Pumpkin, Raisin & Nut Cookies

These pumpkin cookies skip the eggs entirely. Two cups of pumpkin puree provide the moisture, binding, and structure that eggs usually supply, making this an accidental vegan recipe (or easy to make fully vegan by ensuring the sugar is vegan-friendly). The result is a soft, cakey cookie that stays tender for days.

The spice blend (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) is classic pumpkin pie territory and brings autumn into every bite. The ginger especially is worth including. It adds a subtle warmth that cuts through the brown sugar sweetness and keeps the cookies from tasting cloying.

Vegetable oil instead of butter is the smart choice here. Pumpkin and oil-based cookies stay soft longer than butter-based ones; the fat distribution doesn’t solidify the same way. These cookies are fresh-tasting on day four.

The yield is enormous (8 dozen) which makes this a holiday-baking workhorse. Halve the recipe if you don’t need that volume, but the dough also freezes well in scoops on a sheet, then bagged for later baking.

Pro Tips

• Use pure canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling is pre-sweetened and pre-spiced and will throw off the balance.
• Plump the raisins in warm water or rum for 15 minutes before adding for plumper, juicier bursts in the cookies.
• Cool completely on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring. Pumpkin cookies are fragile when hot and tear if moved too soon.

Variations

• Add 1 cup of chocolate chips along with the raisins for chocolate-pumpkin combo cookies.
• Swap raisins for dried cranberries for tart-sweet bursts that complement the pumpkin.
• Use chopped pecans or walnuts as the nuts; both work well, walnuts more traditional.

Kitchen Tips

• Drop the dough in mounds and don’t flatten. These need height to stay cakey. Flattened pumpkin cookies bake into crisp discs instead.