When it comes to fall, there’s nothing quite like a delicious warm batch of chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. These delightfully delicious cookies are filled with miniature chocolate chips and roasted salted pumpkin seeds or pepitas, and then covered in a delightful crunchy cinnamon sugar coating. The result is a seasonal crackle cookie that is soft and chewy on the inside, yet crispy and full of texture on the outside.
Y’all, I’m sad to inform you that my oven is broken. Like really broken. Broken as in does not turn on, does not pass go, and does not collect $200. And, of course, this is after we spent months having our old gas lines cut off, new gas lines installed in more sensible locations, regulators installed on all of our gas appliances, and a new gas meter installed with some of these tasks requiring plumbers and gas company employees several trips to actually make happen. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Yes, this really dills my pickle. It was bad enough when I had to boil water in order to keep the oven at 350 degrees, but now, I can’t even get the darned thing to turn on. The constant “F9” error makes me so mad I could spit. So, for now, at least, I won’t be baking any more cookies, I won’t be reheating pizza on nights when I have no time to cook, and I most definitely won’t have to worry about McKenna trying to hop in the oven every time I open its door. Well, I guess there’s a silver lining in almost everything, right?
Ingredients:
Cookie Dough:
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 1/3 Cup Pumpkin Purée
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Roasted and Salted Pepitas or Pumpkin Seeds
- 2/3 Cup Miniature Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Directions:
Cookie Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
- Mix the flour into the mixture on low speed until combined. Do not over-mix.
- Fold the pepitas and miniature chocolate chips into the cookie dough until evenly distributed.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for an hour or two to chill.
Cinnamon Sugar:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Use a cookie scoop to measure out even amounts of dough. Using the palms of your hands, roll each scoop of dough into a ball and then roll each ball in cinnamon sugar to coat. Place each dough ball onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and use your finger to gently tap each cookie a few times and create sugary cracks.
- Transfer the cookies to a baking rack to finish cooling completely.
- Once cooled, store in an airtight container.
Suggestions:
- The longer you leave the dough in the refrigerator, the easier it will be to roll. The dough is too sticky to roll immediately.
- These cookies will spread a bit but not overly so. You can easily fit 12 cookies on a baking sheet.
- If you have any leftover cinnamon sugar, place it in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Use it to make cinnamon sugar toast for breakfast.
- If you choose, you can use normal-size chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate chips in this recipe.
- This recipe will yield approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
Improvements:
- Replace the pepitas or pumpkin seeds with finely chopped pecans or walnuts.
- You will not use an entire can of canned pumpkin for this recipe. Use some of the leftover pumpkin purée to make these Buttery Cinnamon Pumpkin Muffins or these Savory Canned Pumpkin Drop Biscuits.
- Add a 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger or nutmeg to the cookie dough.
- CLICK HERE to see all of our past cookie recipes. Make sure to check out the Fall/Autumn/Halloween Cookies section for more great Halloween cookie recipes.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 1/3 Cup Pumpkin Purée
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Roasted and Salted Pepitas or Pumpkin Seeds
- 2/3 Cup Miniature Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
- Mix the flour into the mixture on low speed until combined. Do not over-mix.
- Fold the pepitas and miniature chocolate chips into the cookie dough until evenly distributed.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for an hour or two to chill.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Use a cookie scoop to measure out even amounts of dough. Using the palms of your hands, roll each scoop of dough into a ball and then roll each ball in cinnamon sugar to coat. Place each dough ball onto a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and use your finger to gently tap each cookie a few times and create sugary cracks.
- Transfer the cookies to a baking rack to finish cooling completely.
- Once cooled, store in an airtight container.
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Canned pumpkin is a quick and easy way to add flavor and moisture to your favorite baked goods and sweets. Not just for pies, pumpkin puree can be used to make all kinds of delicious treats, including fudge. From cookies and bread to whoopie pies and muffins, canned pumpkin purée is an easy way to add delicious fall flavor to your favorite recipes. CLICK HERE for the recipes.