Doneness Temps and a Recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fall is in the air and there might be no better dessert for signaling the changing season than a freshly-baked batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Warm and evocative of autumn, they bring up a powerful nostalgia. I cannot speak to it directly, but I suspect that even people who did not eat these as a child will still feel a wave of reminiscence when eating them.

But a cookie should not have to rely on our memory-laden sentimentality to be so well-loved. No, it should also be delicious. These cookies should be light, not dense, and perfectly done, not doughy or dried out. With this recipe adapted from King Arthur Baking, and our guidance on temperatures (yes, cookies have doneness temperatures), you should have no problem getting them just right.

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Quick bread cookies need quick bread temperatures

If you’ve read our post on baking giant chocolate chip cookies, then you may be thinking that you already know to what temperature you need to cook your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. But if you thought that, you’d be wrong. You see, these cookies don’t have the same structure and composition as a classic choco-chip—no, these are quick bread cookies, which means you’d need to have read our post on zucchini bread to know the correct temperature, which happens to be 200°F (93°C).

Why the higher temperature than standard (Tollhouse) chocolate chip cookies? Mostly because of moisture content. The can of pumpkin (more on that in a minute) brings a lot of water to the party, and some of that water needs to be cooked out. Cooking pumpkin cookies to 200°F (93°C) drives off some of that excess water but doesn’t dry out the cookie. The result is a tender, fluffy cake-like cookie that you’ll want to scarf down about as fast as you can.

To make sure you hit the target temperature, start checking the cookies after they’ve been cooking for about 18 minutes. Use a fast and accurate thermometer like the Thermapen^® so that you can open the oven, check the cookies quickly, and get the oven door closed fast again if they need more time.

Do I have to bake a pumpkin to make pumpkin cookies?

You may have seen recipes that call for an actual pumpkin that you bake or roast or boil down into pulp before making cookies (or pies), and you may have asked yourself if you should bite the bullet and just go through all the trouble. Nope. Not really. There may be some people that can tell the difference, and there may be some recipes where it really matters, but in general, a can of pumpkin (check the ingredients list, it should just be pumpkin) is as good for any of your autumnal baking forays as any fresh-roasted pulp. This is a quick and easy treat that you could easily make in a spare hour after the house quiets down at night—there’s no need to make it more complicated.

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These cookies are light, tender, and spiced just right with that lovely amalgam of flavors that accompany pumpkin so well. They’re perfect for Halloween desserts or for holiday gift-giving, or, yes, just because you want a treat. The cinnamon, especially, is good against the chocolate chips. Use the timer to know when to check your critical temp with your Thermapen ONE, and enjoy this fall cookie like you never have before.

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