Pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are soft, chewy, and deliciously spiced.
With the start of fall we welcome new routines, cooler temperatures, and the fall baking season—the best baking season! We’re talking cozy fall spices, pumpkin treats, decadent desserts, and pies galore. I always like to kick off the fall baking season with cookies—we’ve done pumpkin snickerdoodles and brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies, but let’s get back to basics.
These are pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in all their soft, chewy, deliciously comforting, pumpkin spice glory. Like chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pie in one. Fall doesn’t *truly* begin until we crack open that first can of pumpkin, so let’s get started!
These Chewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Are:
- Extra chewy
- Soft-baked
- Quick & easy like these pumpkin donuts
- Perfectly pumpkin spiced (you can use homemade pumpkin pie spice here!)
- A no chill cookies recipe, just like shortbread cookies, snickerdoodles, and giant chocolate chip cookies.
Tricks to Chewy Pumpkin Cookies
These aren’t your average cakey and crumbly pumpkin cookies. My pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are seriously CHEWY. After lots of recipe testing, here are 3 tricks to guarantee dense and chewy pumpkin oatmeal cookies.
1. The Egg Trick
We’ve explored chewy pumpkin cookies at length before. Back in 2013, I discovered that pumpkin can replace eggs in cookies. (See my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.) This was a game changer for me! When both are used in cookie recipes, the resulting cookie is more cakey and less dense/chewy. By the way, for a cakey cookie, see my soft pumpkin cookies.
Things were a different story when I threw oats into the cookie dough. Testing pumpkin oatmeal cookies proved that an egg—or at least part of an egg—is necessary. Why? Without an egg, they are a little dry and crumbly because of all the oats. So in my pumpkin oatmeal cookies, I add an egg yolk. That little extra fat is perfection and the cookies remain remarkably soft and chewy. Same applies when making these pumpkin oatmeal cream pies.
2. Use Melted Butter
For chewy cookies, melted butter wins.
3. Blot the Pumpkin
Here’s another chewy pumpkin cookie secret. Blot your pumpkin. You see, pumpkin puree is extremely wet and extra moisture in cookie dough results in cakey cookies that spread too much. Take the 15 seconds to blot it before using. Simply measure your pumpkin puree, then squeeze out some moisture with a paper towel.
See a side-by-side cookie comparison of blotted/non-blotted pumpkin cookies in my recipe for pumpkin oatmeal cookies.
A little something extra: Add some maple syrup. I made pumpkin oatmeal cookies a few years ago and used molasses. Delicious, wonderful, superb! But maple syrup tastes even better and it doesn’t take away from the pumpkin flavor.
Baker’s tip: I suggest using a cookie scoop. I always use a cookie scoop when I make oatmeal cookies. Once you scoop each, slightly flatten them down. The cookies don’t spread *too much* but they will spread a little if you flatten it out first. Just like this:
Customize These Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies!
Want to change things up? Instead of chocolate chips, you can use white chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, chopped pecans, dried cranberries, or be a total rebel and leave the pumpkin oatmeal cookies plain. There’s enough pumpkin spice (!!!) in each cookie that you don’t even need add-ins.
But those melty chocolate chips when the cookies are fresh out of the oven? I strongly encourage you to experience that magic firsthand. HAPPY FALL!!!
Chewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are super soft and CHEWY. These cookies will be your new favorite fall dessert!
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 1 Tablespoon (258g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (128g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cup (170g) pumpkin puree (see note)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (270g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and oats together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the melted butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg yolk, blotted pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour into dry ingredients and mix everything together until completely combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop cookie dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake for 13-14 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops—this is only for looks!
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger + 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg + 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice + 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves + (an extra) 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. This is in addition to the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that.
- Pumpkin: Squeeze as much of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree as you can before adding it to the cookie dough. I simply squeeze the puree with paper towels. See photo in the post for a visual. This will help produce a less cakey cookie. Less moisture is a good thing in these cookies!
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Made these today after watching Jennifer Garner make them haha and they didn’t disappoint. They were so good and soft made them in the morning and had one with coffee the minute it came out. Will make these again.
Recipe looks GREAT! I will try this week. I have a recipe for pumpkin bread that calls for straining the liquid out of the pumpkin purée. I use coffee filter to strain it for about 30 minutes. I get about a fourth to a half cup of liquid. Would that be too much to take out?
Hi Janet, that should be fine — the less moisture in the pumpkin, the better here. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
These are AMAZING!! Squeezing the pumpkin is a game changer. I love pumpkin but hate cakey cookies. These are amazing chewy and hearty with the oatmeal. Perfect amount of chocolate chip an I will definitely be making this again year round!
I have made three batches already and they are everyone’s favorite. Great recipe for everyone who likes chocolate and pumpkin. I am not a great Baker but your recipes are delicious and so well explained and it makes it so easy for me to make the cookies.
I love this website and all the recipes I have made so far have been amazing. These are not my favorite. In fact, I had one cookie and won’t likely have another (my husband will eat them all, so they won’t be wasted). They are very sweet. The chocolate chips overpower any pumpkin flavor (and I am a big pumpkin lover). They taste more like overly sweet chocolate chip cookies with a kick of spice on the end. I would consider making again with raisins or dried cranberries, but more than likely I will move on to another recipe. Again, absolutely love this website overall and have had nonstop compliments on everything else I have made!
Can I use quick oatmeal? That’s all I have. I love, love, love your recipes!
