These brown butter pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are phenomenal. Simple and so delicious, they bake up soft and chewy instead of thick and cakey.
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are always good, but this version is made brilliantly better with brown butter, oats, and a magic formula that produces the perfect soft and chewy cookie.
Brown Butter Cookie Dough
I promise it is worth the extra step to brown butter for these cookies. And it’s easy! Here is a quick tutorial. In short, you want to melt butter over medium heat until it simmers, foams, bubbles, and the milk solids in the butter turn caramelly brown and golden.
Immediately pour the brown butter and start adding the other ingredients (no need to let it cool).
- canned pumpkin
- brown and granulated sugars
- egg yolk
- cinnamon + nutmeg + ginger
- baking powder + baking soda + salt
- flour
- old-fashioned oats and quick oats (for the perfect texture)
- chocolate chips
Note about the egg yolk: using just the egg yolk is important because using the whole egg will make the cookies cakier in texture. Also, I haven’t tried it, but I think these cookies stand a pretty good chance of working out egg-free as well.
How to get soft and chewy pumpkin cookies
This is the conundrum that has faced pumpkin cookie bakers since the dawn of time.
Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the ubiquitous thick and cakey pumpkin cookie. They are super tasty and oh, so classic.
But there is something amazingly delicious about a pumpkin cookie that is thinner with a soft and chewy texture. And it is achievable!
- Use the right amount of canned pumpkin. Too little and the pumpkin flavor will be negligible. Too much and the cookies will be cakey.
- Ditch the egg white, which can also contribute to thick cookies, and use the egg yolk only.
- Lightly flatten the cookie dough balls into a thick disc-shape before baking.
Speaking of Canned Pumpkin
I know it will irk some of you that this recipe doesn’t call for a whole can of pumpkin. I get it. Canned pumpkin remnants can be annoying.
But sometimes you have to sacrifice for the greater good. The greater good being perfect cookies in this case. I made this cookie recipe a lot of times with varying amounts of canned pumpkin, and I can promise you that the amount called for in the recipe produces the very best of all the tested versions.
Here’s a solution if you want to use the whole can of pumpkin: double the recipe! A bazillion brown butter pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies coming right up! Get that scooping arm ready. 💪🏼😉
And bonus tip: leftover canned pumpkin freezes great if you don’t have another recipe to slide it into.
I love that these pumpkin cookies combine some of my favorite cookie flavors into one fabulous recipe. They are a delight! Hearty. Flavorful. Super soft. And just perfect.
The baked cookies stay soft and keep very well for several days. They freeze great, too.
I’m all about a cookie that doesn’t have to be chilled and unnecessarily fussed over. (And no, brown butter is definitely not fussy – how can it be when it is one of life’s greatest blessings!?!)
I am so happy to get the recipe for these brown butter pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies just right and share it with you. I hope you love them!
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Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 cup (227 g) salted butter
- ¾ cup (159 g) packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (180 g) canned pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg yolk (see note)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 ¼ cups (320 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (100 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup (100 g) quick oats
- 2 cups (340 g) semisweet chocolate chips
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line half sheet pans with parchment paper. Lightly grease with cooking spray and set aside.
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Cut the butter into pieces and add to a 10-inch skillet (preferably light-colored so you can see easily when the butter has browned). Heat over medium heat, stirring as the butter melts so that it cooks evenly.
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As the butter cooks, constantly and slowly stir with a silicone spatula. The butter will foam, sizzle, bubble, and after a few minutes (anywhere from 5 to 8 minute), the solids in the butter will begin to turn golden. Brown butter can burn easily, so don’t walk away! When the butter solids are browned and golden and it smells caramelly and fragrant, immediately remove the skillet from the heat and pour the butter into a large bowl.
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Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, canned pumpkin, egg yolk, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and ground ginger. Whisk until well-combined.
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Add the flour, rolled oats, quick oats, and chocolate chips. Stir until evenly combined and no dry streaks remain.
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Scoop the dough into one- or two-tablespoon size mounds and place several inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Roll each mound into a smooth ball (the dough will be slightly sticky).
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Lightly press the cookie dough balls until they are slightly flattened. Don’t press them too thin. They should form a thick disc-shape (see pictures in the post).
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Bake for 11 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies rest a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Serving: 1 cookie, Calories: 166kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 17mg, Sodium: 87mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 11g
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (a mashup of these classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and these amazing soft and chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with the addition of brown butter and a few other changes)
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