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, 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.
- 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.
- Adapted from my favorite pumpkin oatmeal cookies. Aside from the brown butter and the icing, today’s cookies are chewier with a little more pumpkin flavor.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These are delicious! I added chopped dates- so good. Also
flattening them a little was sticky for me even coating the bottom of a glass with sugar so I left half just as I scooped them onto the sheet. Still looked pretty!
Made these cookies. My family said they were very good and to save the recipe. Of course, I have your cookbook. Never leaving my sight
These are addicting! That’s all that needs to be said!
Hi! I love this recipe and have made it time and time again, thank you!!! One question…do we still need to pulse the oats? I remember that being included in the process.
Hi Allison! Could you be thinking of our iced oatmeal cookies recipe? We pulse the oats there. Glad you love these cookies!
Hi! This recipe used to be an oatmeal cookie sandwich with a pumpkin cream cheese filling. I made these for years and my family and friends have grown to love them and expect them. I see the recipe was overridden with this new recipe. Can you please post or send me the original recipe? It was absolutely amazing!
Hi Erin! We decided to remove that recipe from the website. I’m glad you always loved it. We still have it in our documents, so email us and we can send it to you! sally(at)sallysbakingaddiction.com
Can I make these without browning the butter??
How much brown butter should the 226g of butter yield? I browned butter for multiple recipes without taking volume loss into consideration, so now I’m not sure how much I should measure out for each recipe (I’ve already used some to cook with so I can’t simply divide )
Hi Farrah, typically, you lose about 20-25% water content to evaporation when you brown butter. So starting with 226g will yield around 170-190g of browned butter. Hope this helps!
Excellent recipe. Everyone loved. I added about 2/3 cup of skor bits.
Holy cow, these are delicious! Where has browned butter been all my life?! Thank you!!
Hi , I was wondering how decreasing the sugar might affect the cookies- I don’t like things too sweet. Would you think decreasing to 1 cup of sugar total (both white and brown) would alter the consistency of the cookie too much? Thank you!
Hi Katie! As you mentioned, 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.
I had a tough time browning the butter. Perhaps because I used a newer nonstick pan that’s dark? Even after stirring on medium heat for 8-10 minutes, it still wasn’t brown. Do I need a certain type of frying pan?
Hi April, sounds like you needed a higher heat to brown you butter. Our post on how to brown butter may be helpful as well!
I am currently trying this recipe out and I am concerned about the brown butter. I’ve made other cookie recipes with browned butter before and usually I let it completely rest until it’s a solid form again. Does this recipe call for the butter to be cooled and still liquid or back to a room temp/solid? I am very excited to try these!!
Thanks!
Hi Willow, you want melted brown butter for this recipe. Hope you love these cookies!
I just made these and took the first cookie sheet out of the oven. I tasted one while it was still slightly warm and it was mushy and had a raw taste. I have a thermometer in my oven so I know the oven temperature is correct. I put them back in the oven and checked them every two minutes. I must have baked them a total of 18-20 minutes. I followed the recipe to a T even weighing the ingredients. I think next time I will set the oven to 375°. I’m at a higher altitude so maybe I need to make some adjustments to the recipe. Not sure as this is new for me. Thoughts?
Also, the “glaze” seems more like frosting. Tried thinning it but it started separating it. I think next time I’ll use less sugar and use cream instead of milk.
Hi Lynette! The cookies will set more as they cool. We have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I had the exact same issue. Followed recipe to a T, weighed everything, let cool on rack and I baked for closer to 20 min and still weren’t set after cooling for 10. They had great flavor but I do think I’ll try baking at 360 next time.
The perfect fall cookie! I used quick-cooking one minute oats because that’s what I had on hand and also added a cup of chopped walnuts. I had to add a little water to the glaze to thin it out a bit. I didn’t measure the powdered sugar by weight, so perhaps that’s why.
These are the BOMB!! I am known as the “cookie lady” on my commuter bus. Nothing like homemade cookies to create a community! These cookies rated “the best I’ve ever had”, and ” where did you get that recipe?”. Over and over I have used your recipes for my new friends on the bus. We are the talk of the town, and this recipe garnered many smiles. thanks for creating this amazing recipe!
These were absolutely wonderful and wholesome. The flavor and texture is spot on. Thank you for this
Cookie turned out pretty good but I would like to request a measurement check? When I blotted the pumpkin I ended up with only a half cup of pumpkin “paste”, not one cup like the recipe stated. I went ahead with the recipe but used a whole egg to make up the moisture. The dough was not sticky but firm. The cookies were fine, however. Taste and texture were fine. Nothing really special but I would make them again.
Hi Rosemary, it sounds like maybe you blotted the pumpkin a little more than necessary and removed more moisture than we typically do. Glad they still turned out well for you!
I made these this morning and they are to die for. The brown butter adds that extra bit of delight.
The ONLY pumpkin cookie recipe you’ll ever need! Soooooo good! I threw in a hand full of chopped pecans for good measure. These will def be on repeat until December!
I do believe this might be my all time favorite cookie!!
I made this recipe twice this week for different events.
They were awesome!!
Everyone loved them!!
I made a batch of these yesterday and brought them into work this morning. I received a text from my co-worker – “Bro. I’ve never done crack, but those cookies are probably the closest thing to it. They are so darn good!” Needless to say the entire batch was gone within an hour. Highly recommend if you want a festive fall sweet treat!
just made these and wow, they are large and delicious! if i wanted to make them smaller (1 Tbsp cookie dough balls) would i still bake for 15 minutes or shorten the length of time? thank you for the recipe and guidance!
Hi Jen, The bake time will be shorter, but not much—maybe just two minutes or so. Keep a close eye on your first batch and remove when lightly browned and set on the edges.
These are delicious, and the wonderful aroma while mixing and baking made it hard to wait to try one! Directions were easy and I will for sure make them for a work treat!
I made these today as it almost feels like Fall. The cookies are magical. The brown butter is perfect for these delicious cookies. I added chopped roasted cashews on top of icing. I will make these every fall. Thank you.
Usually when i make cookies, i form the dough into tall piles so the cookies stay thick. I missed the note about flattening the cookies before baking as they don’t spread much, so ended up with very puffy cookies. However, I squished them down using the bottom of a glass a couple minutes after baking them (while they were soft and still cooling on the tray but not sticky) and they ended up nice and flat/dense. Not sure how it compares to squishing beforehand but an easy fix if you end up with puffy cookies, they tasted delicious!
Loved this recipe . Added walnuts and raisins. Even my sister who said gross loves them. Even without the icing.
This recipe looks delicious. My only question is when you put milk in a cookie topping, is it safe to leave the cookies out of the refrigerator?
Hi Ann! Store covered tightly at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
I love this recipe but would love a GF version. Any chance you’ve experimented using alternatives to standard wheat flour?
Hi Sandy, we haven’t tested it, but you might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
I made these with Bob’s Red Mill GF flour and they were great! Very tasty, but slightly more crumbly than one made with all-purpose flour. Highly recommend. (That was the only alteration I made. Possibly xantham gum would have helped it hold together better?)
I’ve made these a couple times gluten free and they came out delicious! I think I used Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour and replace cup for cup.
Thank you! I was about to ask if they would be good gluten free!
IMHO, this is one of the best cookie recipes of all time! Without or without chips, icing, etc., they are delicious and turn out perfectly every time. My family gobbles them up. Kudos, Sally!!!
These are delicious!!! Perfect for fall! The icing is what really elevates these!
These are so good! I shamelessly licked every drip of icing off the counter!