Along with my vegan pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins, these chocolate chip pumpkin cookies are one of the most popular fall recipes during pumpkin season.
This recipe will yield 8 giant bakery-style cookies (like these vegan apple pie cookies) but feel free to make them 12 smaller cookies if you prefer.
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!
🧾 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make these vegan pumpkin cookies:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Vegan Butter: Made with melted butter which creates beautiful crisp edges, rather than creamed butter which would result in a fluffier cookie. You will need block-style butter, not the spreadable kind from a tub.
- Sugar: Soft brown sugar for a hint of molasses and caramelized flavor, and white sugar for the crispy outer shell. The combination of sugars lends to the texture of the cookies, which is both soft and chewy!
- Canned Pumpkin Purée: Needs to be 100% pumpkin, you want pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling which contains added sugar and flavorings. These cookies use just the right amount of pumpkin to flavor them while staying chewy and crisp on the outside. Adding more pumpkin results in too much liquid and the cookies tend to be softer with a cakey texture.
- Aquafaba: This is the liquid from a can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans, and it’s a magical vegan egg substitute. You can also use vegan Greek-style yogurt if you need to make them without aquafaba.
- Espresso Powder: While optional, this adds such a lovely layer of flavor to the cookies. It makes the chocolate taste more chocolatey, and the pumpkin cookies taste almost like PSLs.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix: If you don't have a pumpkin spice blend, simply mix 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, ½ teaspoon of allspice, and ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves.
- Vegan Chocolate & Chocolate Chips: For the absolute BEST vegan pumpkin cookies, I use dark chocolate chips, plus chopped dark chocolate and milk chocolate bars.
🔪 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
Step 1: Whisk together the melted vegan butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
Step 2: Whisk in the puréed pumpkin, aquafaba, vanilla, and espresso powder until combined.
Step 3: Combine the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and fall spices) and fold them through the batter until almost mixed. Then chuck in the chocolate pieces and fold until evenly incorporated into the cookie dough.
Step 4: Cover and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes (you can up the chill time if you prefer, or even let them chill overnight if that suits your schedule better).
Step 5: Use a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to measure out cookie dough balls on prepared baking sheets. Make sure there is plenty of space between each cookie for them to spread out. Stud with more chocolate chunks and chips and bake.
Step 6: While the cookies are still hot out of the oven, use a large cookie cutter or round glass to circle off any stray edges. If you like, you can also add more dollops of chocolate and watch them melt into beautiful puddles!
🍽 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.
💭 Expert Tips
Fold your dry ingredients until *almost* incorporated. Add in the chocolate chunks and chips while there are still a few flour pockets so that the batter doesn't end up being overmixed.
Chop an additional 50g of chocolate and reserve until the cookies are baked. Place them on top of the cookies while they are still warm and they will melt into gooey chocolate pools.
If you can't use up a whole batch, you can freeze a few vegan pumpkin cookie dough balls for Future You. When a sweets craving strikes, simply grab a ball (or three!) from the freezer and bake, adding an extra minute or two as needed.
The best way to get perfectly round cookies is to use a large cookie cutter to round off the edges right after they come out of the oven.
💬 FAQs
Let any leftover cookies cool completely to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container. They will last at room temp for about 5 days. If you’d like to extend their life, they freeze well for up to a month.
Sure! Simply swap in vegan Greek-style yogurt instead.
I strongly recommend opting for storebought if you can. It's specifically designed for baking and has quite a low water content in comparison to homemade. If you have no option but to make your own, I recommend using butternut squash.
Butternut squash and pumpkin have a very similar flavor, although butternut squash is actually much sweeter and less watery! I find it to be much better for baking, nobody will be able to tell it's not real pumpkin purée!
🍪 More Vegan Cookies
📖 Recipe
Description
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 puree, 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 clingfilm 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 trays with some 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 trays 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 tray 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.
Nutrition
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Wow, these are exceptional, a new favorite! I love the three kinds of chocolate and the subtle coffee flavor. I made them about half size though and they are still decadent 😋. Will definitely be making these again, thanks!
Hello Eve-Marie,
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback, I'm so happy you love them!
