Thick and chewy brown butter pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
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pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
If your favorite cookie is an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (like mine) and you’re ready for fall (also like me), these are the perfect cookies for you! These are super thick and chewy, filled with brown butter, pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice flavor, and have pools of melty chocolate throughout.
why you’ll love these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies:
- Brown butter: brown butter is truly a cheat code to a more delicious, flavorful cookie.
- Pumpkin: the addition of pumpkin turns these from regular oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, to fall oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
- They’re super easy to make: the cookie dough comes together in one bowl, no stand mixer or hand mixer required.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
pat the pumpkin puree dry
We’re adding pumpkin puree into the dough which contains a *lot* of moisture. In order to get more pumpkin flavor into the dough without adding too much moisture, we’re going to remove a lot of the moisture from the pumpkin puree. You can use a napkin to wrap up and gently squeeze out some of the water, or pat the pumpkin puree. You’ll want to keep doing this until you are left with only 60g (half of the amount we start with!) What you’re left with is a more concentrated pumpkin puree that’s going to add a lot of delicious pumpkin flavor to the dough.
Mix the dough carefully:
When adding in the flour, only fold the mixture just until no flour streaks remain. Over mixing the dough leads to more gluten formation, which can make the cookies thicker and more tough in texture.
chill the cookies prior to baking
I know, I know – it’s frustrating to have to wait! However, because we’re using melted brown butter, we want to give the dough time to firm up. Letting the cookie dough chill just a little bit in the fridge means that the cookies will bake up thicker. This also gives the flavors a little bit of time to meld together.
Under bake for perfect cookies:
Cookies continue baking after they have been taken out of the oven. Once the edges turn slightly golden brown, and the cookies look just a little wet on top still, they are ready to come out. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
The secret to perfectly round cookies:
Wanna know the secret to perfectly round cookies? It’s cookie scooting! Right when the cookies come out of the oven, take a bowl, cup, or biscuit cutter that is just slightly larger than your cookies and place it over one of the cookies. Gently swirl the bowl around the cookie to make the cookie perfectly round (and slightly thicker). And that’s all there is to it!
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies:
- All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
- Rolled oats: I recommend rolled oats for the best texture.
- Baking powder & baking soda: for helping the cookies rise.
- Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the cookies
- Pumpkin pie spice: for flavor! You can omit this if you’re not a fan.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the cookies. We’ll also be browning the butter for some extra delicious toasty flavor. If you’re looking to make this dairy-free, Miyoko’s Creamery vegan butter has the ability to brown just like regular butter and works like a charm.
- Pumpkin puree: make sure the puree is 100% pure pumpkin and is not pumpkin pie filling! The only ingredient listed should be pumpkin.
- Granulated sugar & dark brown sugar: a combination of both gives us cookies with crispy edges and soft and chewy centers.
- Egg: for binding and for moisture.
- Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
- Semi-sweet chocolate: I recommend semi-sweet or dark chocolate. Please note that if you use all chocolate chips, the cookies will bake up a little thicker, and if you use all chopped chocolate, they will be a tad thinner.
how to make pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Here’s a little look into the process of making these cookies. The full recipe is at the end of this blog post!
pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe q&a
What is brown butter?
Brown butter is super simple to make so don’t worry! It’s just regular butter that is cooked on the stove until some of the moisture evaporates, allowing the milk solids in the butter to be toasted. The result is this butter with an amber hue and little speckles that has a toasted and slightly nutty aroma.
can I double this recipe?
Definitely – please be sure to use grams for the best results.
can I make these cookies ahead of time?
Definitely – cookie dough really only gets better with time. You can keep the cookie dough tightly covered in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking. For longer term storage, you can also freeze the cookie dough balls. Just be sure to take the dough out of the fridge at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before you want to bake, so that it becomes soft enough to scoop again.
How to store pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to 5 days, but will taste the best 1-3 days after baking.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 113 g unsalted butter (½ c.)
- 120 g pumpkin puree (½ c.)
- 100 g dark brown sugar (½ c.)
- 50 g granulated sugar (¼ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 130 g all purpose flour (1 c. + 1 ⅓ tbsp.)
- 80 g rolled oats (¾ c. + 2 tbsp.)
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 130 g semi-sweet chocolate (discs, bar, chips) (¾ c.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or with a silicone mat.
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, brown the butter. Stir the butter occasionally until it turns amber in color and develops little brown specks. At this point, weigh your brown butter to make sure you have at least 90g. If you have a little less, mix in some water until you reach 90g.
- Transfer the brown butter to a medium sized mixing bowl and set it in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill. In the meantime, chop up your chocolate bar if using one and prep the pumpkin puree.
- Use a napkin or cheesecloth to gently strain water out of the pumpkin puree. (You may need multiple napkins) Continue to squeeze/pat water out of the puree until you are left with only 60g of pumpkin puree.
- Once the butter has cooled, whisk the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar into it.
- Whisk in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add in the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together until a few flour streaks remain.
- Add in the chopped chocolate and fold just until no flour streaks remain.
- Scoop out heaping 3 tbsp. scoops of dough, setting them on the cookie sheet at least 2" apart to allow room for spreading.
- Top each cookie with additional chocolate (optional – but recommended!)
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges of the cookie have set.
- Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, you can take a bowl that is slightly larger than the cookies and swirl it around over them to make them a little more uniform and circular.
- Allow the cookies to rest on the hot baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
another amazing recipe! just made these using fresh pumpkin puree and quick oats since that’s all i had on hand and wow they were so delicious and soft and chewy!! always love the addition of the brown butter – adds such a lovely depth of flavour 🙂
Thank you so much Emily! I’m so happy you liked the recipe – I’ll have to try it with fresh pumpkin puree sometime! 🙂
These are so tasty! The pumpkin cookie itself is delicious and the oats add a wonderful texture! I underbaked them and let them sit on the pan for a while and they were perfect. The brown butter also added a perfect pop of flavor!
Ah thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
These are so tasty! I love oatmeal cookies and they’re perfect for fall. Plus having a small batch is perfect for me since my partner isn’t a dessert person. Definitely recommend!