Chewy Keto Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Published September 15, 2019 • Updated February 27, 2026
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I developed this recipe because I wanted a pumpkin cookie that actually tasted like the real thing. Not cakey, not crumbly, not “healthy tasting.” Soft and chewy with edges that get just barely crisp. That took me four rounds of testing to figure out, and the difference came down to three things: moisture control, cold cream cheese, and the right spice ratio.
The biggest mistake I see with pumpkin baking is too much moisture. Canned pumpkin puree is wet, and if you don’t account for that, your cookies spread flat and never set up in the middle. I spoon my puree onto a paper towel and press out the extra liquid for about 30 seconds before mixing it in. That single step changed everything for me. The dough holds its shape on the baking sheet and the centers stay thick.
Cream cheese is the other key. I use it cold, cut into small pieces, and cream it with the butter. Cold cream cheese creates pockets that melt during baking and give you that dense, chewy pull instead of a cakey crumb. If you’ve made my keto almond flour chocolate chip cookies, you know the texture I’m going for. Same principle, different flavor profile.
The spice blend here is cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. I almost simplified it down to just cinnamon during testing because allspice can be polarizing. But when I pulled the batch without it out of the oven, something was missing. The allspice rounds out the pumpkin flavor in a way cinnamon alone can’t. One reader, Josh, said the cinnamon and allspice hitting the kitchen air took him straight back to his mom’s November baking. That’s the reaction I was after.
For the chips, I use a full cup of sugar-free ones. They need to be keto-friendly (I like Lily’s or ChocZero) because regular chips will spike the carb count. The chocolate works against the warm spices the same way it does in my best keto chocolate chip cookies, but the pumpkin adds this earthy sweetness underneath that I love.
If you’re into pumpkin season baking, I have a whole lineup. My healthy pumpkin cookies are a lighter take, and my keto pumpkin whoopie pies go all in with cream cheese filling. These low carb cookies sit right in the middle: indulgent enough to feel like a treat but simple enough to make on a Tuesday.
The yield is about 18-20 cookies if you scoop them at 1 inch, which is what I recommend. Smaller scoops bake faster and get crispier; bigger ones stay softer in the center. Either way, they hold up for 3 days at room temperature and freeze well if you want to batch them out for the whole season.
How to Make Chewy Pumpkin Cookies with Almond Flour
Mixing order matters more than you’d think with almond flour cookies. Cream the butter and cold cream cheese first until smooth, then add the sweetener and egg. The pumpkin puree goes in next (blot it dry on a paper towel first), and the dry ingredients fold in last. Overmix the dry ingredients and you get tough cookies.
Press each dough ball flat with your fingers before baking. These won’t spread much on their own because almond flour doesn’t behave like wheat flour. If you skip the press, you’ll get round puffs instead of flat cookies. I scoop mine at about 1 inch and press to roughly 1/2 inch thick.
Pull them at 12 minutes when the edges just start to brown. They’ll look underdone in the center, and that’s what you want. They firm up as they cool. Give them at least 2 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a wire rack, or they’ll fall apart.
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Ingredients
1 1/2 cups almond flour -
1/2 cup coconut flour
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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1 teaspoon salt
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1/2 teaspoon baking soda
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2 teaspoons cinnamon
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1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
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1/4 teaspoon allspice
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1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
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1/2 cup cream cheese, cold & cut inot pieces
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1/4 cup golden monk fruit sweetener
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1/2 cup erythritol
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1 egg, optional
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3/4 cup pumpkin puree
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1 teaspoon vanilla
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1 cup keto approved chocolate chips
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat oven
Preheat the oven to 325.
Combine dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients – flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Whisk until combined and set aside.
Cream butter, cream cheese and egg
In a large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, egg – if using, and sweeteners.
Add pumpkin
Stir in pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and continue to mix until combined.
Mix the dough
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the sugar-free chocolate chips.
Scoop cookies
Scoop 1 inch balls of cookie dough and place on a parchment-lined baking tray about 1 inch apart. Press down each dough ball with your fingers.
Bake
Bake at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes or until starting to brown around the edges. Remove from oven, let cool for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Why are my keto pumpkin cookies cakey instead of chewy?
I went through this during testing. Nine times out of ten, it's too much moisture in the pumpkin puree. I blot mine on a paper towel before mixing, which pulls out the extra liquid that makes cookies spread and stay soft. The other fix is using cold cream cheese instead of softened. Cold cream cheese creates dense pockets that give you chew instead of cake. If you did both and they're still puffy, check your baking powder, too much will make them rise like muffins. My chewy keto peanut butter cookies use the same cold cream cheese method if you want to compare the texture.
