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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
More Vegan Pumpkin Desserts
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 170 g (6 oz) block-style vegan butter 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) 100% pumpkin purée not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 tablespoon aquafaba *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 *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
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 356°F (180°C) and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Prepare the dough: Melt the vegan butter and let it cool slightly. Whisk it with the sugars, pumpkin purée, aquafaba, vanilla, and espresso powder until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined.
- Add chocolate: Fold in most of the chocolate, reserving some for topping.
- Chill: Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until firm enough to scoop.
- Shape: Scoop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between each cookie. Shape the portions fairly tall for thicker centers.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look soft.
- Finish: While the cookies are still warm, gently round them with a large cookie cutter if needed and press the reserved chocolate into the tops.
- Cool: Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Aquafaba: the liquid part from tinned chickpeas.
- Pumpkin spice mix (homemade): Mix together 2 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, ¼ 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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So good!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
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/