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Pumpkin puree adds moisture to these soft cookies with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and broken graham crackers. Keep portions consistent and bake a small test tray first. Exposed marshmallow can spread and stick, so lined trays and a short cooling period help with removal.
This formula contains one-half cup of plain pumpkin puree. Pumpkin pie spice alone does not replace it, and sweetened pie filling changes the sugar and moisture balance. Stir the puree before measuring.
Ingredient amounts and preparation
- Set out: 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Set out: 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- Set out: 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Set out: 1 large egg
- Set out: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Set out: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Set out: 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Set out: 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Set out: 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Set out: 1 cup chocolate chips
- Set out: 1 cup mini marshmallows
- Set out: 8 graham crackers, broken into small pieces
- Set out: 1 teaspoon orange food coloring, optional; 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Cooking sequence and doneness
- Stage 1
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Stage 2
- Cream softened butter with brown and white sugars until evenly lighter.
- Stage 3
- Beat in pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla, adding the optional coloring only if wanted.
- Stage 4
- Whisk flour, baking soda, pumpkin spice and salt separately. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture until no flour streaks remain.
- Stage 5
- Stir in chocolate chips, marshmallows and small graham-cracker pieces.
- Stage 6
- Portion a few rounded tablespoons of dough onto a cool lined tray with ample space.
- Stage 7
- Bake the test tray, checking from twelve minutes until the edges and centers are set.
- Stage 8
- Adjust the remaining trays to that observed time and chill soft dough if it slumps. Rest the cookies on the tray several minutes before lifting to a rack and cooling completely.
Fold them through the dough, then tuck large exposed pieces into the tops of the portions when possible. Marshmallows directly against the tray can melt into sticky edges. Use parchment and lift cooled cookies with a broad spatula.
Why bake a test tray?
The original thirty-to-forty-five-minute cookie estimate was not tied to a portion size. Start with rounded tablespoon portions and check after twelve minutes, continuing until the edges and centers are set. Use that first tray to judge the remaining dough rather than assuming every oven needs the same time. Use softened but still-solid butter for creaming. Pumpkin makes this dough moist already; melted or oily butter can encourage spreading. If shaped portions slump quickly, chill the remaining dough until easier to scoop without adding unmeasured flour.
How are the graham crackers prepared?
Break the eight crackers into small pieces that fit comfortably in a spoonful of dough. Avoid both large shards and a complete powder. The pieces soften somewhat in the pumpkin dough, so these are not guaranteed to have a crisp graham-cracker texture.
Storage and serving later
Let the baked pieces cool completely before closing a storage container, so trapped steam does not wet the surface. Keep any perishable filling or accompaniment under its own refrigerated-storage instructions.
For another complete recipe, see Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars with Cinnamon or Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies with Molasses. Each has its own ingredient quantities and cooking sequence; keep those measurements separate when choosing a meal. King Arthur’s creaming guide explains how butter condition affects mixing. That guide concerns recipes using softened butter; where this recipe calls for melted butter, follow its separate mixing sequence. The guide does not establish testing of this formula.
Common Questions About This Recipe
- Is pumpkin puree actually included?
This formula contains one-half cup of plain pumpkin puree. Pumpkin pie spice alone does not replace it, and sweetened pie filling changes the sugar and moisture balance.
- How should the marshmallows be positioned?
Fold them through the dough, then tuck large exposed pieces into the tops of the portions when possible. Marshmallows directly against the tray can melt into sticky edges.
- Why bake a test tray?
The original thirty-to-forty-five-minute cookie estimate was not tied to a portion size. Start with rounded tablespoon portions and check after twelve minutes, continuing until the edges and centers are set.
- Should the butter be very warm?
Use softened but still-solid butter for creaming. Pumpkin makes this dough moist already; melted or oily butter can encourage spreading.
- How are the graham crackers prepared?
Break the eight crackers into small pieces that fit comfortably in a spoonful of dough. Avoid both large shards and a complete powder.