Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

5 from 1 vote

Thick, soft and warmly-spiced, these old-fashioned Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies are the perfect fall treat!

Course Cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword pumpkin cookies, pumpkin oatmeal cookies

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Chilling Time 1

Total Time 1 25

Servings cookies

Calories 77kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) salted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon cloves
¾ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup quick-cooking “instant” oats
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree (half of a 15-ounce can)
Optional mix-ins: 1 cup of raisins, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and/or nuts

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
Stir or whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Stir in the oats. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the pumpkin. Fold in the optional mix-ins, if desired.
Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 day.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Using a 1 ½ -tablespoon cookie scoop, drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Use the bottom of a measuring cup or glass (or fork tines) to gently press the cookies down and flatten them slightly, because the cookies will not spread too much in the oven.
Bake for about 12-17 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned. You want them soft (not over-baked and dry), but the tops shouldn’t be shiny at all. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Use 100% pure canned pumpkin puree -- NOT canned pumpkin pie filling. The pie filling has a lot of added ingredients (such as sweeteners, spices, and water), so it will not work in this recipe.
Watch the baking time. Ovens, baking sheets, and cookie dough temps vary, which means that the total baking time for your batches of cookies will also vary. You want to keep the cookies soft (so do not over-bake), but you want them cooked through so that they're not wet or mushy on the inside. You can start by baking 1-2 cookies first to gauge the timing, and then finish with larger batches if you like. My cookies generally require at least 15 minutes.
Flatten the cookies slightly with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup before baking. They will not spread too much in the oven, so this helps the cookies have that perfect amount of thickness, without being too puffy.
If you choose to use fresh pumpkin instead of canned pumpkin puree, try to strain out as much excess liquid as possible from the fresh pumpkin puree before adding it to the dough.