These soft and chewy brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies are the perfect choice if you’re looking for a fun, flavorful, and satisfying fall cookie recipe. To simplify the entire process, brown the butter for both the cookies and the icing at the same time. This recipe has a HUGE fanbase!
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added some new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips. You’ll also find this recipe in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
There is no question that fall is the best baking season. We’re talking homemade pies, warm and cozy spices, comforting desserts, and of course, a few pumpkin treats. Pumpkin pie is always top of the list, but I usually like to kick off the fall baking season with cookies—I’ve done maple brown sugar cookies, apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies, pumpkin snickerdoodles, apple spice whoopie pies, pumpkin crumb cake cookies, pumpkin sugar cookies, and the constant favorite… brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies. You’ll love the double dose of brown butter… in the cookies and the icing.
One reader, Brittany, commented: “The absolute best cookie recipe ever. I’ve made this recipe twice and both times people have obsessed over them. It’s child and husband approved. I leave a few without the glaze for those who don’t like sweets and even they still taste fabulous. It makes a lot of cookies, so I always share with family and coworkers. Everyone raves about them! ★★★★★“
These are by far one of the best cookie recipes to come out of my kitchen. Let’s get started!
Tell Me About These Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Texture: We love the soft, yet dense centers and chewy crisp edges. You’ll appreciate that this is a CHEWY pumpkin cookie as opposed to a cake-like pumpkin cookie. If you love the texture of these, you’ll also love these pumpkin oatmeal cream pies. Or if you’re looking for a cakey pumpkin cookie, try these soft pumpkin cookies.
- Flavor: Brown butter is a massively underused ingredient. Browning butter takes about 5–10 minutes and the result promises extra flavor. And not just regular flavor—a deep toffee-like, toasty, nutty flavor that pairs wonderfully with pumpkin and fall spices.
- Ease: This simple recipe makes fall baking quick and easy. (With big flavorful results!) Browning the butter takes a little extra time, but there’s no dough chilling or mixer required. Here are more cookie recipes that don’t require chilling; shortbread cookies are another quick favorite.
I include directions for browning the butter below, but feel free to review my How to Brown Butter page, which includes a helpful video. You can also go ahead and prepare a batch of homemade pumpkin pie spice, because you WILL be making these on repeat.
The Secrets to Chewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Pumpkin is a really moist ingredient, which makes it useful in cakes, pumpkin muffins, and quick breads. But it poses a texture problem when we’re trying to make dense and chewy oatmeal cookies.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
Blot the pumpkin. More moisture = cakier cookies. To prevent overly cakey cookies, blot some of the moisture out of the pumpkin. I know it sounds odd, but gently soaking liquid out of the pumpkin puree with paper towels is a trick that works. Take a look at the difference below.
- Left: Blotted the pumpkin—the cookie is denser and chewier.
- Right: Did not blot the pumpkin—the cookie is cakey.
Use only an egg yolk. Pumpkin acts like an egg in cookie dough and this is something I learned when testing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Testing today’s pumpkin oatmeal cookies, however, proved that an egg—or at least part of an egg—is necessary. The cookies were a little dry and crumbly without it because of the oats in the dough. Use just 1 large egg yolk in the dough because that little extra bit of fat makes a difference.
Use a cookie scoop. I like to use a medium cookie scoop for this cookie dough. Why? This is a sticky dough, and a cookie scoop makes things a little more manageable. Once you scoop the dough, slightly flatten the tops of the dough mounds. The cookies don’t expand much but flattening them first encourages spreading, which helps seal in that chewy texture. Just like this:
Overview: How to Make Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it so you understand each step before getting started.
- Brown the butter. You’ll use browned butter in both the cookie dough AND the icing, so it’s helpful to brown the butter all at once. When you’re finished browning the butter, set aside 2 ounces for the glaze topping. Use the rest in the cookie dough.
- Whisk dry ingredients together. This includes whole oats, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Whisk the brown butter you need for the dough with granulated sugar and brown sugar. Then whisk in the egg yolk + vanilla extract.
- Blot the pumpkin, then whisk it into the wet ingredients. (By the way, here’s a list of recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree!)
- Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Combine to form a thick and sticky dough.
- Scoop & flatten. As noted above, scoop cookie dough onto baking sheets using a medium cookie scoop. Slightly flatten each cookie dough ball before baking.
- Bake until cookies are lightly browned and set on the edges.
- For the icing, whisk the reserved brown butter and the remaining icing ingredients together until smooth. Dip the top of each cookie into the icing.
Because it’s made with butter, which is solid at room temperature, the icing eventually sets, making the cookies a little easier to stack, store, and transport. This brown butter icing is also delicious on peach Bundt cake, apple blondies, pecan sugar cookies, and pistachio cookies. Or try it on pumpkin scones or apple cinnamon scones!
I love seeing all of your photos of these popular cookies. Thank you for sharing!
Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft and chewy brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies are the perfect choice if you’re looking for a fun, flavorful, and satisfying fall cookie recipe. To simplify the entire process, brown the butter for both the cookies and the icing at the same time. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups (285g) canned pumpkin puree*
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
- 2 cups (170g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 and 2/3 cups (208g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup (133g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Brown Butter Glaze
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) milk
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional for garnish: sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Blot the pumpkin: Line a medium bowl with a double layer of paper towels. Place the pumpkin puree in the bowl. Using another paper towel, press down to blot excess moisture from the pumpkin. You may need to repeat a couple of times with new paper towels. After blotting, you will have about 1 cup (225g) of pumpkin. Set aside.
- Brown the butter: Brown the 16 Tablespoons of butter for the cookies together with the 4 Tablespoons for the glaze. Place all 20 pieces of butter in a light-colored skillet over medium heat. (Light-colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning.) Stir or whisk the butter constantly as it melts. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring. After 5–8 minutes, the butter will begin browning—you’ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan and it will have a nutty aroma. As soon as the butter has browned, immediately remove from heat and pour it into a large heat-safe glass bowl or liquid measuring cup. Scrape up the browned solids at the bottom of the skillet and add them as well. Divide and set aside 2 Tbsp (28g) of the brown butter to use for the glaze in step 8. The rest of the brown butter will go in the cookie dough in step 5. Allow to slightly cool while you continue.
- Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
- In another large bowl, whisk the brown butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla extract until combined, then whisk in the blotted pumpkin. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be soft and sticky.
- Scoop the cookie dough, about 2 Tablespoons (45g) of dough each, and arrange them 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Slightly flatten each cookie dough ball before baking.
- Bake for 14–15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned and set. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze: Give the brown butter you reserved for the glaze a quick stir. If it’s no longer thin and liquid, warm it on the stove or in the microwave. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Lightly dip the top of each cookie into the glaze. Sprinkle a pinch of pumpkin pie spice on top of each glazed cookie, if desired. Return the cookies to the cooling rack and let sit until the glaze has set. Store covered tightly at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Iced cookies stay fresh covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 6. Baked and frosted or unfrosted 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. Here are my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Mixing Bowls | Light-Colored Skillet or Stainless Steel Skillet (for browning butter) | Stand Mixer | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat | 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 allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and an extra 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Do not leave out the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon that is also called for in this recipe.
- Pumpkin: Make sure to use the can labeled “pure pumpkin puree,” not “pumpkin pie filling.” Blot as much of the moisture out of the pumpkin puree as you can before using it in the cookie dough. I simply squeeze the puree with paper towels and repeat with new paper towels until I can’t get any more moisture out. 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!
- Chocolate Chips: Instead of icing (or in addition to!), you can add 1 heaping cup of chocolate chips to the cookie dough. Or 1 cup of chopped nuts, dried cranberries, raisins, white chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, etc.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made today but just realized I used pumpkin pie mix instead of pumpkin. Would that explain why they are so flat???
Hi Pam, oh no! You want to be sure to use the can labeled “pure pumpkin puree,” not “pumpkin pie filling.” That could definitely change the texture and spread of the cookies.