Should I drain or blot the pumpkin puree before using it?
I always blot mine. I spoon the puree onto a double layer of paper towel and press gently for about 30 seconds. You'll see the moisture soak through immediately. I tested a batch without blotting and the cookies came out flat and wet in the center. It's one extra step, but it's the difference between cookies that hold their shape and ones that don't.
What's the difference between pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling?
Pumpkin puree is just cooked, mashed pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling has sugar, spices, and thickeners already mixed in. I only use pure puree (Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin is my go-to) because I want to control the sweetener and spice levels myself. If you accidentally grab pie filling, your cookies will be too sweet and the spice balance will be off.
Which sugar-free chocolate chips work best for these cookies?
I've tried most of them at this point. Lily's are my everyday pick because they melt well and hold their shape in the cookie. ChocZero is slightly richer if you like a darker chocolate flavor. Both work here. I'd avoid chopping up a sugar-free chocolate bar. The pieces melt unevenly and you get chocolate smears instead of distinct chips throughout.
Does the sweetener I use change the texture of these cookies?
Yes, and I've tested several. Erythritol makes cookies firmer and crispier. It also crystallizes as cookies cool, which gives a slight crunch on the outside. Allulose keeps them softer and chewier, but they brown faster so pull them a minute early. My recipe uses a mix of erythritol and monk fruit sweetener. If you swap to all allulose, reduce oven temp to 315 and watch them closely. Any 1:1 sugar replacement works, but the texture will shift slightly with each one.
Can I freeze the dough or baked cookies?
Both. I freeze dough balls all the time with this recipe. Scoop them onto a sheet pan, freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake straight from frozen and add 2-3 minutes to the time. The pumpkin holds up fine after freezing. Baked cookies freeze well too, up to 3 months. I layer them between parchment in an airtight container. They thaw in about 20 minutes at room temperature.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
About 18-20 if you scoop at 1 inch, which is what I do. If you go bigger with a regular cookie scoop, you'll get closer to 12-14 and they'll need an extra minute or two in the oven. The size is really up to you. I prefer smaller ones because the edge-to-center ratio is better and you get more crispy surface area.
Can I make these dairy-free?
I've made them with coconut oil instead of butter and dairy-free cream cheese (Kite Hill is my favorite brand for baking). They come out slightly denser but still chewy and good. If you can't find dairy-free cream cheese, skip it entirely and use all coconut oil. The texture won't be quite as rich but it works. For a cookie that's naturally dairy-free, my keto no bake cookies are a good option.
These chocolate chip pumpkin cookies are thick and chewy thanks to their main ingredient – pumpkin puree. They’re perfect as an afternoon snack or after-dinner treat, especially in Fall when everything tastes better with pumpkin.
To keep these keto-friendly, I use almond flour and coconut flour instead of wheat flour. The combination of the two gives you a taste and texture similar to regular cookies without the carbs.
Pumpkin has more carbs than most vegetables, but the amount in this recipe is small. The whole batch uses less than a cup of pumpkin puree, which adds less than 10 grams of carbs across all 36 cookies.
Use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The pie filling is loaded with sugar and spices you don’t want. Look for cans that say “100% pumpkin puree” with pumpkin as the only ingredient.
Used half Lily's dark chocolate chips and half white chocolate, and the allspice really comes through now that there's less bitterness competing with it.
White chocolate doesn't fight it. The allspice gets more room. Makes sense.
My son is the one who requested these on a Sunday in April, which tells you something because he's usually indifferent to anything without frosting. I made them as a way to get back on track after a rough eating week, and he wandered into the kitchen while they were baking and announced the whole house smelled like Thanksgiving. He's twelve and has strong opinions about cookies, and these apparently passed on the grounds that the allspice 'makes them taste real.' I wasn't expecting pumpkin to hold up well into spring but the spice combination works regardless of season. The cream cheese in the dough keeps them soft in a way that most keto cookies just aren't. Going to double the batch next time because four cookies each doesn't go very far.
A twelve-year-old calling allspice 'real' is the best note I've gotten on this recipe. I almost cut it during testing. Double batch for sure, four cookies doesn't last.
Browned the butter instead of softening it and now there's this almost toffee-y thing underneath the allspice that I wasn't expecting. Still a little softer than I'd want, but that swap makes it really hard to stop at one.
Pulled the moisture out of the pumpkin puree with a few layers of paper towels before adding it in, and these came out completely different from my first batch, less cakey, actual chew to them the way the name suggests. First time I skipped that step and the middles stayed a little soft in a way that bothered me (still ate them, but still). Also the allspice is not optional, don't skip it, that's what separates these from just sweet almond flour cookies. Thinking about trying Lily's dark chips next round instead of the semi-sweet.
