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This is not your typical cake style pumpkin cookie - these gooey, golden, cookies just melt in your mouth. They are very much like chewy chocolate chip cookies, with a hint of cinnamon and pumpkin flavor beyond compare.
And if you can’t eat eggs or gluten, these cookies are for you! Even better - I’ve got an option to make these dairy free too. Wow, 3 food allergies covered in one recipe? You’ll want to keep this recipe on standby!
Why you'll Love This
- Gluten free , egg free
- Easy option to make these dairy free too! (see the yellow box below)
- Fall favorite, but great any time of year
- Easy to make ahead and freeze for later. It’s good to have a stash of allergy friendly foods so you’ll be ready for the unexpected.
These are as easy to throw together as chocolate chip cookies. They just require one extra step of prep work - draining the liquid from the canned pumpkin. Read on to see why.
Tips for Making The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Draining the excess liquid from the pumpkin will make these cookies dense and chewy like chocolate chip cookies, not thick and cakey like you often find in pumpkin cookies.
- Using melted butter also adds to the dense and chewy texture.
- Stirring the chocolate chips into the dry ingredients (instead of adding them in at the end) will keep them from separating from the dough and sinking to the bottom of the bowl, which often happens when a recipe calls for melted butter.
- Note that this is one gluten free recipe that doesn’t call for added xanthan gum. That’s because I use an All in One flour blend that includes xanthan gum. Also canned pumpkin has enough natural binding qualities that it helps to make up for the lack of gluten in this case. That’s why it does so well without eggs too.
For more gluten free baking tips, be sure to read "Best Beginner's Tips for Successful Gluten Free Baking"
How to Drain the Liquid from Canned Pumpkin
- Line strainer with paper towel.
2. Scoop plain canned pumpkin from the can into the strainer.
3. Gently squeeze from the top until you see liquid drain out.
4. Let sit over a bowl for a half hour or longer until most of the liquid has drained off. It should have the texture of tomato paste.
What You'll Need
- butter ( or Earth Balance for dairy free)
- brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- vanilla
- pumpkin puree, drained
- gluten free all-in-one flour blend
- salt, baking powder, and baking soda
- cinnamon
- semi-sweet chocolate chips
What if I Can't Have Dairy?
If you can't eat dairy, my favorite non-dairy sub for the butter in this recipe is Earth Balance buttery spread. I prefer this one because it contains the same grams of fat as butter. Which means that it won't alter the texture of the cookies, which can happen with butter substitutes that contain water as a filler.
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How to Make Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
step 1. Combine butter, sugars, and vanilla to mixer and mix together until smooth.
step 2. Add drained pumpkin and blend.
step 3. Combine flour and other dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Step 4. Stir the chocolate chips into the flour mixture.
Step 5. Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
Step 6. Cover dough and chill for an hour, or up to 24 hours.
Step 7. Scoop out cold dough on a prepared cookie sheet.
Step 8. Bake at 350 until set, about 10-15 minutes.
Step 9. Let cool thoroughly before taking off the cookie sheet.
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The cookies would have a fluffy, cake-like texture instead of a dense, chewy texture. The excess liquid in the pumpkin is what does it.
There are several good ones on the market that would work, like Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour, or King Arthur's Measure for Measure Flour. Make sure the flour blend you choose for this recipe contains xanthan gum and baking powder.
I make my own All-in-one flour blend, which is what I used in this recipe. You can get the instructions for making that in my free ebook, Gluten Free Baking for Beginners, (below) plus learn more about gluten free flours and flour blends.
Two possible reasons: One, is moving the cookies when they're still too hot. Gluten free starches and flours need time to solidify and set after baking, or they will shatter into crumbs. 5-10 minutes to cool down will make a big difference.
Two, not hydrating the flours enough before baking. Gluten free flours don't absorb liquid as well as regular flour made from wheat, so we need to mix the dough for a longer time, and let the dough rest by chilling it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour which will allow time for the gluten free flours to get well hydrated.
How to Get Gluten Free Baking for Beginners
Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies | Gluten Free
This is not your typical cake style pumpkin cookie - these gooey, golden, cookies just melt in your mouth. They are very much like chewy chocolate chip cookies, with a hint of cinnamon and pumpkin flavor beyond compare. And if you can’t eat eggs or gluten, these cookies are for you! Even better - I’ve got an option to make these dairy free too.
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree, measure after draining and squeezing out extra liquid
- 1 ½ cups flour *Use my all in one flour blend blend, see notes below
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ cup (more or less) semi-sweet chocolate chips, add extra for the tops
Instructions
- Drain the pumpkin puree in a fine mesh sieve lined with a paper towel. Removing the extra moisture will make the cookies more dense and chewy, like chocolate chip cookies. Use an extra paper towel to blot and squeeze the moisture from the top. It should have the texture of tomato paste when you add it to the cookie recipe.
- While the pumpkin is draining, add butter, vanilla, and sugars together in a mixing bowl and blend to combine.
- Add the drained and blotted pumpkin and blend until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine.
- Stir the chocolate chips into the flour mixture. Coating them with flour keeps them from becoming slippery and sinking to the bottom of the mixing bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixer. Add the chocolate chips and blend on medium speed for about 1 minute, in order to better hydrate the gluten free flours.
- Cover the dough and chill for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours. (A little longer than that won’t hurt)
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment or silicone baking liners.
- Scoop out the cold dough using a cookie scoop or a spoon. Flatten the top of each cookie slightly so it will spread out as it bakes. Add a few extra chocolate chips to the tops if desired.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are firm. The centers may still be soft, but they will continue to set as they cool down. Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly before taking them off the baking sheet. This is very important for gluten free cookies, since the starches (that replace regular flour) are very fragile when hot and they need time to solidify and set before being moved. The flavor improves even more as they cool, and are even better the next day!
Notes
Gluten free cookies can be stored at room temperature for about 24 hours, and then are best if you chill them after that. Freezing is also recommended.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Diet: Gluten Free
Storage
These cookies can be kept at room temperature for up to 24 hours. After that, you should keep them refrigerated.
They also freeze well if you store them in a lidded container (rather than a freezer bag). This will keep them from breaking apart if they get moved around while in the freezer.
