They're one of my favorite cookies to make during pumpkin season, along with my vegan pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins. For even more seasonal ideas, browse all of my vegan pumpkin desserts.

They also work well for Friendsgiving or a casual holiday dessert table when you want something easier to serve than pie. You'll find more ideas in my vegan Thanksgiving desserts.

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
Key ingredients
How to make them
Christina's recipe tips
More Vegan Pumpkin Desserts
📖 Recipe

Why this recipe works

Pumpkin cookies can easily turn cakey because pumpkin purée adds a lot of moisture. This recipe uses only a small amount, giving the cookies pumpkin flavor while still letting them spread and develop chewy centers and crisp edges.

Melted vegan butter also helps create a denser, chewier cookie than creamed butter, while a combination of brown and granulated sugar balances softness with a slightly crisp exterior.

Using chocolate chips plus chopped dark and milk chocolate gives you a mix of smaller chocolate pieces and larger melted pools throughout each cookie.

Key ingredients

Here's everything you need to make these cookies. Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Flat lay shot of ingredients needed to make vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies measured out into bowls on a wooden table with text overlay.

Pumpkin purée: Use canned 100% pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling. The amount matters here: adding extra pumpkin can make the dough too wet and the baked cookies cakier.

Vegan butter: Use block-style butter rather than a spreadable tub. Melted butter helps create the chewy texture and crisp edges.

Aquafaba: The liquid from canned chickpeas helps bind the dough and contributes to the soft, chewy texture. Vegan Greek-style yogurt can also be used as an alternative.

Brown and granulated sugar: Brown sugar adds moisture and a deeper caramel flavor, while granulated sugar helps the edges crisp.

Espresso powder: Optional, but useful. It deepens the chocolate flavor without making the cookies taste strongly of coffee.

Chocolate: I like using a mixture of chocolate chips, chopped dark chocolate, and vegan milk chocolate so you get different-sized pools of chocolate throughout.

How to make them

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 be thick and soft, not loose or batter-like once the flour is folded in. Stop mixing when you can still see a few small pockets of flour, then add the chocolate and finish folding everything together. This helps avoid overmixing.

Melted butter and both types of sugar whisked together in a mixing bowl.

Wet ingredients after adding the pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, aquafaba and espresso powder.

Chilling is important because the melted butter makes the dough quite soft at first. After about 30 minutes, it should feel noticeably firmer and be easy to scoop into tall mounds without spreading immediately on the baking sheet. If it still feels very soft, let it chill a little longer rather than adding more flour.

Dry ingredients folded into the wet ingredients until the cookie dough is nice and thick.

Chilled vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookie dough in a bowl with a scoop taken out.

Leave plenty of space between the dough balls because these cookies are meant to spread. For the giant bakery-style version, make the portions substantially bigger and taller before baking.

The cookies are ready when the edges look set and lightly golden, but the centers still look soft. Don't wait for the middles to look completely firm in the oven; they continue to set as they cool on the baking sheet.

If the cookies spread unevenly, use a large round cookie cutter or glass to circle them while they're still hot. Add the reserved chocolate pieces at this stage too so they melt into the surface.

Closeup shot of a ball of vegan chocolate chip pumpkin cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet after being topped with extra bits of chocolate before baking.

Baked vegan chocolate chip pumpkin cookie topped with Maldon sea salt.

Christina's recipe tips

Measure the pumpkin carefully. More is not better here. Too much pumpkin introduces extra moisture and pushes the texture toward cakey rather than chewy.

Don't skip the chill. The dough needs time to firm up after using melted butter. It should be scoopable and hold its shape before baking.

Keep the dough thick. If it looks loose or almost pourable, something is off - check your pumpkin and flour measurements before baking.

Pull them while the centers are still soft. The edges should be set, but the middles should not look dry. This is what keeps the cookies chewy once cooled.

Add some chocolate after baking. Pressing a few reserved pieces into the hot cookies gives you those large glossy chocolate pools on top.

Freeze some dough for later. Portion the dough into balls and freeze them before baking. Bake from frozen, adding a little extra time as needed.