The Best Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for Autumn

These aren’t your typical soft, cakey pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They’re more like a classic chocolate chip cookie with a delicious pumpkin flavor — chewy, buttery, packed with chocolate, and filled with warm fall spices.

There are certain recipes that just belong to certain seasons, and these gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are definitely a fall favorite around here.

As soon as the weather starts to cool down and the leaves begin changing, I start craving all things pumpkin.

Pumpkin bread.

Pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin muffins.

And, of course, these cookies.

But if you’ve ever had a traditional pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, you probably know what I mean when I say they’re often very soft and cakey.

These are different.

These cookies have the wonderful pumpkin flavor and warm spices you expect from a fall cookie, but the texture is much more like a classic chocolate chip cookie.

And that is exactly why I love them.

Not Your Typical Pumpkin Cookie

If you’re looking for a fluffy, cake-like pumpkin cookie, this isn’t that recipe.

These cookies have a texture that I absolutely love. They’re buttery, chewy, chocolatey, and have just enough pumpkin flavor to make you think, Yep, it’s officially fall.

The pumpkin works beautifully with the brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. And then you get all those pockets of melted chocolate throughout the cookie. It’s pretty hard to stop at one.

Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever managed to stop at one.

My Favorite Gluten-Free Flour

I love using Cup4Cup gluten-free flour for these cookies.

It gives me the texture I’m looking for while keeping the recipe gluten-free, and it’s one of the gluten-free flours I reach for again and again when I’m baking.

If you’re baking for someone with celiac disease or a serious gluten allergy, always check the labels on all ingredients and use products that meet their needs, including the chocolate chips.

The Chocolate Chips Make These Cookies

The pumpkin flavor is wonderful, but let’s be honest: the chocolate is a very important part of these cookies.

I love using a blend of different chocolate chips rather than just one kind.

I’ll use mini chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chips.

The little mini chips distribute chocolate throughout the dough, the semisweet chips give you those classic chocolate-chip-cookie bites, and the milk chocolate chips add a little extra richness and sweetness.

That combination makes these cookies incredibly yummy.

You can absolutely use whatever chocolate chips you have in your pantry, but if you have a few different kinds on hand, try mixing them together.

I think you’ll love it.

Pumpkin Puree — Not Pumpkin Pie Filling

There’s one important ingredient note for this recipe:

Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.

Pumpkin pie filling already contains sugar and spices, while this recipe has its own carefully measured combination of brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Plain pumpkin puree is what you want.

The Perfect Fall Cookie

There is something about these cookies that makes them feel like fall without being overly pumpkin-y.

You get the buttery flavor and texture of a classic chocolate chip cookie, but then there’s that subtle pumpkin flavor and all those warm spices in the background. Add three different kinds of chocolate chips and you’ve got a cookie that is pretty much impossible to resist. They’re perfect on a cool fall afternoon, tucked into lunch boxes, taken to a fall gathering, or simply enjoyed while you’re sitting around the kitchen.

A Cookie for Pumpkin Season

I love all the pumpkin recipes that come around this time of year, but sometimes you want something that feels familiar.

That’s what these cookies are to me. They’re not trying to be pumpkin pie in cookie form. They’re not a cakey muffin pretending to be a cookie. They’re simply a really good chocolate chip cookie with pumpkin and warm fall spices. And honestly, I think that’s what makes them so special. The texture is incredible, the chocolate chips make every bite delicious, and the pumpkin gives them that unmistakable taste of fall.

So when the first cool days arrive and you’re ready to start baking all things pumpkin, give these a try. Put on a cozy sweater, make a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and enjoy one with your favorite warm drink.

That’s a pretty perfect fall day to me.

enjoy!

XO, Carly

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