The blotting makes such a difference, I do it every batch. Lily's dark is worth trying here, it's a little less sweet which works better with the allspice than the semi-sweet does.
Brought these to a small spring get-together over the weekend and the allspice kept throwing people off in the best way. My friend Julie, who I've never seen eat more than one cookie at a party, grabbed a second before I even set the tray down properly. When I mentioned they were keto she looked genuinely skeptical, picked up another, and said 'no they're not.' The dough was thicker than I expected going in, which is actually what made them travel so well, nothing squished or crumbled in the container. Making them again for my sister's place this weekend, this time a double batch.
One thing I figured out the hard way: the cream cheese needs to be cold. First batch I used it at room temp because that's what I do for every other cookie recipe, and the dough turned into this sticky mess I could barely scoop. Second batch, straight from the fridge and cut into chunks like it says, held together completely. Also swapped in Lily's dark chocolate chips and let them go an extra minute past the timer, so they got these melty pockets instead of just chips sitting on top. Four stars because I wrecked the first attempt entirely on my own, but now that I know the cream cheese thing I'm not going back. Spring cleaning batch two is already cooling on the counter.
Cold is intentional, room temp cream cheese turns the dough into exactly what you described. Lily's dark plus an extra minute for melty pockets is better than intact chips anyway.
New to keto baking, these look like a good starter recipe. The cold cream cheese while the butter's softened is throwing me off a bit though. Is that intentional? Or would both at room temp work?
Cold is intentional. The pieces stay a little separate when you mix, which is what creates that chewier texture. Both at room temp would blend together and you'd end up with something more cakey.
Mine spread way more than expected (first batch was basically flat) but honestly the allspice is what made them.
The spreading is almost always the pumpkin. I blot mine on a paper towel before mixing, pulls out a surprising amount of liquid. And yeah, I almost cut the allspice during testing.
Made these on a Sunday afternoon and my daughter, who is 14 and usually unimpressed by anything I bake, stopped in the kitchen doorway and asked what smelled different. The allspice. She could not place it but said the cookies tasted like fall from a bakery. I did not tell her it was keto. The cream cheese in the dough does something to the texture I was not expecting, almost like a chewy shortbread. Going in the regular rotation.
A 14-year-old stopping in the doorway to ask what that smell is. That's the review. The allspice almost came out during testing, really glad I didn't.
Brought these to a spring get-together at my friend's house, and her roommate who doesn't eat keto ended up asking to look at the nutrition label after trying one. The allspice is what got her. I'm giving it four stars because my first batch spread too thin since my butter was too warm, but the second batch came out thick and soft the way they're supposed to.
Non-keto person reaching for the label after one. That's the point of all of it. Butter temp matters more than people expect with these. Cold everything.
I almost skipped this because I couldn't picture cream cheese in a cookie dough working. Made it anyway out of curiosity and now I'm freaking annoyed that I doubted it. The texture is thick and soft with none of that dry, crumbly thing that kills most keto cookies. The allspice is quiet but you'd notice if it wasn't there. Four stars because I still haven't nailed my bake time, mine were perfect at 18 minutes, but that's on my oven.
Cold cream cheese in pieces is what does it. And 18 minutes is pretty much where mine land too, so your oven is probably right.
Didn't realize the cold part was actually doing something, I just used it straight from the fridge by accident. Makes more sense now.
Brought these to a cookie swap and the person who runs it (she bakes everything from scratch and absolutely judges you) pulled me aside to ask what I used because the spice combination was different from every other pumpkin cookie there. Had to come clean that they were keto and she literally stopped mid-conversation to look up the site on her phone. The allspice is doing something I did not expect - it just tastes more like an actual bakery cookie and less like 'healthy substitute.' Making them again for a Super Bowl thing next weekend.
From-scratch baker stopping mid-conversation to pull up the site. That's everything. They hold up at room temp well, no reheating needed, which makes them good for the Super Bowl thing.
My mom made pumpkin cookies every November, and I've been chasing that memory since going keto three years ago. Made these last Sunday with Lily's chips and when the cinnamon and allspice hit the kitchen air, I just stood there for a second. I wasn't expecting that. These aren't a keto swap. They're the real thing now.
The allspice does that every time. I almost simplified it out during testing. Glad I didn't.
Making a double batch of these for my daughter's class Valentine's party next week - can I freeze the dough now and bake them fresh Friday morning, or will the pumpkin puree get weird after freezing?
Yes freeze the dough balls now. I've done it with this recipe and the pumpkin holds up fine. Bake straight from frozen, just add 2-3 minutes to the time.
These are great! Can you freeze them?
Yes, you can freeze them.