My very favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie, these things don’t mess around. With their nutty, browned butter base, subtle pumpkin notes and the extra warmth of fall spices, this is like your favorite bakery style chocolate chunk cookie, all dressed up and ready for sweater weather. Yes, these Pumpkin Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies have risen through the ranks of my family’s favorites and I think you guys are going to really enjoy these.

The Breakdown: Pumpkin Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

They’re huge, I’m not going to lie. But, I like my cookies that way. We eat with our eyes, right? So, I love it when I get to set out a big, beautiful platter of these utterly fetching cookies and watch as people’s eyes just bug out of their heads. It happens – no exaggeration.

By scooping generous, 1/4-cup mounds of dough onto your baking sheet, you’ll get XL cookies that, thanks to the ample amount of brown butter, will stretch and spread wonderfully as they bake away in the oven.

Sugar, spice ALL THE THINGS NICE. These are simply the greatest, and here’s how to do it …

Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: What you’ll need

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)

1.5 cups granulated sugar

⅓ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup pumpkin pie filling (or just canned pumpkin)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBSP water

8 oz. chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate (use what you like here)

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

How to make them:

Begin by putting the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Allow it to melt and then continue simmering it until it turns golden and smells nutty; about 2 to 3 minutes of simmering after it has fully melted. Once it’s brown, quiet, and nutty-smelling, immediately pour the butter into a bowl and allow it to cool down to almost room temp before putting it in the fridge to re-solidify.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust your rack to the middle position. Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl until well blended. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the (now solid) brown butter until whipped, light, and fluffy – about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and whip for an additional 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, and 1 TBSP water, and whip until combined.

Add the flour mixture and mix just until well-combined – as little mixing as possible. Add the chopped chocolate and mix just until combined.

Allowing ¼ cup per cookie, scoop the dough onto the baking sheets, ensuring there is at least 2 inches of space in between each cookie ( I do 5 cookies per pan).

Press them flat just a little bit with your palm. Bake for 7 minutes and then open the oven door and lift a corner of the pan about a foot in the air and then drop it so the cookies re-flatten. Do this every minute now, until the cookies have baked for about 12 minutes total, or are nice and golden brown, flat and have visibly crisped edges. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and then allow them to cool significantly before trying to move them from their pan.

Note: The pan-banging method for flattening the cookies as they bake was inspired by Sarah Kieffer, and is a trick I use in most of my cookie baking.

If you like the looks of these Pumpkin Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies, you might want to try:

Double Ginger Soft Molasses Cookies

Best Ever Salty Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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