Today’s recipe was originally inspired by one from an NPR segment where a person posted her version of a local grocery store’s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I assumed the local grocery store was Kroger because the cookies sounded similar to some my sister tasted at a Kroger – very spicy, soft and not too sweet. Based on all the rave reviews the Kroger pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were getting, I decided to try the version posted on NPR.
The NPR cookies were very good, but not quite the same. Somewhere around that time I found yet another recipe on the Kroger website for pumpkin cookies. I finally tried it, and wow! They were so good. However, they weren't the same as the ones in the bakery either. They were soft, dense, and while you could might call them cakey, they were kind of a dense and velvety cakey, so not cupcake-like. If you are used to baking with sour cream, you know what I mean.
As for the real Kroger bakery pumpkin cookies, I didn't get to try them until after I'd posted the supposed clone. And I can't say I was surprised that they weren't really similar at all. Here's a picture of the REAL cookies from the bakery. They're very dark and they come in regular size and mini. Their texture is extremely chewy, yet slightly cakey at the same time. This is most likely due to the oil (no butter in the Kroger cookies) and the modified food starch.
Kroger Pumpkin Cookies Ingredient List
Here's a picture of the Kroger bakery pumpkin chocolate chip cookies ingredient list. There's no sour cream, no butter, just oil.
Since the old recipes I had from NPR and Kroger STILL were not like the bakery, I'm going to just refer you to the original Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oil recipe. I also have so many other ones.
More Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sue gave me this recipe years ago. These are soft and cakey and perfect for frosting with buttercream or cream cheese icing. Sue's recipe here.
My daughter is a big fan of the Roasted Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. For this recipe, you bake some of the moisture out of the pumpkin before adding it to the dough.
Here are some Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I haven't made these in a while, but with a few small changes they might come close to Kroger's, seeing as how the ingredient list from the bakery does not include eggs.
Again, not Kroger, but how about a big pumpkin cookie cake?
And finally, why not just try the Taylor Swift recipe? Hers and Miranda Lambert's are next on my list.
patricia Baldock
I'd like to know if the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe for Fred Meyer has molasses in them??
Anna
Hi Jess,
I go to Kroger all the time now, so I'll check the bakery and see if they have those cookies. It's hard to really copy the commercial bakery recipes because commercial bakeries have access to special preservatives, leavening agents and baking fats that give their products specific qualities. It's still fun to try, though!
Jess
Hi Anna. Thanks for the recipe you posted years ago. I noticed a comment left by another Jessica, asking about a recipe for Kroger's soft top cranberry orange cookies. Any luck on that one?? I've been trying to track the recipe down, myself, with no luck. They have a cranberry orange cookies recipe on their website, but its for a different type of cookie, not the deliciously soft and chewy "soft top" cookies I adore.
If you do find a copycat recipe for the Kroger soft top cranberry orange cookies, or any other of their soft top cookies, please let me know!
SGE
Kroger has this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies on their website:
https://www.kroger.com/r/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/102246
Anna
I'll have to look! We don't have Kroger here in Austin, so it makes it kind of hard to really compare.
Lisa Smith
Hi Anna, I have found a recipe for the Pumpkin Choc Chip, how about the Cranberry Orange Soft Tops that they make? Yummmo! I am searching but still have not found one. Any ideas?
jessica
You can make these eggless, you can use egg replacer they sell it at most health food stores or any vegetarian/ vegan stores. It is egg free but you can use it in any recipe as egg. it turns out really good you just have to make sure you measure it properly.
Anna
Hi Laura,
Thanks for the tip! I can see how yellow cake mix might play into it since some bakeries use mixes.
Laura P.
Hi Anna
I just wanted to let uou know..i found a recipe too that called for a yellow cake mix to mimic the recipe from Fred Meyer (in the Pacific Northwest)/Kroger supermarket. I finally made my own recipe but added Raisinets to them..they are unbelievable! I will post it at another time.
