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
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 into gluten free cookies. I doubled the batch, but only had enough pumpkin for one batch so I added applesauce to make up the difference, added 1/4 tsp of cardamom and ginger and freshly grated nutmeg, I used quick cooking oats, and with half of the brown sugar I used date sugar. Yummy. Perfect recipe to tweak for your needs!!
I love these cookies! They are amazing! I was just wondering how I should be storing them? On the counter in a container or in the fridge?
I would let them cool completely at room temperature, then keep them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator (cooling first makes sure there isn’t any condensation to make the cookies soggy).
LOVED these the way I made them. This recipe was very accommodating to my whims. I changed the recipe as follows… Doubled the recipe, Added some water(about quarter cup) , less oats (maybe half amount called for), subbed a gluten free artisan bread flour I had on hand as the flour, used a whole can of pumpkin, subbed beet sugar for one of the sugars and omitted the other sugar, added hemp seeds, omitted cranberries because we were out of all food fruit, and didn’t quite blend the butter too well in the mix due to doing it with a fork and halfway room temp butter. Best cookies I’ve made in a long time. Everyone loved them even the kids and picky dad.
Loved these! I was kind of expecting from some reviews that they would turn out dry, so I decreased my oven temp to 325 and baked them ~14 min. I used coconut oil instead of butter (don’t do dairy), a little bit more than called for. I didn’t include any dried fruit or add-ins. They came out really soft, moist, and tasty! :)
My husband and I did not like these cookies. Could not even taste pumpkin and they were not sweet at all. They were dry and tasted very blah. I would not recommend this recipe.
Okay, so I didn’t see the other comments, and as everyone said – my initial result was super, super dry.
Fortunately, I made a dummy batch of these the night before, and after Googling, I made some changes that turned out really well! (Note that, IMO, they improved overnight and would have kind of worked as breakfast cookie as was… though still, very dry.)
I made a few changes and the result was really, really good: most importantly at least for my oven, I turned it down to 325 and cooked the cookies for only ~12 minutes; I also added chocolate chips since they were melty and also chocolate; and I added a bit more (~20%) butter and sugar after seeing that similar recipes used twice as much as this one. So, less healthy, but much more party-friendly, and you could definitely go halfway.
Good but not great. The first batch was too dry for my taste so I underbaked subsequent batches and they retained some moisture. Don’t get me wrong…they have a nice flavor and they will eventually disappear with my afternoon coffee. They are just not a cookie I would give away or serve to guests. Also, some cookies taste better the second day and these mat fall into that category.
Super super dry dry but nice flavor (I also used pumpkin pie filling though instead of just plain puree)
Won’t let me give less than five stars but I would actually rate a 2
I had high expectations for these cookies, because I love love love me some good old fashioned oatmeal cookies. But this recipe was somewhere in the middle for me. Not bad, but not overly ecstatic with how they came out
I made a batch of these subbing white whole wheat flour for regular, and I only used 1/3 cup of brown sugar (omitted white sugar). I also added about 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice along with the cinnamon, and I used golden raisins instead of cranberries since I had them on hand. These cookies are really tasty. They’re a tad dry/healthy tasting, but that doesn’t bother me at all, as I was looking to make a healthier snack. They taste really nice with a cup of tea, and have a good amount of fiber and protein for a cookie. Thank you for the recipe.
Loved these cookies. I used fresh ground wheat, 2 scoops protein powder, 1/2 quick oats and 1/2 rolled oats (because my family ate all the rolled oats) and raisins. Everyone loved the cookies including my 12 year old who doesn’t like most of my healthy cooking. I love it when i find a recipe that tastes good and is good for you. Thanks for posting. I will be back to try other recipes.
Made these on the weekend. So good! I doubled the batch and did raisins instead of cranberries, because I have raisins I have to use up. These are my kinda cookies….not too sweet but warm and satisfying.
I substituted the cranberries for butterscotch morsels and added a bit more spice:
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
They were perfect!
If you’re feeling indulgent add white-chocolate chips. Omg it’s the best.
I’ve made these before (delicious by the way) with rolled oats but I have a ton of quick oats to use up. Could you estimate how (if at all) the baking time might differ if I use those? Thanks!
Hmm, I really have no idea without testing it. I would just keep an eye on them and poke around a bit towards the end of the cooking time to see if they’re done earlier.
Baking time didn’t change :) I kept an eye on them but they were fine right up to 17 mins or so.
Between this and the chicken and pumpkin soup I’m starting off pumpkin season right! Thanks as always, Beth ^.^