Hi Laraine, We don’t suggest using quick oats– they’re finer cut and more powdery, which will dry out the cookie dough and cookies.
I have been looking for a Halloween dessert recipe and this is it for me! Any substitutions for not using maple syrup? I don’t like the flavor as much and always notice the taste when used in baking – can we omit, or substitute for something else?
Hi Gabrielle, You can use molasses instead or simply add 3 Tbsp more brown sugar.
I just commented about using only 1/2 c of coconut sugar for the whole batch. Forgot to mention I used almond flour instead of regular and they turned out great. I had to use more…at least 2 1/2 c and maybe more like 3 c. I just added until I got the desired consistency. So yum!
These are my and my kids new favorites! I have Crohn’s so can’t have that much sugar so I only used 1/2 c of coconut sugar for the entire batch and they were still plenty sweet. For sure in my book marks.
I am about to try these. Would steel cut oats work? Thanks!
Hi Sheila, I don’t recommend steel cut oats in these cookies.
Loved this recipe. Wonder if I could make them with gluten free flour?
Hi Lynn, so happy you loved these cookies! We haven’t tested this recipe with GF flour but if you try anything let us know how it turns out.
Thanks so much for sharing!! Its absolutely divine! I made a vegan version and OMG, the fusssiest eater in the world (resides in my house) ate 4 within a timeframe of 3 minutes! Thank you ever so much!
can these be made as bars?
Definitely. Use a 9×13 inch baking pan for cookie bars. I’m unsure of the best bake time though.
Hi Sally,
I just made these and have already had 3 and it is not even 10 am. I am in trouble. They are delicious . Can they be frozen after cooked. I would like to make ahead for the holidays.
thx, Kelly
Hi Kelly, We are so happy you are enjoying them! Yes, baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. See the make ahead directions in the recipe notes for details
Hello Sally! My family and I enjoyed these cookies. I substituted chocolate chips with white chocolate since it’s my son’s preference, and it turned out perfect! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I made this recipe with a few changes: I substituted a flax egg for the egg yolk, and substituted coconut oil for butter. I also made it in a 9×13 pan because I was feeling too lazy to make individual cookies. This resulted in delicious vegan cookie bars! Thanks so much for the great and adaptable recipe!
Perfect, just the way they are. Followed the directions which you always make so clear and they turned out beautiful and yummy!
As Always,
Thank you,
Cheryl
Delicious! Excellent combination of spices and texture.
Nice, fat, chewy and full of flavor cookies.
I put extra pumpkin in for more pumpkin goodness. I also doubled the batch and it works just fine.
I will try this next time with GF flour.
Thanks
This cookie, like all of the oatmeal cookies I have baked from SBA, is fantastic. Perfect chewy texture, subtle pumpkin, and strong cinnamon flavor. Personally I love the chocolate chips, but they do over shadow the pumpkin so keep that in mind.
This recipe made it to my “keep forever binder”.
These cookies were delicious right out of the oven! I was so happy to find a non-cakey pumpkin cookie. I put them in a ziploc after they cooled and within a few hours their texture turned wet/spongy. How do you recommend storing these cookies?
Hi Kelly! If you find the cookies are getting too moist, keep them only lightly covered so some air can reach them. That will help!
I’m just wondering if I should measure the pumpkin before or after blotting? Thanks for your help! These look amaaaaaazing.
I always measure before. Enjoy!
I modified the recipe slightly by using half salted and half unsalted butter (since this is what I had). I also omitted 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, used bittersweet chocolate chips, and added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. The cookies tasted great, however, they were still more on the cakey side, despite following the measuring tips and blotting the pumpkin dry. Any other ideas on how to achieve more of a chewy cookie? Thanks!
Hi Laurie, if you skipped the brown sugar that would change the texture! The sugar is not only for taste but also adds moisture to baked goods!
I just reduced the brown sugar, but will try using the full amount next time. Thanks for the reply!
Hi!
This recipe is great except every time I make it… it never spreads. It’s more of a Cakey cookie. I squeezed a lot of water out of the pumpkin… is it too much flour? Or too much baking soda?
Any suggestions?
Thank you!!
Hi Kristne, I’m glad you still enjoy them! When you measure your flour make sure you use the “spoon and level” method to be sure you are using the correct amount. Are you using canned pumpkin or fresh? Also you can try flattening the cookie dough balls a little before you bake them to help them spread!
Pumpkin Season is here! Great cookie full of fall flavor! These were a huge hit amongst my family and coworkers!
I making these for the first time today.
These are amazing . I would give these
200 stars if I could. When I took a little taste f the dough it even tasted good.
I added some chopped walnuts in after I added the chocolate chips to try something and it worked really well.
Thank you for this outstanding cookie recipe. Have a good day.
These are amazing! I took them to work and my boss was in love. She said they are the best cookies she has ever had.
I didn’t have any pumpkin so I substituted with unsweetened applesauce, and patted it dry like the pumpkin. I needed to add an extra 1/4 cup of flour because it was too moist. They turned out fantastic!! My son said they were healthy because of the applesauce and oatmeal and devoured them – at least a dozen throughout the night!!
these look great.
can i change up the add ins while still keeping the oats in?
like adding pecans dried cranberries and white chocolate chips?
please let me know.
As long as you keep the total amount of mix-ins to 1 1/2 cup then absolutely!
Can I use brown butter?
Absolutely!