Mom's Pumpkin Cookies

Three full cups of pumpkin go into these drop cookies, making them soft, cakey, and almost impossible to overbake. Chocolate chips and chopped maraschino cherries stud every cookie with melty chocolate and pops of sweet, red fruit.

The pumpkin is the star and the secret. It adds so much moisture that these cookies stay soft for days. They won’t crisp up like a traditional cookie. If you’re expecting crunchy edges, adjust your expectations. These are pillow-soft, closer to a muffin top than a snap cookie, and that’s the whole point.

Cinnamon is the only warm spice, keeping the flavor clean and pumpkin-forward. The cherries are the unexpected addition that makes these different from every other pumpkin cookie recipe. Their sweetness and slight tang brighten each bite.

Kitchen Tips

• Use canned pumpkin puree, not pie filling. Pie filling has sugar and spices already added and will throw off the recipe.
• Chop the cherries and drain them well. Wet cherry pieces bleed red into the batter and add excess moisture.
• Don’t flatten the dough. Drop it in mounds and they’ll spread just enough on their own. Pressing flat makes them too thin.
• Check at 12 minutes. These look underdone when they’re actually ready. They firm up as they cool. Overbaking dries them out.

Variations

• Cream cheese frosting: Top cooled cookies with a quick cream cheese icing for a bakery-style finish.
• White chocolate chips: Swap the chocolate chips for white chocolate for a sweeter, more visually striking cookie.
• Pumpkin spice blend: Add ½ teaspoon each of nutmeg and ginger alongside the cinnamon for a warmer, more complex spice profile.