I’ve made these a bunch of times and they are always such a hit!! My question – I put the cookies into the jar too quickly this time and they all settled together. I was thinking of maybe breaking up the big chunk and using it as a cheesecake crust. Would you have any advice on how to do that? Everything is still chewy, and I’m hesitant to add more butter, like you would if using a store bought oatmeal cookie. Thanks!
Hi Rae! We don’t think these would be the right texture for a cheesecake crust, they’re too soft.
Hello Sally! I’m a new baker, and wanted to know if I could substitute the all purpose flour with whole wheat instead for this recipe? Would that change the texture or amount of flour I should use? Thank you for the great recipes!
Hi Val! Whole wheat flour will yield dry cookies, we don’t recommend it.
Just for information, there is a mistake in the cookbook. This recipe is calling for 1 + 1/4 CAN of pumpkin purée (285 grams). I picked it up right away because I bake a lot but be aware if you are a begginer
Hi Vicky! Thank you for using my cookbook. I’m looking at the book now and it says 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree (285g). Does your copy not say “cups canned” ? Just want to make sure your particular copy isn’t different.
Made these a few weeks ago and back to make more for 2 separate events! So tasty! Does this recipe double well? Thank you!
Hi Steph, you can double this recipe, yes. So glad you love these cookies!
Great recipe! The cookies are amazing and so easy to make! The browned butter is key!
I thought the cookies were too, however like another poster mentioned, even though I blotted out the pumpkin and weighed it after, and also weighed all the other ingredients on a food scale, the cookies came out tall, cakey and fluffy. The end result the brown butter flavor also didnt really come through much at all
Hi Candice! Did you slightly flatten the dough balls before baking? (see step 6) This helps them spread out and bake into thinner cookies in the oven.
Sally, have you ever tried making these with a GF flour, or heard of anyone trying that?
Hi Mary, we haven’t tested it, but other readers have reported success doing so. Let us know if you try it!
I have a cheesecake recipe that calls for simmering the pumpkin to reduce the moisture before adding it to the other ingredients. Wonder if that would work here?
Hi Tonja, we have not personally tested it yet, however we’ve heard from a handful of readers who do it that way for this particular recipe! Cook first, and let cool before using. Please do let us know if you try it here.
I made these today they turned out fabulous! I used a piece of cheese cloth to strain the pumpkin purée. It really worked out well!
Thank you Sally for another great recipe!
These are FABULOUS! I made them for a church event this time last year, and they were wildly popular. Though a little labor intensive, they are worth every ounce of effort, and are back in high rotation this fall. Thank you! 🙂
Wonderful cookies! They came out great and I will definitely make them again. Full disclosure though, I did not brown the butter. I am not a huge baker and wanted it to be easier. I think I accidentally compensated for skipping that step by using only 16 tbsp of butter total. I melted it in the microwave and reserved 2 tbsp for the glaze.
How much butter do you recommend using if you choose not to brown the butter? 🙃
Hi Mary, so glad you enjoyed them! You can use 2 Tablespoons of melted butter for the glaze, then you’ll need 14.5-15 Tablespoons in the dough, just a little less a cup since that’s what the browned butter would reduce down to.
I just made these. They taste really good but came out flat, closer to a disk than a cookie. I followed the recipe exactly. Do you have an idea what happened?
Hi Madeline, there are a few different reasons why cookies may come out flat. This post on how to prevent cookies from spreading will be a helpful place to begin troubleshooting. We hope this helps for your next batch!
I baked these today and while they were good, I thought they were a little too sweet (and that was before adding the glaze). Can the sugar be reduced some? If so, by how much? Thanks.
Hi Helen! Sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
Excellent cookies. The spice level was amazing. I made 1/2 frosting so some of them were plain. Also I added 2/3 c mini chocolate chips.
I just made these cookies. I followed your recipe exactly baked these at the 350° temperature for 15 minutes and they are still soft and cakey. I blotted the pumpkin purée with so many paper towels and I ended up with 2 cups but perhaps I should blotted the pumpkin purée more. Are the cookies supposed to be cakey?
Hi Mary, How much pumpkin did you start with? You should start with only 1 and 1/4 cups (285g) canned pumpkin and after blotting, you will have about 1 cup (225g) of pumpkin. If you ended up with 2 cups of pumpkin after blotting that would explain the cakey texture.
