I was craving some oatmeal raisin cookies the other day when it hit me that pumpkin would probably taste pretty freaking good in an oatmeal cookie. So, I went to buy the ingredients. Then it hit me that I have some leftover dried cranberries in my pantry, so there was no reason to buy raisins when pumpkin and cranberries are practically made for each other. The end result? Total autumn yumminess.
Adding pumpkin purée to the cookie dough means adding a lot of moisture, so I had to cut back somewhere else. Fruit purées are a pretty common baking substitute for fat, so I just cut back on the butter. I left some in there because, well, this is a cookie after all. These cookies bake up light and fluffy and are nice and sweet. The oats give you something to sink your teeth into and the dried cranberries lend an occasional tart bite. I tend to prefer things a little less sweet, so I may try lowering the sugar in my next batch (because there WILL be a next batch).
I made a small batch because most cookie recipes make around 30/batch and I in no way need 30 cookies laying around. So, this mini cookie batch yields about 15 small-ish cookies.
It’s also important to note that I used only 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée. Pumpkin purée is pure gold, so please don’t toss the rest of the can. You’ll have just over a cup left from a 15 oz. can after using some for this recipe, with which you can make a batch of Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal (it will just have a little less pumpkin, that’s okay), a Pumpkin Smoothie, some Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread, or just freeze it for later. Puréed squash freezes beautifully.
Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies
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Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies
Servings 15 cookiesIngredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.14)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.05)
- 2 Tbsp butter (room temperature) ($0.29)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin purée ($0.48)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar ($0.11)
- 1/3 cup white sugar ($0.05)
- 1 large egg ($0.17)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.28)
- 1 1/2 cup rolled oats ($0.30)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries ($0.51)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until very well combined.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter (room temperature), pumpkin, brown sugar, and white sugar on low speed. Once they’re well combined, add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined again.
- Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed just until a thick, creamy batter forms. Add the dry oats and dried cranberries and stir them into the batter with a spoon.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spoon the batter onto the baking sheet in 2 Tbsp portions, leaving about 1.5 inches between each cookie. The cookies will not spread much during baking, so gently pat them down into flattened circles.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, or until slightly browned on the surface. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack before eating.
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Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until they are well combined.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter, pumpkin, brown sugar, and white sugar on low speed until they are well combined. Make sure the butter is room temperature or else it won’t blend into the mixture well.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined again.
Add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and beat on low until it forms a thick, creamy batter (see next photo). Try not to over mix here.
See how thick and creamy the batter looks? Stir the dry oats and dried cranberries in with a spoon until everything is evenly incorporated.
Now you have your finished batter.
Spoon the batter onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet in 2 Tbsp clumps. The cookies don’t really spread as they bake, so press them down a bit into flattened discs.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 16-18 minutes or until the edges are just slightly brown. Allow them to cool on a wire rack before devouring.
I’m gonna reduce the sugar in the next batch and they’ll practically be a breakfast cookie… oooh, maybe I can use whole wheat flour, too. Time to experiment some more!
I wanted to show you the soft, fluffy interior, but it’s really hard to hold the camera steady with one hand. :P Total blurs-ville.
I made these for my daughter’s harvest party today and substituted mini-chocolate chips for the cranberries. Her teacher had “thirds” and the shadow for the special needs girl in her class had “fourths.” My 6 year old son said to me, “Mommy, these are the bestest cookies you’ve ever made!” Thank you for the excellent recipe.
Wow! Those are some amazing compliments! :D
I am very happy with these! I had 1/2 cup of pumpkin left from another recipe, and didn’t want to buy another can to make bread, so these cookies were the perfect solution! I added some chopped pecans, but otherwise followed the recipe. My boyfriend thinks they are a little dry and need more sugar, but I love the cakey texture and think the sweetness is perfect, so tastes vary, obviously! Thanks for the recipe!
These were so good! I added about 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cloves and ginger to help bring out the pumpkin flavor. Sadly I was out of cranberries, so I added crushed walnuts and a tad bit more pumpkin puree to make up for the lost moisture.
These were so good! I added about 1/4 teaspon each of ground cloves and ginger to help bring out the pumpkin flavor. Sadly I was out of cranberries, so I added crushed walnuts and a tad bit more pumpkin puree to make up for the lost moisture.
This recipe is a keeper. I just made them tonight and they are very tasty. I realized someone used all the brown sugar just as I was putting everything together, so I used 2/3 white sugar (would’ve much rather had the brown sugar).
I think I may add more oats next time and maybe some cream of tartar to try and give them a crispier, “oatier” texture–but that’s just my personal preference for texture. This is a great cookie recipe as is.
I never comment on these types of things, but I had to this time! These are amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe! I used chocolate chips instead of cranberry’s and it was delish!
These are sooo good! I doubled the recipe, baked them in a 9×13 pan so they were bar cookies. One of my kiddos and I tried a tiny little corner tonight (they’re for a ladies Bible study in the morning) and we love them! I even forgot to put the vanilla in, I can’t imagine how delicious they will be with it. But I’m wondering about using orange extract next time. I’ll let you know how that goes – I might have to make them tomorrow with the orange!
thanks for another amazing recipe!
Loooove these! I’ve eaten way to many this week! Thanks for the recipe!
These are awesome!!! Added a few white chips to the mix and It is phenomenal! Thank you so much!!
Beth,
I have loved your site for a couple of years! I made falafel, hummus and tzatziki from your recipes tonight and the pumpkin oatmeal cranberry cookies are in the oven as I type ( the dough is delicious!!). Thank you thank you thank you – that’s one from me, one from my family and one from friends with whom I’ve shared your creations. Keep up the phenomenal work.
Love these! I doubled the recipe, and they came out beautifully. I made a batch this past weekend and have been enjoying a couple per day as my mid-afternoon snack. Might refrigerate or freeze the rest to save for later. Personally, I don’t think I would like them as much if the sugar were reduced; even with all of the sugar, they still come off more as a snack than a cookie to me. Oh, and I added chopped walnuts, too. Thanks for sharing!
This was the first recipe i’ve had to tweak.. LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog!
Found the cookies a touch dry and lacking in flavor… Added a pinch of Pumpkin Pie Spice and a dollup of plain greek yogurt and am in pumpkin heaven!
You mentioned that you would reduce the sugar next time. I also prefer stuff to be less sweet. What would you recommend lowering to? 1/4 cup of each sugar? I was also thinking of trying 1/8 cup of each sugar, and maybe throwing a few more cranberries in there.
Yes, I think I’d try 1/4 of each and see how that went. If you go lower to 1/8th cup, it may start to affect the texture, but I’d have to do some experimenting to see how to correct that.
I came across this website today and saw this recipe and knew I must make them. They are wonderful.
Easy and added chocolate chips for fun :)
So how were the chocolate chips in them? I want to make these and thought the chips would be great. Did they really turn out pretty well?
To use up a whole can of pumpkin (15 oz), I just tripled the rest of the ingredients. It made about 40 large cookies. Extremely good.