So soft and chewy, these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a perfect fall dessert! They’re made with just a few ingredients, but loaded with delicious chocolate and pumpkin-spiced flavor! And they’re ready in less than 20 minutes!
When there’s a chill in the air and the leaves start to change colors, there’s one thing I start to crave... Pumpkin!
It doesn’t matter if it’s pumpkin cookies, Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, or even Vegan Pumpkin Pasta… I’ll take it all!
My intention for this pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe was for it to not be too sweet.
I try to limit the amount of sugar my kids are getting since Halloween is right around the corner. So, these cookies have a bit less sugar than you’d expect and use coconut oil instead of butter, but they are still so good!
This quick and easy batch of chocolate chip cookies is amazing for crisp autumn weather, Halloween, and even Thanksgiving! They are eggless, dairy-free, fluffy, slightly cake-like, and full of gooey goodness!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Light on sugar
- Quick and easy
- Soft and chewy
- Eggless and dairy-free
- Use coconut oil instead of butter
Ingredient Notes
- Flour - I use all-purpose flour for this recipe, but you can certainly use another type such as 1-1 gluten-free.
- Sugar - Raw cane sugar is best here because the granules are small and dissolve easily. When you see “raw” or “pure” on sugar labels, you can rest assured that animal bone char was not used in their production.
- Spices - Pumpkin pie spice, ground cinnamon, and a pinch of salt are all you need. Pumpkin pie spice is a nice all-in-one spice that has cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. You can also make your own (see notes below).
- Baking Soda - Just a pinch of baking soda to help the cookies rise.
- Pumpkin Purée - Canned pure pumpkin is what gives these cookies their delicious pumpkin flavor and subtle orange color. The pumpkin doesn’t actually give the cookies a strong orange color, however. If you’re wanting them to look more festive for a Fall event, I suggest using orange plates or accessories to help bring their color out.
- Coconut Oil - Coconut oil adds a natural hint of sweetness and is used in place of butter. There’s no need to melt it if you keep your coconut oil at room temperature. If at room temperature, you can simply cream it into the mixture. If your coconut oil is cold, you’ll want to let it soften a bit first.
- Maple Syrup - For a rustic sweetness we add maple syrup, which goes amazingly well with pumpkin.
- Vanilla - Pure vanilla extract adds a rich flavor to the cookies.
- Chocolate Chips - You can use your choice of vegan chocolate chips. Just make sure they are not “milk chocolate” and are absent of any dairy in their ingredients. Either regular size or mini work. You can certainly add more than the recipe calls for if you like really chocolatey chocolate chip cookies!
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set it aside.
Mix the pumpkin, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla together in a small bowl.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and gently mix them together. As soon as they're combined, fold the chocolate chips into the dough. Reserve a few chocolate chips to top the cookies with.
Roll the cookie dough into small, 1-tablespoon-sized balls with your hands. Place them an inch apart on a nonstick cookie sheet. Press them down to flatten them then add some chocolate chips to the tops of the cookies.
This is the point where I usually hope there’s some leftover raw dough for me to munch on! 🙂
Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes. Note, there is no need to chill the cookie dough. This recipe makes about 16 cookies.
No, it sure doesn’t! The dough is ready to be spooned out and baked into delicious cookies right away! Although, if you do want to make the dough ahead of time, you can chill it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake. The chilled cookies will be a bit fluffier this way.
The pumpkin serves as a natural vegan substitute for eggs! In fact, you can use pumpkin puree in place of eggs for other recipes as well. The general equivalent between the two is ¼ cup pumpkin puree = 1 egg.
Pumpkin Pie Spice - Homemade
- If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own. Combine 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, and 1 ½ teaspoon ground cloves.
Recipe Variations
- You can use softened vegan butter in place of coconut oil.
- Add more chocolate chips if you’d like them to be extra chocolatey.
- Mix in some walnuts or pecans to give the cookies a bit of a crunch.
- Try adding a few sea salt flakes to the cookies when they come out of the oven.
Make-Ahead
You can make the dough ahead of time and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Keep in mind though, that this will cause the cookies to rise a bit more so you’ll want to be sure to press them down before baking.
Leftovers
- Store leftover cookies covered, at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
- Freeze cookies for 3 months by separating them with parchment paper and placing them in an air-tight container.
Related Fall Posts
- Vegan Pumpkin Pasta!
- Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.
- Getting ready for trick-or-treaters? Here’s a list of Vegan Halloween Candy.
I hope you love this recipe! Please consider leaving a star rating and comment below. You can get my latest recipes sent directly to your inbox. Click here to subscribe to my email list!
Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup raw cane sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ⅛ cup maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set it aside.
- Mix the pumpkin, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla together in a small bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and gently mix them together. As soon as they're combined, fold the chocolate chips into the dough. Reserve a few chocolate chips to top the cookies with.
- Roll the cookie dough into small, 1-tablespoon-sized balls with your hands. Place them an inch apart on a nonstick cookie sheet. Press them down to flatten them then add some chocolate chips to the tops of the cookies.
- Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes.
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own. Combine 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, and 1 ½ teaspoon ground cloves.
- There’s no need to chill the cookie dough before baking the cookies.
Recipe Variations
- You can use softened vegan butter in place of coconut oil.
- Add more chocolate chips if you’d like them to be extra chocolatey.
- Mix in some walnuts or pecans to give the cookies a bit of a crunch.
- Try adding a few sea salt flakes to the cookies when they come out of the oven.
Make-Ahead
- You can make the dough ahead of time and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Keep in mind though, that this will cause the cookies to rise a bit more so you’ll want to be sure to press them down before baking.
Leftovers
- Store leftover cookies at room temperature (covered) for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze cookies for up to 3 months by separating them with parchment paper and placing them in an air-tight container.
Nutrition
The nutrition information is estimated and can vary depending on brands and measurements used.
Leave a Reply