look a little soft. The cookies continue to firm up on the hot baking sheet for several minutes after they come out.
If the edges spread unevenly, circle the hot cookies with a large round cookie cutter or glass while they're still soft enough to reshape.
If something looks wrong
- Too cakey: Usually too much pumpkin or a particularly watery purée.
- Spread too much: The dough may need more chilling, or the butter/pumpkin may contain extra moisture.
- Barely spread: The dough may be very cold or the flour measurement a little heavy.
- Centers look underbaked: Give them a few minutes on the hot baking sheet before deciding-they firm up as they cool.
Christina's recipe tips
Weigh the flour if possible. Cookies are particularly sensitive to the flour-to-liquid ratio, and too much flour can leave them thick and reluctant to spread.
Save some chocolate for the finish. Press a few chopped pieces into the cookies just after baking. The residual heat melts them into glossy chocolate pools without extending the bake time.
Freeze some of the dough for later. Scoop the dough into portions and freeze them in an airtight container for up to a month. You can bake them from frozen when you want a fresh cookie, adding an extra minute or two as needed.
Keep chopped chocolate pieces reasonably small inside the dough. One reader found larger pieces melted out over the edges of the cookies; when she asked about it, you agreed that chopping the chocolate smaller should help. Save the larger pieces for pressing into the tops instead.
Once completely cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for around 5 days, or freeze them for up to a month.
🍽 Variations
- Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies: Swap out the dark and milk chocolate in favor of creamy-sweet white chocolate.
- Other Mix-Ins: Feel free to get creative when you add texture to these pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies. Crunchy pecans, chewy dried cranberries, or toasted pepitas are all great!
- Pumpkin Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches: Halve the size of your cookies before baking, and let them cool to room temp. Stuff a scoop of chocolate ice cream between two, smoosh slightly, then pop in the freezer for another 30 or so minutes to firm up.
Frequently asked questions
Vegan Greek-style yogurt is my preferred alternative to aquafaba in this recipe.
One reader successfully used 1 tablespoon of Just Egg in place of the aquafaba. I haven't personally tested that substitution, so I'd still recommend aquafaba or vegan Greek-style yogurt for the most predictable result.
Yes, but I prefer canned pumpkin because the moisture content is more consistent.
Homemade purée can sometimes be much wetter, which may make the cookies too soft or cakey. If yours seems loose or watery, cook it down first to remove some of the excess moisture before using it.
Roasted butternut squash purée can also work well because it tends to be naturally sweeter and less watery.
Yes. The recipe makes 8 very large bakery-style cookies, but you can portion the dough into smaller cookies instead.
One reader made hers roughly half the size and still loved the result. Smaller cookies will naturally bake more quickly, so watch for the same visual cue: set edges with centers that still look slightly soft rather than relying only on the clock.
For Halloween, these are handy because they don't need any decorating or special equipment. If you're putting together a larger dessert spread, you can also browse my vegan Halloween desserts
🍪 More Vegan Cookies
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 170 g (6 oz) vegan butter (block-style) melted
- 130 g (⅔ cup) granulated sugar
- 110 g (½ cup) light brown sugar I use light Muscovado (unrefined cane sugar)
- 60 g (¼ cup) canned pumpkin purée not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 tablespoon aquafaba *see note 1
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder optional
- 250 g (2 cups + 2 teaspoons) all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice *see note 2
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 100 g (3.53 oz) vegan chocolate chips
- 50 g (1.76 oz) vegan dark chocolate roughly chopped
- 50 g (1.76 oz) vegan milk chocolate roughly chopped
- flaky salt for garnish
Instructions
- Add the melted butter, granulated sugar, and soft brown sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, aquafaba, vanilla extract, and espresso powder. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin spice mix, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients so that they are mixed evenly.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold them together using a spatula until they are *almost* mixed leaving a few pockets of flour.
- Add about ¾ of the chocolate chips and ¾ of the chopped chocolate to the bowl and fold them through the dough as evenly as possible. Cover the bowl with the cookie dough with some plastic wrap or a plate and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F) while the cookie dough is chilling. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 2.4"/6cm cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to separate the dough into 8 portions. Place the cookie dough balls on the lined sheets - be careful to leave at least 2.5 inches of space between each ball of dough as they will spread whilst baking! Stud the cookies with most of the remaining chocolate chips and chocolate chunks (saving a few pieces for when they come out of the oven).
- Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Then use a large cookie cutter or glass to carefully round off and shape the edges of the hot cookies. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheets for 5 minutes to cool slightly. If you want big chocolatey pools, you can add more chocolate chunks to the tops of the cookies while they are warm. Top with some sea salt flakes while they are still warm.
- Carefully slide the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies off of the sheet and onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- Storage: Once cool, transfer the cookies to an airtight container. They will keep well at room temp for about 5 days. If you'd like to extend their life, they freeze well for up to a month.
Notes
- Aquafaba: the liquid part from tinned chickpeas.
- Pumpkin spice mix (homemade): Mix together 2 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp allspice, and ¼ tsp ground cloves.
- Coconut sugar: This can be used in place of soft brown sugar. Using coconut sugar will give these pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies a more caramelized flavor and color, and they will be slightly softer.
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