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Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown butter pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with chewy, orange-tinted centers and melty chocolate chips. Butter is cooked until golden brown and nutty, then baked with warm spices for crinkled, set edges and soft middles.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
chill 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 8 minutes
Servings: 20 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 220
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Unsalted butter
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter
Pumpkin puree
  • 0.5 cup pumpkin puree blotted with paper towels
Brown sugar
  • 0.75 cup brown sugar packed
Granulated sugar
  • 0.25 cup granulated sugar
Egg yolk
  • 1 egg yolk large
Vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
  • 1.75 cup all-purpose flour
Baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
Salt
  • 0.5 tsp salt
Pumpkin pie spice
  • 1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 saucepan

Method
 

Brown the butter
  1. Melt butter in a saucepan and cook 4-5 minutes, swirling, until golden brown and nutty, then cool 10 minutes (butter should smell toasted).
  2. Let the browned butter cool until no longer hot to the touch, so it won’t scramble the yolk when mixed.
Mix the cookie dough
  1. Whisk the brown butter with both sugars, blotted pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla until smooth and glossy (no streaks of yolk).
  2. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon, then stir the dry mix into the wet mixture until a thick dough forms.
  3. Fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed with some chips visible throughout the dough.
Chill, portion, and bake
  1. Chill the dough 30 minutes until slightly firm (dough should hold its shape when scooped).
  2. Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment, keeping the oven fully preheated before baking.
  3. Scoop 2-tablespoon balls and flatten slightly to help them spread (aim for uniform sizes).
  4. Bake 11-13 minutes until edges are set but centers still look soft, then cool 10 minutes on the sheet.

Notes

Pro tip: blot the pumpkin puree well to prevent cakey cookies—too much moisture can make the dough spread too much. Store baked cookies airtight at room temperature up to 3 days or refrigerate up to 5 days; freeze baked cookies up to 2 months. For a gluten-free swap, use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (check it includes xanthan gum) and keep the dough chilled as directed.