It’s officially fall: I’ve made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. And healthy ones, to boot. Granted, they aren’t gluten-free, but most fall parties I attend are filled with people who aren’t gluten-free and they get gobbled up.
My friend Shardae gave me this cookie recipe when we were in college, and one thing I learned quickly about her is that she’s a fabulous baker. So when she gave it her seal of approval, I knew they would be delicious and taste anything but healthy. And it’s been my go-to recipe for (cough) many, many years since college. 😉
If you bake, you probably already have most, if not all, of the ingredients to make this recipe on hand like sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and more. The only thing you might not have is the canned pumpkin and unsweetened applesauce but those are easy ingredients to pick up!
You start by combining the pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, egg, and vanilla with a hand mixer. Before combining and whisking the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a separate bowl.
You should then dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add it to the wet mixture. Then you combine it all, gradually adding the dry mixture to the wet mixture until just combined. Be careful here to NOT over mix your ingredients. You don’t need to beat it for minutes, just make sure there aren’t any visible dry clumps!
Then the good part, add in the chocolate chips! Once they’re mixed in, take an ice cream scoop to measure out the cookies. Or use your best judgment.
Bake these for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees until they no longer look wet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until they no longer look wet
Let sit on pan for 2 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool
Notes
*Once you put these in a tupperware, they’re not quite as good. So, I make them in small batches (refrigerating the leftover dough) and just leave them out until they are eaten.
Do you have something you bake that officially signals fall to you? Pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread are my must-bakes before it’s really fall for me.
Pumpkin for sure but I think baking in general is very fall-ish to me. When the weather gets cooler I crave comforting foods and that definitely includes naked goodies.
Couldn’t wait to try this and mine are hot out of the oven! I am a bit surprised at their cake-like consistency – I think I’d prefer them as muffins instead, but the flavors are spot on (definitely did the nutmeg and cloves – a MUST!) and they’re a good (healthier) treat.
I should have mentioned their cake-like consistency. That’s how I’ve always had pumpkin cookies and prefer them that way, but I know some people might not like that for a cookie!
They would make awesome muffins! I think I need to try that!
Wow! Those cookies make me hungry. Better try this one as soon as possible since Halloween is near I should practice making it to make it perfect. Thanks for sharing this healthy recipe of yours.
Chocolate cookies are always my favorite but I never tried to bake my own cookies. Maybe it is the time for me to bake mine. LOL. Thanks for this easy and simple recipe of yours.
Delicious! I was looking for something just like this and Google led me to your recipe. I messed with it a bit (didn’t add any sugar, used pumpkin pie filling cause that’s all I could get (grrrr) and used applesauce with sugar. I added about a quarter up of wheat bran to the dry ingredients and a little extra pumpkin to make up for hte missing sugar. I still added extra cloves.nutmeg (like you, I like them.) Used broken up 70 percent lindt dark chocolate car instead of chips… and wow!! I will also try your exact recipe when I have the right things…but it worked for me. Thanks for helping me make healthy and tasty food.
Lovely feel-good fall weekend here in Maine. Had been craving some homeade goodies. Made this recipe and I would have to admit…. BEST pumpkin chocolate chip cookies EVER ! !
I made these cookies on the weekend and my kids loved them and I did not feel any guilt because they were healthy. I doubled the batch, added a cup of oatmeal and 3 cups WW flour and a little less sugar and they turned out great. Thanks for the great recipe.
I made these last week and brought them to a Thanksgiving Potluck- they got RAVE reviews. They’re incredibly easy to prepare, and even easier to consume (sans guilt).
Thank you! I’m making more today… this time they’re staying home just for us 🙂
These were AMAZING! In my experience the healthy baking recipes can be a little hit or miss in terms of texture, but these were awesome! I added a little ginger to the recipe and they came out the perfect combination of sweet and savory! yumm!
This reciepe looks great. I tried it this evening and have two questions:
1) What size of canned pumpkin did you use? 8 oz. or a bigger size?
2) 12 minutes didn’t seem long enough–the cookies weren’t baked all the way through.
I used dates instead of chips in half the batch I made. THank you.
These look delicious. Has anyone tried using rolled oats, either whole or ground into flour, for a portion of the flour needed? I’m looking for ways to get more oatmeal into my diet. Thanks.
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43 responses to “Healthified Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies”
I’m making pumpkin choc chip cookies for our small group this Wednesday. I’ve seen them all over blog world and can’t wait to have some myself.
Mmm, pumpkin cookies are the best fall treat!
it’s all about the pumpkin for me too! you had me at “doesn’t taste healthy” 🙂
Pumpkin means falls here too! I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this past weekend (again, hehe).
Best fall treat ever! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 xoxo
I love pumpkin in anything: muffins, cookies, oats, pie. . . okay, mostly just in sweet things. 😉
Oooo these look so good! Anything pumpkin screams fall to me – I’m going to have to make these asap.
