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The best ever Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, made with browned butter, pumpkin butter, oatmeal, pumpkin spice, and plenty of chocolate. Plus one special ingredient that really makes these stand out…espresso. They’re the perfect fall pumpkin cookie. Slightly crisp on the edges, but soft and gooey in the middle. And the sea salt on top makes every bite even more addicting. Equally perfect for Halloween night as they are for Thanksgiving dinner.
This is my year to bake all things pumpkin. When I was looking back at the last 10 years of writing recipes for HBH, I realized many things. But one thing that hit me about fall is the lack of sweet pumpkin recipes.
I actually have plenty of favorite pumpkin recipes. But when it comes to baking with pumpkin, I only have a handful of really solid go-to recipes.
I made it my goal this week to embrace baking with pumpkin. I’m two recipes down and wow, they’re both so delicious. Starting with my personal favorite though, pumpkin oatmeal cookies!!
We absolutely love oatmeal cookies around here. My mom’s recipe is pretty famous at this point. So all I do is use her recipe as a base, then adjust from there.
Shockingly, these didn’t take me long to test. I had a few ideas, but in the end, I landed on this cookie. I think it’s pretty perfect.
Details
Like most of my cookie recipes during the fall, this one starts with brown butter. I just love the rich nutty flavor it adds. It makes your cooking and baking even more special.
I brown the butter and then add it to a bowl with brown sugar and pumpkin butter. The key here is pumpkin butter, not pumpkin puree. Pumpkin butter is more reduced down than canned pumpkin and contains less moisture. Less moisture will give you a chewier cookie, not a cakey cookie. You can use my homemade pumpkin butter or pick some up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, your local market, or even via Amazon. Though I’m partial to my homemade recipe. Just make sure your pumpkin butter is spiced for best flavor.
Mix in half the pumpkin butter along with an egg and vanilla. I also love to add a small amount of espresso powder. I found this paired so nicely with the flavors and chocolate in the cookie. Kind of like a pumpkin latte with melty chocolate.
Now mix in the dry ingredients: flour, rolled oats, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt.
The next step is important. Dollop on the remaining pumpkin butter and stir in the chocolate, but don’t mix the pumpkin butter fully into the dough. You want streaks. This gives you more pumpkin flavor without creating an overly cakey cookie.
Roll the cookie dough into balls, I love to use a cookie scoop for this. It’s so much easier and works nicely with this dough since it’s a bit stickier. Then bake.
These cookies smell incredible, like cookies with the addition of warming fall scents.
Easy to make, no chilling, and take less than a half hour to make. Love that. Plus they’re full of actual pumpkin flavor, real pumpkin, and swirled with both pumpkin butter and chocolate.
These cookies have the best texture, they are lightly crisp on the edges but soft and gooey in the center. Be sure to cool on a wire rack and store these in an airtight container.
Looking for other pumpkin recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Butter Bread
6 Ingredient Spiced Pumpkin Butter
Chai Pumpkin Cake with Maple Browned Butter Frosting
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cinnamon Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Butter Bread
Fluffy Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Lastly, if you make these Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings: 18 -22 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 350 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup pumpkin butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder or instant coffee (optional)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2-1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups chocolate chunks or chips
- sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Let cool 5 minutes or so.3. To the browned butter, mix in the brown sugar, 1/3 cup pumpkin butter, the egg, vanilla, and espresso powder, mixing until smooth. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt. 4. Dollop the remaining 1/3 cup pumpkin butter over the dough. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips. Gently fold the pumpkin butter and chocolate into the dough, being careful to not over-mix. You want streaks of pumpkin butter. 5. Roll the dough into rounded tablespoon size balls, it might be a little sticky. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten the dough down. Bake 8 minutes. Remove from the oven, rotate, and tap the baking sheet on the counter 1-2 times to flatten. Bake another 2-3 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges.6. Sprinkle with sea salt (if desired). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet.
Notes
Pumpkin Butter: you can use my homemade pumpkin butter or just pick some up from Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, your local market, or even via Amazon.
If you want more Pumpkin Spice Flavor: add in 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice along with the flour.
This post was originally published on October 18, 2022
I made these for thanksgiving for my family.. and may have forgotten the baking soda. However, they tasted amazing and nobody even noticed! Love this recipe.
Hi Sage,
Amazing! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe, so glad to hear it turned out nicely for you! Happy Thanksgiving! xx
What are your recommendations for freezing the dough?
