Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This keeps cleanup easy and cookies happy.

In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and glossy.

Add pumpkin puree, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk until fully combined. The mixture should look creamy and smell like fall already.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, and salt.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Fold gently with a spatula. Don’t overmix. Stop when you no longer see dry flour.

Fold in the chocolate chips. I usually save a handful to press on top because pretty cookies matter to me.

Scoop dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. These cookies don’t spread much, so lightly flatten the tops if you want a more even shape.

Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the tops look set and the edges are just lightly golden.

Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. They firm up as they cool but stay soft inside.