Healthy Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Growing up, my mom didn't bake very often, but when she did, it was always her famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Her recipe made over 4 dozen fluffy, perfectly spiced pumpkin cookies and everyone raved about them.

Once I moved out, I only got these cookies when I came home to visit. Now that I have my own food blog, I knew I needed my own pumpkin cookie recipe.

However, in the last few years, I've learned that chewy cookies are my absolute favorite and that's how I prefer them.

So I set out to develop a chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe - one that basically melted in your mouth but wasn't so soft from the pumpkin that it fell apart in your hands.

I also wanted these cookies to require no chill time because I'm impatient.

Well guess what? Today's recipe has all of those things and more! These Healthy Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are incredibly soft, extra chewy, perfectly spiced, very chocolatey, and are ready in 30 minutes because there's no chill time!

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What makes these "healthy" pumpkin chocolate chip cookies?

Like all cookies, you'll need butter, sugar, flour and chocolate chips. However, this pumpkin cookie recipe uses some specific ingredients that make them healthier than the traditional recipe!

• Country Crock Olive Oil Butter: totally optional, but I always recommend this brand of butter (not sponsored) because it's made entirely from olive oil rather than dairy. Not only does this make it dairy-free, but it gives your body the heart-healthy fats rather than the less nutritious saturated fats from traditional butter. Feel free to use any butter you have, though!

• Stevia: instead of white granulated sugar, we're using Stevia, a zero-calorie plant-based sweetener that mimics sugar without the calories or actual refined sugar. This cuts out 360 total calories and 96 total grams of sugar!
• Pumpkin: a low calorie vegetable full of vitamin A and fiber, using canned pumpkin gives that signature pumpkin flavor to these cookies but also replaces an egg. That's right, this recipe is egg free!
• Cinnamon: a cozy spice full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. It perfectly compliments the pumpkin!
• Sugar-free chocolate chips: so we can have our chocolate and eat it too. Feel free to use any brand you like! I love this brand and this brand.

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Tips for making healthy pumpkin cookies

If you've made my classic chocolate chip cookies before, these are basically the same but with pumpkin! Or if you've ever made cookies, you basically know how to make these healthy pumpkin cookies already.

However, here are some tips to make sure your chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies turn out perfect every single time:

1. Use room temperature ingredients: yes, this means taking the time to set out your butter and pumpkin before making your cookies! If you use them straight from the fridge, they won't mix as well with the dry ingredients and your cookies will bake unevenly.
2. Cream the wet until fluffy: we're not just looking for incorporated wet ingredients, we want fluffy wet ingredients! This means we've added the tiniest amounts of air into the dough that will make room for the gluten to do its thing and give you that extra soft cookie straight out of the oven.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients: I always mix my dry ingredients separately before adding them to the dough because I want everything to be well combined. I don't need one cookie spreading twice as far because it got a giant pocket of baking soda!‍
4. Bake for exactly 9 minutes: even if your oven temperature is a little off, following the bake time exactly will give you the best cookies. They will be slightly underdone and puffy when you pull them out, but don't worry, they will fall, crinkle, and finish baking on the pan. Trust me on this one!‍
5. Garnish with sea salt: I don't include this ingredient in every cookie recipe, but these healthy pumpkin cookies will seriously be next level if you add that sea salt on top after baking. You can thank me later! I just use freshly ground sea salt from a grinder, but you can use flaky sea salt too if you have that on hand. Do not use regular salt! Only sea salt.

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Why this recipe works

They're NOT cakey: as good as my mom's cookies are, I truly prefer a chewy cookie because I love tasting the butter in every bite. The chewy ones are less dense too so you can eat more in one sitting!

They're ready in 30 minutes: no chill time required for these beauties. Just make a bowl of dough and pop them in the oven!

They're the perfect fall baking recipe: what better way to welcome October than with all the pumpkin, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon your heart desires? These cookies have it all!

They're extra chewy: thank to some extra brown sugar, less dry ingredients, and a specific baking technique, you'll fall in love (get it?) with these extra chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies after one bite!

They're healthier than the average pumpkin cookie: thanks to a few simple ingredient swaps, these pumpkin cookies are low calorie, low sugar, and more clean eating than other recipes you'll find on the internet!

The recipe makes exactly 2 dozen: just to make doubling or tripling the recipe easier...and there won't be any half-filled baking sheets!

They keep for days: these pumpkin cookies aren't just chewy straight out of the oven, they're chewy four days later after sitting in a ziploc bag on the counter! This way they always taste fresh and you can enjoy them for days!

They're allergen-friendly: easily gluten-free and naturally vegan (just use vegan chocolate chips)!

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OMG RUN to your kitchen and make these Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies ASAP. You won't regret it! They are my absolute favorite.

Be sure to leave a star rating and review below if you try my recipe so other readers know how you liked them! You can also tag me on Instagram - I love seeing you make my recipes!