Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

What makes these Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies the BEST?

• Chewy NOT cakey. When you add pumpkin puree to a cookie recipe, the cookies tend to lean more on the cakey side and I don’t know about you, but I don’t like a cakey cookie. By browning the butter, using enough sugar, and adding cornstarch these cookies stay chewy and perfect.
• No chill time! You can pop these cookies straight into the oven, no chill time required! However, you CAN make these ahead of time and store them covered in the fridge up to overnight. When ready to bake, just place the cookies on the counter to return to room temperature while you preheat the oven and then bake as instructed.
• Subtle pumpkin flavor. These cookies are like regular oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with a HINT of pumpkin and fall spices. They’re perfectly balanced and the pumpkin doesn’t overwhelm the chocolate at all.

Ingredients

• Salted Butter. I say this in every post, but don’t be afraid of using salted butter in dessert recipes! Salt makes sweet things taste better! We’re browning the butter in this recipe – so remember that when you brown butter, you lose some butter volume due to the water in the butter evaporating. So you might need 220-230g of butter to start with to end up with the 185g of browned butter you need for this recipe!
• Dark brown sugar. Usually I would say that light brown sugar is fine to substitute, but in this case the extra molasses that dark brown sugar has is important in helping these cookies turn out chewy and not cakey. If you only have light brown sugar, you could add a tsp of molasses when creaming the butter and sugars.
• Cornstarch. This is what will keep the cookies nice and thick and help them from spreading too much. It will also help create the perfect texture!
• Pumpkin Puree. Make sure it’s 100% pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
• Old Fashioned Oats. It’s important to use old fashioned oats and not instant or quick oats. The quick oats are designed to soak up liquid and cook faster, so they will soak up all of that browned butter and the cookies will turn out dry.
• Mini Semi Sweet Chips. I used mini semi sweet chocolate chips in this recipe, but feel free to use your favorite!

How to Make Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

First, brown the butter. In a light colored (so you can see the bottom!) sauce pan, add the butter and place it over medium heat. The butter will melt, then start to crackle and pop – that’s the water evaporating. Once all the water is gone, the solids will start to toast. The butter will become quiet and start to foam up. If you swirl the pan around you will be able to see the browned bits at the bottom. This whole process will take between 5-7 minutes.

Once the bits are golden brown, remove the butter from the heat and let it come back to room temperature. You can speed this process along by transferring it to a glass measuring cup and placing it in the fridge stirring it every 5 minutes or so. Don’t let it solidify, just bring down the temp a bit! After the butter is browned, you should have 185g of browned butter. If you have less, stir in enough extra butter to get to 185 g.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Then, whisk 185g of browned butter and sugars for 2 minutes or until the mixture lightens in color. Then, add the vanilla extract, egg, and egg yolk. Whisk another 2 minutes. Then, whisk in the pumpkin puree until combined.

Fold in the dry ingredients – flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt until mostly combined. Then add 3/4 C of the chocolate chips (save the rest to top cookies) and fold until everything is fully combined, but be careful not to over mix. The dough should seem slightly wet and a little sticky – that’s ok!

Use a large cookie scoop (3TBSP per cookie) to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Use your fingers to flatten the tops of each cookie just slightly, then top with extra chocolate chips. Bake 6 cookies per tray at 350 degrees F for 11-12 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges look set and golden, but the centers still look slightly under baked. The cookies will finish cooking outside of the oven while they cool on the hot cookie sheet. Top with flaky salt and enjoy!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie FAQs

• Can I make these cookies gluten free? I have not tested it yet, but you should be able to swap the all purpose flour for a gluten free flour replacement like this one from King Arthur Baking. Oats are already gluten free, but sometimes they are processed in facilities that also process products with gluten so cross-contamination sometimes occurs. Just be sure you’re using old fashioned oats that are labeled “gluten-free”
• Can I make these without cornstarch. For best results, I recommend following the original recipe exactly. The cornstarch helps create the perfect chewy texture and also prevents the dough from spreading too much while the cookies bake and is one reason we don’t need to chill the dough. If you make it without cornstarch, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes and just be aware that the texture won’t be EXACTLY the same.
• Can I make the dough ahead of time? Yes. This dough doesn’t have to be chilled before baking, but it CAN be. Just follow the recipe up to the point where the cookies are scooped and topped with chocolate. Then place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and cover them and place them in the fridge. The dough will dry out if you don’t cover it! Then place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. When ready to bake, place the cookies on the counter to return to room temperature while you preheat the oven, then bake as directed.

If you liked this recipe for my Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies be sure to leave a star rating and review blow and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on TikTok and Instagram. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on the recipe card above or on any of the images throughout this post.

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