Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and beautifully spiced with a combination of fall-time warming spices. Optionally, add on a sweet, pumpkin-spiced glaze.
Looking for a pumpkin and chocolate cookie combo? Try our Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Or try our Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies.
What To Expect From These Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
These cookies are adapted from my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, which were developed to be more cookie than cake–like. I wanted these cookies to have crisp edges with a soft, chewy interior. No cake-y consistency here!
To accomplish this, we use only an egg yolk (instead of a full egg) and only add in 1/2 cup pumpkin. More pumpkin would deliver that cake-like consistency. But because there isn’t too much pumpkin, these cookies also don’t have a super-strong pumpkin flavor. Rather, they’re more pumpkin spiced.
That said, the day after they’re made, the flavors have intensified quite a bit, giving them a more present pumpkin flavor. This is actually when we like these cookies the best!
These Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies are sweet, perfectly fall-spiced, and have the best texture. The pumpkin-spice glaze on top is the ultimate finishing touch — these cookies are divine!
What Pumpkin To Use
Pumpkin is generally what makes oatmeal pumpkin cookies more cake-like instead of cookie-like. It contains a lot of moisture, and that affects the texture.
- Be sure to use the exact measurements of pumpkin as written in this Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies recipe. Fill measuring cups and level off the top.
- Use good, firm pumpkin. If your canned pumpkin is watery, these cookies won’t taste as good and the texture will be off (less crisp). I recommend Libby’s® canned pumpkin (not sponsored).
- Make sure to use the right type of canned pumpkin! Pumpkin pie mix contains cooked, pureed pumpkin PLUS milk, sweetener, and spices. It’s ready to pour in a pie shell and bake. This is NOT what we want. Look for 100% pure cooked and pureed pumpkin. The ingredient list should show only pumpkin puree.
Favorite Cookie Baking Tools
- Silicone liner. We recommend baking each pumpkin oatmeal cookie on a silicone tray liner — they bake evenly and the bottoms won’t get too crispy when baking on a mat.
- Food scale. A food scale ensures even-sized cookie dough balls, which yields evenly baked pumpkin oatmeal cookies. If you’re simply eyeballing portions, you may end up with some slightly over-baked cookies while other cookies aren’t fully baked through because of inconsistent sizes. Additionally, measuring flour can vary from person to person and is usually the culprit for cookies not working out. If you have a food scale, use that instead of measuring cups.
- Hand mixer or a stand mixer. To get the right dough consistency, you’ll need to use a mixer. When creaming together the butter and brown sugar, we’re looking for a thick and creamy mixture similar in consistency to peanut butter. You can’t achieve this consistency with a wooden spoon.
How To Make Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Use room-temperature ingredients. It’s really important that the butter is at room temperature to cream with the sugars properly.
- Use quick oats. Although it would make sense that any oats would work, they aren’t interchangeable here. Quick oats act more like flour since they are small, dense, and compact.
- Bang the pan. The “secret” to avoiding any cake-like texture in these Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies? Right out of the oven, hold both sides of the cookie sheet and bang the pan on the counter a few times to flatten. Think of it as popping bubbles in the cookie!
Storage
Enjoying This Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
After baking the Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, let them cool completely on a wire rack. (This will keep the bottoms from getting soggy from the steam.) Allow the cookies to cool completely before glazing and digging in!
Most cookies are the best right out of the oven, but these ones aren’t. We actually like these cookies best at room temperature — and they’re even better (with a much more pronounced pumpkin flavor) the next day! We don’t cover these cookies — just leave them on a plate at room temperature — this keeps them from becoming too moist and losing texture.
Can You Freeze Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies?
Instead of freezing baked and glazed cookies, freeze the dough!
To do so: Drop the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake: You can bake these cookies straight from the freezer. There is no need to thaw them, but you may need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time.
Use Leftover Pumpkin In One Of These Recipes:
- Pumpkin Muffins big, beautiful, bakery-style muffins
- Pumpkin Bars with luscious cream cheese frosting
- No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake with a graham cracker crust
- Pumpkin Pie Recipe with a homemade pie crust recipe
- Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping and a quick glaze
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (12 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature (Note 1)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
- 1 large egg yolk (discard or save the whites for another recipe)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (Note 2)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1-1/2 cups quick oats (Note 3)
- 1-3/4 cup white, all-purpose flour
Optional Glaze
- 1/4 cup milk (whole preferred)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- WET INGREDIENTS: In a bowl attached to a stand mixer (fitted with whisk attachment) add room temperature (not softened/melted) butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat, scraping edges as needed, until nice and creamy (peanut butter consistency). Add in the pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix to incorporate.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: Add the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and quick oats to the mixture. Beat until combined. Add in flour and beat until no streaks of flour remain, scraping sides of the bowl as needed.
- CHILL DOUGH: Cover and place the bowl of dough in the fridge for 1 hour. (Don't skip this step!)
- FORM COOKIE DOUGH BALLS: Remove dough from fridge and roll into large balls (3 tablespoons (55 grams) each. (See Note 4; batter should make 17-18 cookies.) Dough is a bit sticky and messy! Roll cookie dough balls to be taller instead of wider. Place rolled cookie dough balls on a parchment-paper lined tray or plate and return to the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
- OVEN PREP: While the dough balls are chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
- BAKE: Add only 6 cookie dough balls to a sheet pan at a time, spacing them out well (they spread a lot). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until very lightly browned at the bottom/sides, but slightly gooey in the center. The key to these cookies is slightly under-baking - that will keep them soft and chewy. (If cookies are poofy, right out of the oven, hold both sides of the cookie sheet and bang the pan on the counter a few times to flatten!)
- OPTIONAL: Working quickly, (right after banging the pan), use the back of a large spoon or metal spatula to press the edges of the cookies into the center.
- ENJOY: Allow cookies to stand on the pan for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire cooling rack. Repeat this process to bake all of the cookies. These cookies taste best at room temperature and even better the next day -- the pumpkin flavor has intensified by then!
- OPTIONAL GLAZE: Add milk to a medium pot, heat over low heat until warmed. Add powdered sugar and whisk in slowly until well combined. Remove glaze from heat and stir in pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Dip completely cooled cookies into the glaze, one at a time, and set on a cooling rack atop a sheet pan. Let stand 5 minutes until glaze is hardened. (If glaze starts to harden while dunking cookies, just whisk it up again!) Heads-up: You'll likely have a bit extra glaze, but dipping works best with this quantity.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
