Soft and chewy pumpkin cookies loaded with warm pumpkin spices and sweet white chocolate chips. This recipe has the trick to getting perfectly soft and chewy pumpkin cookies every time!
INGREDIENTS AND SUPPLIES
Here’s what you need from your pantry, fridge, and kitchen to make these pumpkin cookies!
WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS
- All purpose flour
- Salted butter
- Pumpkin puree. I recommend only using Libby’s brand. I have tried store brands and they were noticeably wetter and harder to work with.
- Dark brown sugar.
- Egg yolk.
- White chocolate chips.
- Vanilla extract.
- Baking soda.
- Seasonings: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, salt.
KITCHEN SUPPLIES
The most important part of this recipe is making sure the pumpkin puree is dried before adding it to the wet ingredients. There is SO much moisture in the pumpkin and if you mix it in fresh out of the can you’re going to end up with puffy cakey cookies. So you’ll either need:
- Thick paper towels
- Cheese cloth
HOW TO DRY THE PUMPKIN
To ensure we get that perfectly soft baked and chewy cookie you need to remove a good amount of the moisture from the pumpkin.
There are two ways you can strain the pumpkin puree. First, you can use a cheesecloth. Add the pumpkin to the cloth and continuously squeeze and blot until he bulk of the liquid has been removed.
The second option is to blot it with paper towels. You’ll go through several paper towels but you want to continuously blot until very little moisture is being pressed from the pumpkin (there will still be some moisture but it should be minimal.) I only recommend this method if you’re using Libby’s brand pumpkin. I tried this method with store brand pumpkin and it didn’t work, pieces of the paper towel kept getting stuck to the pumpkin.
You’ll know your pumpkin is ready when you can mold it a bit in your hands and it retains its shape and isn’t too sticky. (See photo above.)
Just look at this perfect pumpkin cookie dough. You have to chill this for 20 minutes and you can’t skip that step! If you skip chilling you’ll end up with cookies that spread too thin and flat.
COOKIE STORAGE
This recipe makes 18 – 20 cookies so you might have some leftovers. You can store the cookies on your counter in an airtight container or covered with foil for up to 3 days. After that store them in the fridge for another 2 days.
To get that ‘fresh from the oven’ taste from the chilled cookies, just pop them in the microwave for 10-12 seconds.
In a pumpkin mood? Here are more recipes you’ll love!
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies
Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Pumpkin Bread French Toast Sticks
Pumpkin Carrot Cake Muffins
Pumpkin Pancakes
Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft and chewy pumpkin cookies loaded with sweet white chocolate chips.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18 – 20 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
Ingredients
1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup pumpkin puree, dried (NOT pumpkin pie mix…must be 100% pumpkin puree. I recommend using Libby’s brand. Store brands I tested were too watery)
1 and 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 egg yolk
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup white chocolate morsels
Instructions
1. Start by drying the pumpkin puree. You can’t skip this step or the cookies will end up cakey and puffy. Use Libby’s brand only, store brands I found were way too wet. Add the pumpkin to a cheese cloth and squeeze continuously until most of the moisture is removed. The pumpkin should be the consistency of damp putty where you can handle it with your hands and it doesn’t stick. You can also continuously blot it with paper towels until most of the water has been removed. (If using a different brand pumpkin I found sometimes pieces of paper towel can stick to it, so cheesecloth method would be best if not using Libby’s). Once dried, set aside. See picture in post for the final consistency of my pumpkin.
2. Melt the butter, then first whisk in the dried pumpkin, then the brown sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk.
3. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet a little at a time then add the chocolate chips, stir until everything will well combined.
5. Chill the dough for 20 minutes. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
6. Bake cookies for 10 minutes.
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