Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

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These are THE BEST pumpkin chocolate chip cookies bars that are perfectly chewy and moist, not at all cakey, and wonderfully spiced. I did what feels like 458 recipe tests to create this recipe because I was after the ideal brookie-like texture and the results are exactly as I imagined. I learned a lot along the way that I’ll share below. If you’re looking for the perfect pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars to serve at your next Fall gathering, look no further! 

Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• Brown Butter. Taking the time to brown the butter gives these pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars amazing nutty caramel flavor. It adds so much depth and complexity that compliments the pumpkin flavor so well. If you’d rather not brown the butter, you can simply melt the butter in this recipe (but I highly recommend browning the butter!). 
• The Ideal Cookie Bar Texture. These pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars are perfectly gooey when you take them out of the oven, and then they settle into the ideal chewy cookie bar texture that’s reminiscent of a brookie. They stay moist for days and the texture makes them irresistible! 
• Wonderful Spiced Pumpkin Flavor. I use four beautiful warming spices to amplify the pumpkin flavor here: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. These enhance the pumpkin flavor and add so much coziness. 
• Just Enough Chocolate. Between folding the chocolate chips into the cookie dough and sprinkling them over the top before baking, the ratio of pumpkin cookie to chocolate chips is superb. Rich, but not over the top. 
• No Chilling the Dough. There’s no need to chill the dough before baking, making these cookie bars fairly quick to make!

What Makes these Cookie Bars Chewy Instead of Cakey?

My first attempts at these pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars turned out cakey and almost muffin-like in texture. They were delicious, but just not the texture I was going for. So I did a ton of research into why pumpkin cookies tend to be on the cakier side by default. It turns out that cookie bars can become cakey if there’s too much moisture, too much leavening agent, and not enough fat. Here’s what I do to create the ideal chewy texture in this recipe: 

• Blot the Pumpkin. This step seems a little absurd and inconvenient, but it turns out to be KEY to the perfect texture. When there’s too much moisture in a cookie bar recipe the texture comes out cakey. Blotting the pumpkin between a few paper towels helps eliminate unnecessary moisture and highly contributes to the chewy end result. 
• Add an Egg Yolk. Sometimes cookie bars come out cakey because there isn’t enough fat in the dough. Adding an egg yolk ensures a little extra fat to weigh down the dough into a chewier texture. 
• More Granulated Sugar than Brown Sugar. I use both brown and granulated sugar in this recipe. Brown sugar contributes an amazing flavor and sweetness, but also contains more moisture than granulated sugar. After making lots of batches with more brown sugar than granulated sugar, I found that flipping the amounts and using more granulated sugar than brown sugar created the ideal texture in these cookie bars. 
• A Good Amount of Butter. This is the main source of fat in the cookie bars, and as we learned before, more fat means more chewiness in the end result. 

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Step 1: Brown the butter. Add the butter into a skillet over medium heat and stir constantly until it melts and transforms into beautiful brown butter. Pour this into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes.    

Step 2: Preheat the oven and prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line a 10×15 inch sheet pan or 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper. 

Step 3: Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Step 4: Blot the Pumpkin. Line a plate with a couple paper towels and add the pumpkin on top. Blot the moisture out of the pumpkin by pressing more paper towels on top.

Step 5: Combine the sugars and wet ingredients. In the large mixing bowl with the (now slightly cooled) brown butter, add the sugars, blotted pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk this all together until it’s uniform. 

Step 6: Fold in the dry ingredients. Use a silicone spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until you have a uniform dough. 

Step 7: Fold in the chocolate chips. Reserve about ½ Cup of the chocolate chips and fold the rest into the pumpkin cookie dough. 

Step 8: Press the dough into the pan and bake. Add the dough into the parchment lined pan and press it down with your fingers until it’s flat and reaches the edges. Sprinkle the reserved chocolate chips on top, then bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Step 9: Cool the bars. Let the bars cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving warm, or let them cool completely to room temperature. They’re delicious at either temperature! 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar FAQs

• Can I make these vegan? Yes. I have tried this recipe with melted coconut oil instead of the brown butter + no egg yolk. The results were a little cakier, but still delicious. 
• Can I use melted butter instead of brown butter? Yes, but taking the time to brown the butter really adds something special to these cookie bars. 
• Can I use pumpkin pie spice instead of the spices listed? Yes. Decrease the cinnamon amount to 1 tsp and then add 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice to substitute the spices in this recipe. 
• Should I use canned pumpkin puree or pumpkin pie filling? Always use 100% canned pumpkin puree. Pumpkin should be the only ingredient listed on the label. 
• How do I know when the cookie bars are done? You’ll know these are perfectly baked when the edges are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. It’s best to err on the side of underbaking them versus overbaking since they’ll continue to cook a little in the pan as they cool. For the 10×15 pan I baked the cookie bars for 20 minutes, and for the 9×13 pan I baked them for closer to 25 minutes. 

More Recipes You’ll Love

If you love these pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars, here are some similar recipes to add to your baking list: 

• Sheet Pan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
• Sheet Pan Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake 

I hope you love these pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars as much as I do! Let me know if you make them in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you post a photo. I love to see what you bake with my recipes!