Soft And Chewy Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

When it comes to these soft and chewy pumpkin cookies, created by recipe developer Jessica Morone of Jess Loves Baking, you'd probably think they'd be perfect for a Halloween party or a Thanksgiving dessert, right? Well, you'd be right on both counts, but you'd also be selling these tasty cookies a bit short. Why wait for a special occasion for a great cookie? Morone says, "Honestly, I just keep eating these for all occasions, I've had them for breakfast, for a snack, and for dessert. They are really delicious. They can go really well with your morning coffee, or even a glass of milk."

Equally as welcome as the versatility of these cookies is the fact that they're really pretty easy to make. As long as you mind a couple of Morone's specific notes (temperature and flattening, for example, but you'll see as you read through) then you'll do a great job with these pumpkin cookies even if you're not usually much of a baker, and even if it's not quite yet fall.

To make a batch of these soft, sweet, and chewy cookies, you need unsalted butter (softened), brown sugar, an egg, maple syrup, canned pumpkin, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt, and granulated sugar.

"The star ingredient in these is the maple syrup," Morone says. "It gives these cookies more of a depth of flavor and makes them even more perfect for the fall season."

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar, working it until fluffy. Then stir in the egg, maple syrup, pumpkin, and vanilla extract and mix until everything is well combined.

Next, in a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing until they have just combined. Then, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour until the dough becomes less sticky.

"Mostly these cookies are easy to make and very forgiving," says Morone, adding: "I made lots of these and one of the few things I noticed was that if you didn't chill the dough for long enough it will be too sticky and very messy when you try to roll it in the sugar mixture. So you'll want to chill it long enough for it to stop being so sticky."

Once the dough has chilled for long enough, preheat the oven to 350 F, then line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Next, in a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar with the remaining ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Use a cookie scoop to lift out balls of dough, then roll the dough balls in the sugar mixture until coated. Place the coated cookie dough balls onto the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart, and flatten the cookie dough balls slightly.

"These cookies don't really spread much, so if you just put the dough balls on the cookie sheet and bake them you will get very tall fat cookies, which taste great but don't really have the chewiness you get with regular cookies, so flattening the dough balls before baking it will get you more of a regular cookie shape and texture," Morone says.

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies begin to brown. Then retrieve the cookie sheets and cool the cookies for about five minutes on them, and then remove them to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Then enjoy!

"If you store these in an airtight container they can keep for up to two weeks," Morone says. "You could also freeze them for up to six months, but they are always better fresh. A better option to freezing baked cookies is only baking half the dough and freezing the other half of the dough, then baking it whenever you want fresh cookies."