Yum! These look like little clouds of heaven!
clouds of heaven! I love it!
Thank you for posting this recipe! I have been searching for a healthy pumpkin cookie/bar recipe. This fits the bill!
Um, can I have one? Good thing I have the two key ingredients = Pumpkin + Chocolate Chips = heaven….
they’d be easy to veganize too!
Oh yum. The chocolate chips looked like raisins at first, but I’m glad to see they’re chocolate. I love that combo.
Pumpkin is definitely the #1 sign that it’s fall! But close behind is gingerbread, I will be making some of that tonight!
My pumpkin cookies last year were a total fail, cannot wait to try again with a recipe like this.
Anything pumpkin rocks my socks. Pumpkin bread and apple orchards, fave time of year!
Oh yummy those look amazing!
Pumpkin and apple pies always signify fall for me!
Those cookies look delightful! I’m happy they remind you of fall 🙂
So many people seem into pumpkin these days that I can’t even think of anything else that is fall-reminiscent!
Oh, yes… fall can’t go by without a batch or two… or three of pumpkin muffins.
Pumpkin for sure but I think baking in general is very fall-ish to me. When the weather gets cooler I crave comforting foods and that definitely includes naked goodies.
Ok, not big on pumpkin but these look way too good!
how about pumpkin cinnamon rolls 🙂 hehe, these look great! might need to get my bake on this weekend…
Couldn’t wait to try this and mine are hot out of the oven! I am a bit surprised at their cake-like consistency – I think I’d prefer them as muffins instead, but the flavors are spot on (definitely did the nutmeg and cloves – a MUST!) and they’re a good (healthier) treat.
I should have mentioned their cake-like consistency. That’s how I’ve always had pumpkin cookies and prefer them that way, but I know some people might not like that for a cookie!
They would make awesome muffins! I think I need to try that!
Wow! Those cookies make me hungry. Better try this one as soon as possible since Halloween is near I should practice making it to make it perfect. Thanks for sharing this healthy recipe of yours.
Chocolate cookies are always my favorite but I never tried to bake my own cookies. Maybe it is the time for me to bake mine. LOL. Thanks for this easy and simple recipe of yours.
Pumpkin Cookies — the best ever!! The more and more I explore your blog, the deeper and deeper my adoration for it becomes!!!
oh yay! I’m so glad you are enjoying it! thank you!
making these nowwww
I hope you liked them!!!
Delicious! I was looking for something just like this and Google led me to your recipe. I messed with it a bit (didn’t add any sugar, used pumpkin pie filling cause that’s all I could get (grrrr) and used applesauce with sugar. I added about a quarter up of wheat bran to the dry ingredients and a little extra pumpkin to make up for hte missing sugar. I still added extra cloves.nutmeg (like you, I like them.) Used broken up 70 percent lindt dark chocolate car instead of chips… and wow!! I will also try your exact recipe when I have the right things…but it worked for me. Thanks for helping me make healthy and tasty food.
Lovely feel-good fall weekend here in Maine. Had been craving some homeade goodies. Made this recipe and I would have to admit…. BEST pumpkin chocolate chip cookies EVER ! !
yay!! I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks for letting me know!
I made these cookies on the weekend and my kids loved them and I did not feel any guilt because they were healthy. I doubled the batch, added a cup of oatmeal and 3 cups WW flour and a little less sugar and they turned out great. Thanks for the great recipe.
These were really good, but definitely more of a muffin texture than a cookie.
I made these last week and brought them to a Thanksgiving Potluck- they got RAVE reviews. They’re incredibly easy to prepare, and even easier to consume (sans guilt).
Thank you! I’m making more today… this time they’re staying home just for us 🙂
These were AMAZING! In my experience the healthy baking recipes can be a little hit or miss in terms of texture, but these were awesome! I added a little ginger to the recipe and they came out the perfect combination of sweet and savory! yumm!
I was surprised by these…sooooooooo yummy and my kids(teenagers) cant get enough.
TY TY TY
This reciepe looks great. I tried it this evening and have two questions:
1) What size of canned pumpkin did you use? 8 oz. or a bigger size?
2) 12 minutes didn’t seem long enough–the cookies weren’t baked all the way through.
I used dates instead of chips in half the batch I made. THank you.
Hi Cara!
I used an 8 oz can.
It might vary on your elevation. Just bake until they are springy to the touch, kind of like muffins.
I bet they are delicious with dates! I’ll have to try that!
I hadn’t thought of the elevation–we’re in a valley in the Rocky Mountains. Thanks!
These look delicious. Has anyone tried using rolled oats, either whole or ground into flour, for a portion of the flour needed? I’m looking for ways to get more oatmeal into my diet. Thanks.
I literally just made these and they are heaven! Thank you for posting this!
LOVE this recipe! Just FYI, I double it and make them all at one, then freeze them. They thaw super quick (and get eaten super quick)!