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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can you make this dairy free somehow?
Hi Kamryn, we haven’t tested these cookies with dairy free substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for those substitutes.
Just baked this recipe yesterday and love them! I did up the pumpkin spice level by double cuz I’m a spicy guy!
My icing appears curdled. Any idea why this would happen?
Thanks! Delicious cookies
Hi Lexie! This can happen when ingredients are different temperatures, or when the icing hasn’t been whisked enough.
Taste of Fall! I have loved so many of Sally’s foolproof recipes, but this is one of my favorites. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I make them smaller (and baked them for less time). Delicious taste, great consistency, and beautiful presentation. I agree with other reviews that the browned butter is a fabulous addition. If you like pumpkin spice flavor, then this one is for you!
These are honestly probably one of the BEST cookies I have made. They win for amazing fall cookies – highly highly recommend!
This is perhaps one of the BEST cookies I have ever had. Really perfect. They taste like a delicious piece of moist and wonderful cake. I cannot say enough accolades!
Forgot to leave a rating
Just made these, SOOOOO good!!!! The house smells like pumpkin spice latte lol, do not skip the glaze! Ty SBA!!!!!
I can’t wait to taste these cookies. Now that it’s Fall I’m all about the pumpkin . I’m not sure why but the cookies flattened. I don’t know what I did wrong. I thought I followed the recipe precisely. Any thoughts?
Hi Lia, we’re happy to help. There are many different reasons why cookies can come out flat — #2 “Prevent Excess Spreading” in this post should be helpful for troubleshooting. Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try!
Full disclosure, I didn’t make the cookies exactly as written. I omitted the frosting and snuck in some dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. They are amazing! True pumpkin goodness.
These are to absolutely die for!!
The brown butter takes this to the w next level!! Followed the recipe AS written, they are perfect! Thanks Sally, you gave us another winner!
So good!! I even made them wrong (got ahead of myself and mixed the sugars in with the other dry goods), and they were still delicious. My husband took them to work this morning, and they were gone quick. He said he’s already had requests for more!
Delicious! Used gluten-free flour and blend of monk fruit sweetener blend and stevia in lieu of white sugar. Anxious to share with friends. Love -Love the favor the brown butter adds.
Does this dough not need to be chilled first? Just want to make sure I don’t mess these up. Thank you!
Correct! No chilling needed here 🙂
tried these cookies and they were really good. however they were too sweet but i added the juice of half a lime with some salt and it really helped. it also made the cookies fluffier.
Great! Anytime I search for a recipe and I see “Sally’s Baking Addiction” pop up with a result, I automatically know which recipe I’m choosing….yours never steer me wrong!
SAME!!!
These are fantastic! It’s August, but we finally had a cooler day. I couldn’t wait to try these. I added 1 cup of raisins to the recipe. This is now one of my favorites!
I adore this recipe! These cookies were so delicious. I have made them with the glaze and without the glaze and the addition of white chocolate chips and pecans as well which was also a hit. I do have one question though. Are we supposed to measure the pumpkin purée before or after squeezing the water out? My cookie dough seemed a touch dry after mixing so I got worried maybe I was supposed to squeeze the water out and THEN measure.
Thank you!
I routinely make cookies to share. This cookie is one of those most requested cookies. I’m delighted you are considering it for your next 2025 book. Thank you, Sally and company!!
This our household favorite! I have to make a double batch to last a week lol. Love it, thank you for so many wonderful recipes!!!
This recipe is awesome! First off thank you!
However, I did tweak it a little(I’m sorry please don’t be mad) I love pumpkin and oatmeal, and so I was looking for a recipe to follow but tweak a little for my specific diet. I used all coconut sugar in place of the white and brown sugars.
I also subbed the flour for gf flour, and only used 1cup flour and the other 2/3 cup I instead used ground flax seeds. (All the things to also help promote lactation, as I have a 4mo old I’m currently breastfeeding) lastly, I did not make the frosting, because I don’t love anything too sweet, and these turned out to be such an amazing flavorful cookie as is and that I can feel less guilty about! Again, sorry I had to tweak it, but they baked perfectly the same, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside! I will be making these again and again I’m sure!
I made these cookies for a Friendsgiving and they were a hit!! People were taking extra home for their friends and family- made me so happy. Thank you for this incredible recipe! The browned butter really adds something extra special.
Another home run, Sally! Made exactly as written and even the hubby, who doesn’t love oatmeal cookies loved these. These are on thee sweeter side but not overly sweet. Next batch I’m going to drizzle the icing. I used a 2 tbsp. scoop leveled and ended up with 16 too large cookies. We’ll see what I did wrong on the next batch.
I wanted to love this recipe like I generally do with all things Sally creates. I was disappointed with how sweet the cookies were with or without the icing.
Living at over 5,000 ft I applied my normal High Altitude fixes which include adding 2 TBLSPs flour and reducing by at least 1 TBLSP sugar. I used weight measurements initially so I’m pretty certain I did not overload the sugar. I also reduced the sugar by 20 g in the icing and was somewhat sparing with the icing.
I will take these to the grandkids when I pick them up from school and do the kid test. Something tells me they will love them and it’s maybe just me. I initially packed up some cookies for them to give their teachers but when I tasted how sweet they were, I decided to not share them. Not just yet.
Thank you for any suggestions you may have to reduce the sweetness without affecting the structure of the cookie. .
Hi Eljer, reducing the sugar would take some testing as sugar provided moisture and structure in these cookies. Let us know if you try anything!
Thank you for your quick reply and for teaching me that sugar provides moisture in this recipe. As a high-altitude (HA) baker I’m always looking to add water, milk, egg, etc. to balance the moisture that the HA air depletes in our baked goods.
In this case, it turns out the intense sweetness is just my Nonna tastebuds. The grandkids, parents, and the kid’s teachers went crazy for these cookies. 🙂
Hi! Would it work to use chocolate chips if I’m skipping the frosting? Or would they be too heavy for the batter
Hi KD, chocolate chips should work just fine! Hope you enjoy the cookies.
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!
Would almond milk work?
You can use any nondairy milk in the glaze, yes.
This cookie sounds amazing! But I had a big problem. My batter was almost the consistency of cake batter, and a loose one at that – no possible way to make balls. So may I ask if this cookie dough needs chilling before attempting to scoop out portions? (I couldn’t find a reference to this in the notes or recipe above.) Or do you think I must have done something wrong? Thanks for the help! I’m ready to try again!
Hi John, how did you measure your flour? It sounds like there wasn’t quite enough to help soak up the wet ingredients. Be sure to spoon and level to measure or use a food scale if you have one available. We don’t find it necessary to chill the dough but you certainly can if your dough is a bit loose. Hope these tips help for next time!