I can honestly say that these are the BEST vegan cookies I’ve ever made. The taste is amazing and the texture is perfect! I didn’t have white sugar so I just substituted more light brown sugar. I also didn’t have espresso powder — definitely want to try that next time!
Hi Becca,
Ah this is so amazing to hear! And the espresso powder is subtle but it does add a nice little kick, excited for you to try them with it next time. Thanks so much for your lovely review 🙂
I'm definitely enjoying these sweet treat recipes. This has plenty of dimension to it, i.e expresso and pumpkin. Phrn
So happy you're enjoying them! And yes, I love the added layer of flavor that the espresso brings x
Hi Christina,
The cookies tasted great. I just couldn’t stop myself at two 🙂 I had two issues though - 1) there was spillage of chocolate outside the cookie but I think that might have been because I didn’t cut the chocolate into small pieces .. Right? 2) the cookie was really soft. It breaks even when you hold it. What do you think I could have done to prevent that ? Really appreciate your amazing recipes.
Hi Soniya,
So happy you enjoyed the recipe, and thank you so much for sharing your feedback. By spillage, do you mean chocolate melted out over the edges? If so, I would say you are right in that the pieces weren't small enough. With regards the softness, these are a soft cookie but should certainly not fall apart to the touch. Did you make your own pumpkin puree? It sounds like there may have been a bit too much moisture in the ingredients, next time I would suggest baking for an extra 2-3 minutes.
Yes thats right the chocolate melted over the edges. I will definitely keep in mind to cut the pieces even smaller next time. And yes I made my own pumpkin puree so you are right that might have been the reason. However, I was also wondering if it needed more time in the fridge ( more than 15-20 minutes) as my butter was almost melted by the time I started creaming it with sugar. I baked the cookies in the oven for about 13-14 minutes. Do you have any advice on how to exactly know when they are ready to be taken out of the oven?
Looking forward to baking it again next time 🙂
Hi Soniya,
I think the chilling and baking time could all be down to the moisture content as well. You want to make sure that your puree is not watery, if it is you can saute it down in the pan first to cook out some of the moisture. Also make sure the vegan block butter isn't melting, you can cut it into cubes while its still cold and then allow them to come to room temperature for about an hour to avoid the warmth of your hands causing it to become too warm. Oven times can vary but you should be able to see slight browning on the edges to gauge they are done! Hope this helps
The dough tastes incredible and the cookies are fabulous too. I got 31. I used 1 tbsp Just Egg instead of aquafaba because I didn't have a use for the chickpeas. 🙂 One question though Do you bake them 11-12 minutes total? It is a little confusing because it says bake 11-12 minutes then the next step says 7-8 minutes more (so is it 18-20 total?) I also missed the note about parchment paper and they were fine. The spice flavor is strong, is it really 1 1/2 TABLEspoon? haha, I did about 1 tbsp just in case. A little more spicy than pumpkin but still super delicious. Roasted pecans on top made them extra yummy, I put on 1/2 in case people don't like.
Hi Mary,
Thank you so much for the amazing feedback! That's great to know that the Just Egg worked as a replacer, very useful 🙂 Yes so the total baking time is 11-12 minutes, but you caught me on my bad maths for the remaining "7-8" minutes haha! And yes that's the correct measurement for the pumpkin spice, but that was a good call to reduce the spice if you're not the biggest fan of it! x
WOW these vegan cookies look amazing. What a great idea to use aqafaba! I'm so excited to try these soon, thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much Anna! Can't wait for you to try them out 🙂
These look so good thank you!.. do you think I could use Himalayan salt in place of the salt that is in the recipe?
Thank you! Yes absolutely, fine Himalayan salt would work great
I just made them with the Lidl sea salt chocolate..amazing..thank you so much Christina for a great recipe 🤗
Could I replace the white flour with almond flour?
Hi Karen,
I haven't tried the recipe with almond flour, however if you do try it i'd recommend you try using slightly less almond flour, maybe 25% less than the recipe calls for. Let us know if you try it!
What is Aquafina?
Hi Kay
Aquafaba is the viscous liquid leftover from cooking chickpeas or other white legumes. You can find more information about it in this blog post https://addictedtodates.com/vegan-italian-meringue-egg-free/