Thank you
Hi Kajja,
I would just be sure to keep in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Good morning I’m looking forward to trying these but just a pumpkin butter make them too sweet?
Thank you
Hi Stacey,
I don’t feel as though the pumpkin butter makes these too sweet:) I hope you love these cookies! xT
2nd question…how mamy cookies does one rexipe make? I will be making them for about 100 people tonight
Thank you i cant wait to try
This recipe makes 18-22 cookies:)
These got great reviews from my family. I love your pumpkin butter recipe that makes these doubly special. My cooking time was about 5 extra minutes over the recipe time. Thanks for a great pumpkin cookie!
Thanks so much, Jean!! Love to hear these cookies were enjoyed by your family! Happy Halloween! 🎃 xx
I never leave reviews on recipes but I had to for this one. My entire family said that these are the best cookies I’ve ever made and I completely agree! I had to sub the flour for gluten free, but it made no noticeable difference. Would definitely recommend
Hey Ashley,
Happy Monday! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it turned out well! Happy Halloween week! 🎃
LOVE this cookie recipe! I have made it now twice and switched it up a bit this go around… I did not add the oats & they are even better, in my opinion. Enjoy!! xoxo
Hey Alaina,
Wonderful! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks for trying it! Have the best autumn weekend! xT
I liked the recipe. I have been waiting for so long to try all the fall recipes with the pumpkin butter! I am wondering, however, if the cookies could be made with some cream of Tartar. Also, the next time I make these I will add half of the chocolate chunks, only because it was a little too overpowering for the pumpkin flavor. I made some cookies on a nonstick pan with parchment and an aluminum pan with parchment and the nonstick cooked faster. I was also thinking if you left out the chocolate chips and made the cookies they would make amazing oatmeal cream sandwiches. Overall a good recipe and if you like chocolate you will like this recipe. I have never made anything from here that is not someone’s favorite.
Hey Lyddy,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Love to hear that it turned out well for you:) I’ve never added cream of tartar to these cookies, but it should be just fine for you to do! Happy Thursday! xT
I love everything about these cookies!! They have become a family favorite. Making them again tomorrow and going to try it with your recipe for homemade pumpkin butter.
Thanks for all your recipes. Almost every time I make an amazing dinner or dessert it is HBH. 🙏☺️
Hey Heidi,
Awesome! Thanks so much for making these cookies so often! So glad they are always enjoyed! Have a great autumn Friday! Xx
These crumbled when I removed them from the cookie sheet…a little dry. Didn’t seem overbaked…What did I do wrong?
Hey Kim,
Thanks for trying this recipe, sorry to hear they crumbled for you. Were they sticky in step 5? Any chance they were over-mixed? Let me know! xx
These are amazing, seriously elevated gourmet cookie. The espresso powder addition made me think of enjoying a yummy sweet treat, actually with a great glass of crisp white wine, at a fabulous coffee shop with my hubs and kids that we used to escape the streets to during cold mountain summer rains on vacation. Then it all of a sudden occurred to me that it was a treat made by Abby at the Crown downtown Breck, right in your backyard:). In fact, I discovered you by buying one of your cookbooks at The Marigold a year ago. Thanks for this great recipe and all the “yuuuummmm” sounds they evoke in my house:).
Hey Steph,
Awesome!! Love to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! Hope you are enjoying fall! XxT
Just commented but forgot to rate !! Definitely a 5 Star recipe !!!
Thanks again, Marcie:)
Just baked these for Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend!! Made my own pumpkin butter from a roasted sugar pumpkin! The kitchen smells amazing!!!! So yummy !! Thanks for this delicious recipe !!
Hey Marcie,
Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for sharing your notes! Happy Thanksgiving! xT
These are not turning out right for me and I’m an avid successful baker. I chilled half the dough for a few days the first time I made them and the hulled dough was much better than the initial batch. I just went to make them again today and they are more like granola bites than cookies, not melting down at all.
I love these cookies!! If I don’t want to use oats next time, should I use more flour?
Thanks so much, Rylie! So sorry, I have not tested this recipe without oats, I am not sure exactly how much flour you would need to add. Please let me know if this works for you! xT
These are AMAZING! I didn’t have pumpkin butter so I used pureed pumpkin and added approx 1/4 C maple syrup and more flour so that the dough wasn’t so loose. I also refrigerated the dough for 2 hrs before baking. These are DELICIOUS!
Hey Erin,
Fantastic! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have the best week! x