Looking for a quick and easy fall dessert? Look no further! 3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies require–you guessed it–just 3 common pantry ingredients. You can whip these up in no time!
3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies With Cake Mix
These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies may not look like much, but to quote Love Actually, “To me, you are perfect.” That’s because these perfectly imperfect cookies have a wonderful secret: they’re made with only THREE ingredients!
You guys know I’m the queen of complicated from-scratch recipes that take way too long, but sometimes a girl has a craving and just needs cookies, stat! And when that craving strikes, I’m not about to sit around waiting for butter to come to room temperature or dough to chill. I’m all about instant gratification.
If you need more pumpkin chocolate chip inspiration, check out my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake!
I posted a different pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe last week. That one was more of a traditional chocolate chip cookie, with crisper edges and a soft center–more like a regular cookie with a bit of pumpkin flavor.
In comparison, these cookies have a stronger pumpkin flavor, and a cake-like texture. If you’re a fan of soft, puffy cake cookies, then this is the recipe for you! Here’s how simple they are to make:
How to Make 3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
All you need to make these cookies are a boxed cake mix, a can of pumpkin puree, and chocolate chips.
- For the cake mix, I recommend spice cake mix–I used Duncan Hines brand. If you can’t find spice cake, you can use any neutral cake mix (vanilla/white/yellow/etc) and just add a few teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice to the mix.
- Make sure you pick up a can of pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
Start by sifting the cake mix into a large bowl. Mixes often develop clumps as they sit in the box, and if you don’t sift it before beginning, it’s going to take a lot of stirring to get the little lumps of floury mix to integrate into the dough. Save yourself some time and just sift it first!
Add the pumpkin puree to the cake mix, and stir until all of those aforementioned lumps of flour are gone, and the mixture is a thick, sticky dough.
Add as many chocolate chips as you think it needs, then add another handful for good measure. I like to use semi-sweet chips in almost all of my baking, and these cookies are no exception. Bittersweet chips would be great too!
Scoop the dough in generous tablespoons on a baking sheet, then press 2-3 chips into the top before they go into the oven. This will give you those picture-perfect melting chocolate chips on top of the cookies! Then bake & cool. While you wait, check out this delicious Halloween Red Velvet Hot Chocolate recipe and then devour your cookies!
3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Variations
There are so many ways you can play with this recipe! Instead of cookies, scrape the dough into a 9×13 pan and make pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars. Or omit the chocolate chips and use the dough to make whoopie pies! You can also experiment with different mix-ins, like nuts, butterscotch chips, toffee pieces, chopped candy bars, white chocolate chips, and much more!
🎃 More Pumpkin Desserts
- Pumpkin Bread Truffles
- Pumpkin Fudge
- Pumpkin Cookie Bars
- Pumpkin Hot Chocolate
- Pumpkin Marshmallows
- Patterned Pumpkin Roll
- Pumpkin Pound Cake
- Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake
Pumpkin Pie Mousse Cups
3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 box spice cake mix, or other flavor
- 15 oz canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift the cake mix into a large bowl.
- Add the can of pumpkin puree, and stir well until the cake mix is moistened and there are no small flour lumps left in the dough.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir them in as well, reserving a handful of chips.
- Scoop the dough by generous tablespoons out onto the baking sheets, leaving a few inches in between. Press 2-3 reserved chocolate chips on top of each cookie dough ball.
- Bake the cookies at 350 F for 13-16 minutes, until they’re puffed and the center has lost the raw shine and just started to show cracks. They won’t darken much so don’t look to the color as an indicator of when they are done.
- Cool completely on a wire rack, then serve!
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Nutrition
My son in the Army asked for cookies like this. So I tried this one and he is HOOKED . I get requests for them twice a month. And what my boy wants…this mama bakes!! Thank you so much !!
I’ve been making this recipe for years, but this time I jazzed it up by also adding in dark chocolate pieces, walnuts & pecans. It was amazing!! Plus I didn’t have a spice cake mix only a yellow cake mix, I added 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice to make my own version of a spice cake mix. It turned out great, it’s my families new favorite holiday cookie.
Your additions sound delicious! (I am SUCH a pecan person, I would add them to anything!) Thanks also for the tip about the yellow cake mix and pumpkin pie spice, I’m sure other readers will find that helpful. Thanks Lisa Marie!
I must admit that I did not make the truffles from scratch (I used Costco truffles) and I actually found this recipe because I was looking for a recipe that I could use the truffles for since I had no chocolate chips. The cookie dough was phenomenal and held together well! Sorry for not following your recipe to a tee but I will come back to it to do it properly!! So delicious and a perfect balance of sweet.
Swapping chocolate chips for truffles sounds so delicious! Thanks for sharing your idea, and glad you loved the cookies!
Delicious and very easy!
Thanks Crystal!
Was wondering if you could roll these in ball and roll in cinnamon and sugar
I haven’t tried that but it sounds delicious! Come back and let us know how they turned out!
So So chocolatey!! I should have used a smaller scoop so I could eat more of them at one time. They turned out a little chewy I think because I needed to use a gluten free cake mix. I also think I used too much spice. If I could have followed the recipe exactly as written, I think they would have been perfect. I saw someone else recommend reducing the chocolate but I think biting in and getting a mouthful of chocolate is definitely the way to go!!
Hi Becky, I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the chocolate as much as I do! Thank you for your comment!
I just made these and went right by the recipe. The consistency is rubbery and weird.
Hi Sheila, I am sorry to hear the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies didn’t turn out. I’d be happy to help troubleshoot what may have happened, you can email me at elizabeth@sugarhero.com with more details.
Can these be frozen? My students are planning a Thanksgiving meal and I’d like to have them prep these ahead of time, but we only cook on Tuesdays.
Hi Adriana, yes the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies can be frozen! I hope your students enjoy them!
I made the muffins and cookies at Halloween everyone is still raving !!! Just made 2 batches of this recipe and there gone already !!! I’m going to have to make mountains for thanksgiving THANK YOU SO MUCH !! Please send ideas for Christmas that are just as simple and perfect !!!
Hi Julie! I am pleased to hear you all loved the cookies! You can find recipes for Christmas on the blog now 🙂
These are great and super easy to make. Any suggestions of how to store them? They are moist and I just don’t want them to mold super quick. Thanks in advance!
Hi Sarah, these cookies store best in an airtight container. If you want to make them in advance, they can also be frozen!