Cindy
Anna,
I am allergic to eggs and the Kroger cookies are eggless, do you think i could make the cookies from your recipe and just not add the eggs. I really love the Kroger Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Katherine
Just made half a batch of theses as it is starting to feel like fall around here. They are good - not too sweet - so I added more chocolate chips after I took the first batch out of the oven. I also used pumpkin pie spice instead of the cloves and ginger. They will go great with a chai tea... or a pumpkin latte from Starbucks!! Yummy.
And mine were done in 12 mins.
Kay
Anna,
Over the holidays I recieved a gift of some lemon cloud cookies - they were to die for. I have never tasted anything like them. The cookie was incredibly light and the frosting was tangy and sweet. My whole office went crazy over them. With Spring around the corner, I thought you might enjoy the recipe!
LEMON CLOUDS
By Kay Batchelder
Yield 4-6 dozen
2 c. margarine
2/3 c. powdered sugar
2 c. unsifted flour
1-1/3 c. unsifted cornstarch
Lemon Icing
6 tbl. margarine
1 box powdered sugar
Lemon juice for consistency
Lemon rind (optional)
Cream margarine and sugar. Sift in flour and cornstarch. Mix well. Drop by small teaspoonful on un-greased cookie sheet about one inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Do not brown. Cool and ice.
To prepare icing, cream margarine and powdered sugar, adding lemon juice for consistency. Lemon rind may be added if desired. This recipe may be baked ahead
and frozen. Best if eaten within a day or so.
Enjoy,
Kay
Stacy
Anna - My grandma makes amazing whoopie pies - I'll have to ask her about converting a pumpkin cookie (a soft cookie) into a whoopie pie. Can you tell I love whoopie pies? But I could just eat the cookie as is and be happy as a clam. Just made a dbl batch of choc peanut butter fudge. The cookies will definately have to wait til next week. THX!
Anna
Christine, I just eat small portions of everything. I've gotten use to it over the years and it doesn't bother me. Some days I do eat to many cookies....some weeks actually. When that happens, I drink Pu-ehr tea. I think it helps metabolize the extra cookie calories and settles my stomach. But mostly, I just try to balance it. Like a lot of people who cook, the more the more I do it the less I want to eat and eat. Again, that's most days. Sometimes I eat as I sit there and eat chocolate chips and nuts while I'm baking.
Anna
Maureen, the day I ask you to Fed-Ex me grocery store cookies is the day I've truly gone off the deep end. So no. If you don't care for pumpkin, don't bother. Maybe just carry your camera into Kroger and secretly photograph the cookies. You might get kicked out, of course. Grocery stores hate that.
If the cookies are sold at Kroger year round, I'll just try one next time I'm in a city where there's a Kroger.
Stacy, you could try it. The thing with these cookies is they are rich and dense. They're soft, but they're so rich and dense they might not make the perfect foil to Whoopie Pie filling. They might be more like Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies. Gosh, I can feel myself teetering closer towards madness as I type this.
Maureen
Hi Anna,
I do shop at Kroeger all the time - and I've seen the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but have never tried them. I will pick some up tomorrow and take a photo. I'm not a big fan of pumpkin. Do you think I could take them out to photograph, and then drop them off at a Dr's office? (just kidding) Or should I just fed-ex them to you so you can see and taste the original?
Stacy
Ohhh...you know what make this cookie even more amazing? Make them into a whoopie pie with cream cheese frosting. Ohhhh....have to make these next week!
Anna
Laura, thanks for letting me know. Maybe the person who posted it on NPR is on track. At least it *looks* like a Kroger cookie. Heh.
Therese, you have to scroll a little after you click the link. I'm having problems making a direct link to the exact comment.
Laura
at Kroger I mean.
Laura
I saw a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie that looked just like those the other day, so your probably right.
Therese
Hi Anna!
Help...I tried to get the recipe that you had a link to and it gave me a bunch of recipes. Am I doing something wrong?
I love pumpkin and chocolate chips together!!
Can't wait to try it!