This easy vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe will have your fall taste buds dancing! Super simple, all in one bowl, and can be Top 8 Allergen Free.
If you love fall flavors and you love pumpkin then these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are the cookies of your dreams.
Listen, even if you don’t think you like pumpkin, you will like these cookies!
With just a few extra ingredients and a little creativity, these vegan cookies are so flavorful and perfectly spices.
They are super soft on the inside and just a bit crispy on the outside but the spices along with the chocolate just take it to a whole different level that we are sure that you are going to enjoy.
I mean these vegan cookies need just one bowl, minutes to prep and bake, are freezable and they only thing you will be wondering is what in the world you haven’t made them yet.
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I make these Top 8 Allergen Free?
Whether you have a gluten allergy or dairy or another Top 8, you will be happy to know that you can make these completely free of top allergens.
For the vegan butter, we would recommend using a soy free vegan butter, like Earth Balance soy free in the red tub.
For gluten free, we have had the best of luck with King Arthur Measure for Measure flour.
Can I make any substitutions?
Besides the substitutions above for making Top 8 Allergen free, we are frequently asked if you can make them without vegan butter or swap out the sugar for a healthy sugar source.
The answer is yes, but. Yes, you can, but the taste and texture is obviously going to differ once you start making any changes.
For the butter you could make these vegan chocolate chip cookies with applesauce by replacing in the same amount.
For the sugar, we would recommend just replacing with a coconut sugar versus something else.
Can I use another squash?
Yes! You could sub out the pumpkin with the same amount of pureed butternut squash.
Additionally, you could also use pureed sweet potatoes.
Can I prep these ahead?
Yes! Let cool completely and then leave in an air tight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze the dough?
Of course. Whether you want to eat the entire batch at one time or you just need a couple here and there, you can totally roll out what you need and then freeze the remaining batter in an air tight freezer container or bag.
We have found it easiest to roll the dough into balls, then place on a wax lined baking sheet and then freeze for 25 minutes. After that, place the balls into your favorite freezer safe bag or container.
Can I refrigerate the dough until ready to use?
Absolutely! While chilling dough isn’t needed for this recipe, if you wanted to make the dough ahead, but not ready to make right away, just cover the bowl and place in the fridge up to a week.
It does take chilled cookies longer to cook so check after the recommended baking time and you may need an additional few minutes to finish your cookies.
What is vegan sugar?
In the United States, most sugar has been processed through bone char. While there are no animal parts left in the sugar, many vegans are not okay with the practice of using animal parts in the refining process.
This refers to white sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar.
One easy way to ensure that your sugar has not been processed with bone char is to look for Organic or Non-Gmo sugars as bone char is not allowed with either of these.
Some sugar packages also say bone char free.
This is not the case in most other countries.
Read: Is Sugar Vegan? for more information.
What makes these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies easy?
First, if you are newly vegan and looking for something that reminds you of traditional chocolate chip cookies but with a fall flare without sacrificing anything in texture or taste, then this is the easiest recipe you are going to find.
Also, it’s only made in one bowl, there’s minimal ingredients, and you don’t need to chill the dough before using, which means you can have cookies ready to eat in under 20 minutes.
Are vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies healthy?
When you eat a cookie like this, you release serotonin which is always a healthy thing to have happen.
This recipe does contain vegan butter and vegan sugar; however both of those could be replaced with substitutions like applesauce and coconut sugar to make healthier, although the taste and texture would differ.
Can I eat this cookie dough?
Many people believe that since there’s no eggs in the dough, that they could just eat the dough; however, flour is actually more a risk for salmonella poisoning than eggs.
For that reason, we do not recommend eating this dough.
However, we do have an edible vegan chocolate chip cookie dough that you can eat. You could follow the steps for that recipe but adding the pumpkin and spices here, which is really just heating the flour first.
Are chocolate chips vegan?
Traditionally, milk chocolate chips are not vegan; however, many dark chocolate chips can be vegan.
The main ingredient that makes a cookie not vegan is either milk or whey (whey powder). If those ingredients are not included in the ingredient list, then the chocolate chips are likely vegan.
You could also make your own vegan chocolate chips by following a homemade chocolate recipe and then piping chips instead.
Where do you find vegan chocolate chips?
If you are looking to just find vegan chocolate chips in the store, then you can absolutely find them. They are actually getting easier and easier.
One of our favorites is Enjoy Life, and they can be found in most grocery stores, Target, Walmart, and stores like Whole Foods and natural grocery stores. They are Top 8 Allergen Free and do not contain and dairy or eggs making them completely vegan.
Stores like Whole Foods will also have a large variety of other vegan chocolate chips like Lilys or Chatfields.
What are your favorite vegan chocolate chips?
We have a tendency to just stick with Enjoy Life. They are easiest to find and they taste almost indistinguishable from traditional chips.
However, if we found a good dark chocolate bar that we like, for example Aldi’s 70% cacao bars, then sometimes we use those too.
Should my dough be sticky?
No. If you have sticky dough and followed the instructions, it could be because of the altitude that you live at or maybe things weren’t measure entirely correctly.
You can able a few tablespoons of flour at a time until the dough is no longer sticky.
Tips on how to make the best vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe:
We list a ton of tips above and highly recommend that you read each one if before you cook your cookies; however, if you want the short version here’s some easy tips on making the best vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe.
- Measure correctly, especially flour, no heaping cups
- Preheat the oven before you start making your dough
- Use a cookie scoop to ensure uniform size of cookies so they bake at an even temperature.
- Don’t make substitutions unless you are aware of the changes it will make to your cookies
- Watch your cookies in the oven as all oven temperatures are different you may need to pull out your cookies earlier or leave longer
What are other awesome vegan cookie ideas that I should make?
Whether you are doing a cookie exchange or you just want to switch up and make a new vegan cookie recipe, we have you covered.
We have over a dozen vegan cookie recipes that you can find when you click on our best vegan cookie recipes roundup.
We have everything from the salted caramel cookies you see above, as well as things like:
- classic vegan chocolate chip cookies
- vegan snickerdoodles
- classic vegan sugar cookies
- vegan peanut butter cookies
- vegan oatmeal cookies
- and more!
Just click here.
Pin these easy vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for later:
Easy Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon vegan butter, softened
- ⅔ cup vegan light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup vegan cane sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (we used Enjoy Life semi-sweet)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (177˚C).
- In a bowl, add softened vegan butter and both sugars. Beat with a mixer (stand or hand) until light and creamy about 2 -3 mins.
- Add vanilla extract and pumpkin puree and beat them until combined (about 15 – 20 seconds).
- To the same bowl, add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and mix until combined.
- Add chocolate chips and use a spatula to fold the chips in.
- Use a cookie scoop to make 12 cookies and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 10 – 12 mins. *It’s important to stick to this time frame so you don’t over bake the cookies. If it seems they need more time, then don’t take them out!
- Remove from oven and let rest about 15 – 20 mins to set.
- Store any leftovers in an air tight container.
Avi
These cookies are delicious!!!! I fed them to my non vegan friends and they couldn’t tell they were vegan!! One of my friends doesn’t like chocolate so i mad some without and it was soo goos even without chocolate. These are a go to because of how quickly the mix comes together!!
Larisha Bernard
So glad it was a hit with everyone!
Ruby Sticks
These were super simple and tastes great! I’m all for the spices used in this. Thank you!
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear that! We appreciate you taking time to leave a review. Have a great week!