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Pumpkin Spice Fudge Cookies

Pumpkin Fudge Cookies

Alice Medrich’s recipe for cocoa fudge cookies is one of my favorite chocolate cookie recipes. Not only are they delicious, but the cookies are also quite low in fat. The secret ingredient in these cookies is yogurt, which adds moisture and tenderness to the cookies without adding in a lot of extra butter or oil. These pumpkin spice fudge cookies are little more than a riff off of the original recipe, only they use pumpkin puree instead of the yogurt originally called for.

The substitution is an easy one-to-one using canned pumpkin because it actually has a similar consistency to the Greek yogurt that I normally use in baking. It should be the same for most brands, although if you find that your pumpkin is unusually thick or dry (or if you’re using leftover roasted pumpkin and pureeing it yourself), you can whisk a tablespoon or so of water into the pumpkin to juice it up.

You can’t taste any of the pumpkin itself in the finished cookies because it is just too mild compared to the strong chocolate flavor of the cocoa powder. This isn’t a bad thing, but to give a little hint of the pumpkin’s presence in the dough I also decided to mix in some of my homemade pumpkin pie spice. The spiciness works very well with the chocolate and adds a little something extra to push these chewy, fudgy cookies over the top.

Pumpkin Spice Fudge Cookies
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
7 tbsp cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugars. Stir in pumpkin puree and and vanilla extract, mixing until batter is smooth. Add in the flour mixture and stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir in mini chocolate chips, if using.
Drop tablespoonfuls of batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Press down slightly to flatten; cookies will not spread too much
Bake at 350F for 9-12 minutes or until set and slightly firm at the edges. Cool on baking sheet for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen.

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17 Comments
  • Hannah
    October 29, 2008

    Yum! Those look wonderful……….I am addicted to anything pumpkin!

  • Joy the Baker
    October 29, 2008

    I totally like the idea of a hint of pumpkin in a luscious chocolate cookie. Yum! Great recipe!

  • Krishna Kumar
    October 30, 2008

    Hi,
    I am from INDIA. I am mad & crazed about both Pumpkins & chocolates & this recipes is going to rock in for me truely,

    Thanks for such a delicious recipes from your end,
    Extremely happy from this development,

    Thanks & Regards,
    Krishna

  • Linda
    October 31, 2008

    Nicole, would sweet potato puree work as well? I don’t happen to have any canned pumpkin at the moment but saw I have a can of sweet potato puree. 🙂

  • Nicole
    October 31, 2008

    Linda – The cookies might be a little sweeter than they are with just the pumpkin, but it should work out just fine. In fact, it sounds like a very tasty idea – go for it!

  • Jennifer
    November 1, 2008

    ARGH!! You have a typo– you say 2 cups of flour (which I used). I checked the original recipe and it says 1 cup!

  • Nicole
    November 1, 2008

    Jenifer – Sorry about that! I’m fixing it now!

  • Spiraling
    November 2, 2008

    Hi, this recipe uses twice the flour of the other one you link too. I’m going to use 1c and hope for the best, if it looks runny I’ll add more. Is that right?

    Great site, by the way, yum!

  • Linda
    November 3, 2008

    I got lucky and got the recipe after it was fixed. Mine look a little rougher but I didn’t roll them or flatten them particularly for baking. I like the rough look. I did wait for pumpkin since I didn’t want them oversweet. I’ll wait and use the sweet potato for the new recipe with buttermilk and sweet potato. Thanks for giving me a recipe to use my sweet potato puree! 🙂

    I’m baking the last of my fudge pumpkin cookies now. Hopefully they will be enjoyed! Thanks as always for all the great recipes!!

  • Jenny
    October 17, 2009

    I’m making these tmr!! Can’t wait. Chocolate and pumpkin sound good.

  • Jenny
    October 18, 2009

    These are sooo good. I just ate my first one! I only made 1 dozen with this recipe though, is it just me or have other people not been able to make 2 dozen either? They’d be tiny at 2 dozen with this recipe! Next time I’m doing a double batch.

  • cookiehole69
    January 29, 2014

    yum these cookies are real yum y’all

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