The same happened to me and I blotted the pumpkin until no more liquid came out and everything was weighed on a gram scale
Urgent Question: I’m in the middle of making these and discovered, the ingredients list indicates reserving 1/4 c of the browned butter for the icing, but later in the directions, it says to set aside 2 T. Making for a birthday party we need to leave for soon. Need to know ASAP which is accurate.
Thanks, so much! 🙂
Hi Lisa, Browning butter reduces its volume. The 4 Tablespoons of butter for the icing are measured before browning; the 2 Tablespoons you set aside are measured after browning. We’ve accounted for that loss in the recipe.
Hi Sally,
I made these this afternoon and thought they were delicious (with or without the icing!).
Under the heading of Brown Butter Glaze, it says: 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter….however, under Step 2 of the instructions it says to set aside 2 Tbsp of the brown butter to use for the glaze in step 8. Shouldn’t it say 4 Tbsp. and not 2 Tbsp.? Of the 20 Tbsp. of butter, I used 18 in the dough and 2 in the glaze. They turned out fine. But did you want it to be 16 Tbsp. in the dough and 4 in the glaze? You need to correct this.
Thank you!
Hi Barbara, Browning butter reduces its volume. The 4 Tablespoons of butter for the icing are measured before browning; the 2 Tablespoons you set aside are measured after browning. We’ve accounted for that loss in the recipe. Hope this helps!
I use browned butter in pretty much all of my cookies. If the recipe calls for 226 grams of butter, start with 280 and if browned properly you should end up with 226 grams (give or take). You can just do the math to figure out other measurements. Hope this helps!
Love all your recipes and you are one of my top ” go to” sites when I bake to impress! ( which is always! )
Can you please clarify in your recipe, it states to place 16 T of butter for cookies together with 4T for the glaze. ( to be browned) Once the butter is browned, set aside 2T. browned butter to use for glaze. Then when you read the ingredients for the glaze, it doesn’t mention brown butter, just 4T butter, cut into 4 pieces. “The math ain’t mathing”, lol.
I browned 20 T brown butter and removed 2 T. Butter as directed. So that’s 18 T of butter in my cookie dough. Will this cause them to spread, or does some moisture evaporate when browning the butter? I’m gonna chill the dough in the fridge. Please advise, thanks so much!
Hi Marcia, You were correct to brown all 20 Tbsp and to set aside 2 for the glaze. The directions for the glaze say: Give the brown butter you reserved for the glaze a quick stir. If it’s no longer thin and liquid, warm it on the stove or in the microwave. The butter reduces when browning.
Thanks for the quick reply. I baked them yesterday and they were big hit!
tried today ..did pu 4 spoon less of butter because i didnt addition the 4 spoon for the icing …than i take my own pumpkin puree that i had ..water off…soo great and the icing i add a tad of icing sugar .
tried today and was amazing thanks
Can you use fresh pumpkin boiled in a bit of salted water
Hi Kathy, we prefer canned pumpkin puree here, but homemade pumpkin puree should work just fine.
What did I do wrong? They cookies spread out SO much?
Hi Bettie, We are happy to help! If you try again, try to blot a little more moisture out or you can chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for an hour or so to help reduce over-spreading. For even more troubleshooting tips you can see this post on How to Prevent Cookies from Spreading
These were amazing! The texture was perfect and they have so much flavor. The brown butter icing is particularly delicious, I could eat it with a spoon. I brought the cookies to an event and they absolutely flew!
The only change I made was I used the individual spices in the notes and added about 1.5x the spices/cinnamon to the cookies (except for the cloves and allspice as those can be overpowering). I also added some spices to the icing, as I just like punchy flavors in my fall sweets haha.
I weighed all my ingredients and I also soaked up as much liquid from the pumpkin as I could, going below the final weight in the recipe, because I wanted a chewy texture and it worked so well!
I was left with actually the exact amount of pumpkin puree I needed for these cookies after making your pumpkin cinnamon rolls so it worked out great! Thanks for sharing!