These vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies *might* be my favorite pumpkin dessert I’ve made….ever. They have just the right amount of pumpkin spice flavor, and they’re loaded with gooey chocolate chips. Bake up a batch of these to enjoy with hot coffee or tea during those brisk autumn mornings. Your house is going to smell amazing!
Ingredients for Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin purée. Canned or homemade, if you’re feeling fancy! Make sure you’re buying the plain purée (not pumpkin pie filling).
Vegan butter. Softened at room temperature.
All-purpose flour. I haven’t tested these with gluten-free flour personally, but generally I have pretty good luck substituting in Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour in recipes such as cookies or cakes.
Cornstarch. This helps to bind the ingredients since we aren’t using any eggs in this recipe. It also gives the cookies a slight chew.
Pumpkin pie spice + cornstarch. You can purchase it at the store or make your own if you have a well-stocked spice pantry. To make your own simply combine 3 tablespoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ginger, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cloves.
Baking powder + salt.
Tips for the Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Blot Your Pumpkin Purée
Whether you’re using canned pumpkin purée or you’ve made your own from scratch, I recommend blotting out the extra liquid to condense the pumpkin flavor and to improve the texture of your baked goods.
The easiest way I’ve found is to simply add it to a nut milk back or a few layers of cheesecloth and wring it out. You’ll be surprised at how much liquid comes out of it! I generally squeeze out about 3/4 cup liquid from every can of pumpkin. (Fun bonus: It can be saved to make homemade pumpkin spice simple syrup.)
You can also simply line a mesh sieve with a large coffee filter or a paper towel, pour in the pumpkin purée, place it over a bowl, and allow it to drain for a few hours.
Chill the Cookie Dough
The dough for these Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies is a bit on the softer side. It’s not 100% necessary, but I highly recommend chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes to firm it up so it’s easier to handle.
Chilling the dough also gives the flour a chance to absorb the moisture from the pumpkin purée and become fully hydrated, which also improves the texture of the cookies.
How Long Do These Cookies Keep?
These vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are so delicious as leftovers! They remain delightfully tender with a light chew. You can pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to get the chocolate chips nice and melty again, and enjoy with a strong cup of hot coffee or tea.
Once they are fully cooled, you can store in them in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days. They’ll also keep in the freezer for about a month.
Alternatively, you can roll the dough into balls and keep the cookie dough in the fridge to bake as you go. This way, you can enjoy fresh oven-baked cookies everyday. (This is what I like to do, because I also have a tendency to eat too many cookies when I bake the whole batch at once!)
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- nut milk bag, cheesecloth, or lint-free towel to squeeze extra liquid out of pumpkin purée
- baking tray
- parchment or silicone baking mat
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) white sugar
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, blotted (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups (160g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup nondairy chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream together softened vegan butter with white and brown sugar. Add in pumpkin purée and vanilla and and stir to combine.
- Add in flour, baking powder, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix until just combined. The dough will be on the softer side.
- Fold in nondairy chocolate chips.
- You can bake these right away, but I recommend covering and allowing mixture to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Scoop cookie dough onto tray in roughly 1" balls. These cookies don't spread very much, so flatten them with your palm before baking.
- Bake about 10-12 minutes or until puffy and golden brown on the bottom. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before removing to a cooling rack.
I had a little bit of fresh pumpkin puree left and was looking for a way to use it. Saw your latest video and had my answer! These are delicious, nicely dense and chewy. I feel like they could be a tiny bit less sweet, but I think that’s because my chocolate chips are on the sweeter side.
While bringing this together – thought it looked like a lot of spice but wow these are really good. Thank you Sarah and Eric.