Pumpkin Cookies – Budget Bytes

Here’s what you’ll need to make these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies:

• Brown Sugar: Adds a delicious molasses flavor and extra chewiness.
• Unsalted Butter: Melted (but not hot) butter also helps create a chewy texture.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds warmth and depth of flavor.
• Egg: Helps bind the dough together.
• Pumpkin Puree: Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has added sugars and spices, while pumpkin puree is just that—pure pumpkin. Be sure to strain your pumpkin before using it.
• Hot Water: Adding just a little hot water to the mix makes these cookies extra chewy! When you want a stiffer dough (like with bread), use cold water, but if you want to hydrate your dough for cookies, use warm/hot water!
• Flour: All-purpose flour will do the trick here.
• Baking Soda & Baking Powder: This leavening duo helps make these cookies rise and spread just enough without getting too puffy or flat.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: A blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and ground cloves (aka the flavors of fall!). You can use store-bought, but making your own pumpkin pie spice is super simple and means you can adjust the flavors to your liking.
• Salt: A must to balance out all the other flavors. I also sprinkle a little salt over my cookies before baking for a salty-sweet flavor.
• White Chocolate & Butterscotch Chips: I was going to make this recipe with only white chocolate chips, but I had some butterscotch chips on hand, so I added them in. You can use all white chocolate chips, all butterscotch chips, or whatever chocolate chips if you prefer—the total amount of chips needed is ¼ cup.

1. Add the flour mixture slowly, mix until just combined, and then add a little more. This stops us from overmixing the dough, which can make the cookies tough and dense.
2. Let the cookies cool for at least 15 minutes before removing them from the baking sheet. They’ll be very soft and fragile when they first come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
3. Use a cookie scoop to create evenly sized-cookies. I use a 2-oz cookie scoop to make these cookies. You might need to adjust the baking time if you use a smaller or larger scoop.
4. Cool the dough for 10-15 minutes before scooping and baking to minimize spreading. Doing this also lets the flour hydrate fully, which creates a chewier cookie!
5. To create perfectly round cookies, place a glass or cookie cutter over each freshly baked (still warm) cookie and gently swirl it in a circular motion to even out the edges. Check out our Instagram reel for a visual tutorial! (But if you prefer a more rustic look, that’s totally fine too!)