Kitchen Sink Pumpkin Cookies

*Photos and recipe updated 9/17/2020

These pumpkin cookies are crispy around the edges, but soft and chewy (not cakey!) in the middle. Most pumpkin cookies are super soft, but these babies are CHEWY. They’re pumpkin, but it doesn’t slap you in the face. Then they’re loaded with warm fall spices, caramel bits, chocolate, and toffee. The texture is EVERYTHING. I know you’re gonna love ’em.

How to Make Kitchen Sink Pumpkin Cookies

Start out by browning the butter – put it in a medium sauce pan and heat over medium until it starts bubbling and crackling. Swirl the pan around and continue to cook until the crackling stops and little browned bits form at the bottom of the pan. Set aside to cool while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

It’s very important to properly measure the flour. Use the scoop and level method. Use a spoon to fill your measuring cup until it’s overfilled with flour. Then use a butter knife (or anything with a flat edge) to level off the top. If you just use your measuring cup to scoop out the flour, it get’s compacted and you end up with more flour than the recipe intends!

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Okay, by now your butter should be cooled down enough. Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until the light and fluffy – about 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.

Add the chocolate, toffee, and caramel bits. Use a rubber spatula to incorporate them into the dough. Use a large cookie scoop to portion 15 cookies onto a cookie sheet. Place the whole cookie sheet into the fridge for 30 minutes before baking. While the dough takes a fridge nap, preheat the oven to 350.

Baking the Cookies

I definitely recommend that you chill the dough before baking. If not, they will still be delicious, but they will spread more and won’t be as chewy. Bake in 2 batches for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Top with flaky salt – optional.

When the cookies come out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookies and swirl it around each cookie to create a perfectly round shape, then let the cookies rest on the hot cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. They will still be slightly domed right out of the oven, but will flatten out and become perfectly chewy as they cool.

Tips for Perfect Cookies

A few weeks ago, I posted the recipe for my Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies and I included my top tips for taking cookies to the next level. I felt it appropriate to include a couple tips here too –

• Cream the butter and sugar for longer than what seems necessary. The longer you beat the butter and sugar, the softer your cookies will end up. You really can’t over-beat in this step.
• Don’t over mix the dry ingredients. This tip isn’t a huge secret. You hear it in a million recipes. But that’s because it’s important. I stop my mixer when there are still flour streaks remaining. Then fold in my add ins (chocolate chips, nuts, etc.) with a rubber spatula which incorporates those remaining flour streaks. This ensures I never over mix.
• Take the cookies out of the oven early. I almost always “under bake” my cookies. I take them out when they still look dough-y in the center. They will continue to bake if left on the hot cookie sheet outside of the oven. And if you completely bake them in the oven, then let them sit on that hot cookie sheet, they’ll get too done and lose that chewy factor we love soooo much!

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