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The best ever Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, made with browned butter, pumpkin butter, oatmeal, pumpkin spice, and plenty of chocolate. Plus one special ingredient that really makes these stand out…espresso. They’re the perfect fall pumpkin cookie. Slightly crisp on the edges, but soft and gooey in the middle. And the sea salt on top makes every bite even more addicting. Equally perfect for Halloween night as they are for Thanksgiving dinner.
This is my year to bake all things pumpkin. When I was looking back at the last 10 years of writing recipes for HBH, I realized many things. But one thing that hit me about fall is the lack of sweet pumpkin recipes.
I actually have plenty of favorite pumpkin recipes. But when it comes to baking with pumpkin, I only have a handful of really solid go-to recipes.
I made it my goal this week to embrace baking with pumpkin. I’m two recipes down and wow, they’re both so delicious. Starting with my personal favorite though, cookies!!
We absolutely love oatmeal cookies around here. My mom’s recipe is pretty famous at this point. So all I do is use her recipe as a base, then adjust from there.
Shockingly, these didn’t take me long to test. I had a few ideas, but in the end, I landed on this cookie. I think it’s pretty perfect.
Details
Like most of my cookie recipes during the fall, this one starts with brown butter. I just love the rich nutty flavor it adds. It makes your cooking and baking even more special.
I brown the butter and then add it to a bowl with brown sugar and pumpkin butter. The key here is pumpkin butter, not pumpkin puree. Pumpkin butter is more reduced down than pumpkin purèe and contains less moisture. Less moisture will give you a chewier cookie, not a cakey cookie. You can use my homemade pumpkin butter or pick some up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, your local market, or even via Amazon. Though I’m partial to my homemade recipe. Just make sure your pumpkin butter is spiced for best flavor.
Mix in half the pumpkin butter along with an egg and vanilla. I also love to add a small amount of espresso powder. I found this paired so nicely with the flavors and chocolate in the cookie. Kind of like a pumpkin latte with melty chocolate.
Now mix in the dry ingredients: flour, oats, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt.
The next step is important. Dollop on the remaining pumpkin butter and add the chocolate, but don’t mix the pumpkin butter fully into the dough. You want streaks. This gives you more pumpkin flavor without creating an overly cakey cookie.
Roll the dough into balls, I love to use a cookie scoop for this. It’s so much easier and works nicely with this dough since it’s a bit stickier. Then bake.
These cookies smell incredible, like cookies with the addition of warming fall scents.
Easy to make, no chilling, and take less than a half hour to make. Love that. Plus they’re full of actual pumpkin flavor, real pumpkin, and swirled with both pumpkin butter and chocolate.
These cookies are lightly crisp on the edges but soft and gooey in the center.
Looking for other pumpkin recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Butter Bread
6 Ingredient Spiced Pumpkin Butter
Chai Pumpkin Cake with Maple Browned Butter Frosting
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cinnamon Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Butter Bread
Fluffy Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Lastly, if you make these Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings: 18 -22 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 350 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup pumpkin butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder or instant coffee (optional)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2-1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups chocolate chunks or chips
- sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Let cool 5 minutes or so.3. To the browned butter, mix in the brown sugar, 1/3 cup pumpkin butter, the egg, vanilla, and espresso powder, mixing until smooth. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt. 4. Dollop the remaining 1/3 cup pumpkin butter over the dough. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips. Gently fold the pumpkin butter and chocolate into the dough, being careful to not over-mix. You want streaks of pumpkin butter. 5. Roll the dough into rounded tablespoon size balls, it might be a little sticky. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten the dough down. Bake 8 minutes. Remove from the oven, rotate, and tap the baking sheet on the counter 1-2 times to flatten. Bake another 2-3 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges.6. Sprinkle with sea salt (if desired). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet.
Notes
Pumpkin Butter: you can use my homemade pumpkin butter or just pick some up from Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, your local market, or even via Amazon.
If you want more Pumpkin Spice Flavor: add in 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice along with the flour.
These are really delicious! I cut the sugar back and less choc chips. My cooking time Varied but these smell so good!
Hi Monica,
Fantastic! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Have a great weekend:)
These cookies are delicious!! I have made them twice in two weeks! The flavor is fabulous and not overwhelming on the pumpkin flavor. They will be making an appearance at thanksgiving!!
Hey Monica,
Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for trying it and your feedback! xT
Easily some of the best cookies I have ever had! The pumpkin butter was such a simple addition that added so much moisture and flavor in the best ways.
I did mess up a little where I added all the pumpkin butter at once and then mixed in all the chocolate chips. They turned out perfect to me still.
Hey Josie,
Thanks for your comment and trying this recipe! I am so glad it turned out well for you! Have a great day:)
These are so good that I have a stomach ache right now from eating so many. They’re not too sweet and are cakey and delicious. I subbed some sea salt caramel chips from trader Joe’s for half the chocolate chips and they’re so yummy. This made about 45 cookies for me, so I guess I made them too small. They’re wonderful!
Hey Rachel,
Happy Sunday!!🍂 Thanks a bunch for making this recipe and your review, so glad it was enjoyed:) xx
I’m curious how this recipe translates to a bar – think I could bake it in a 9×13 pan for 35-40 minutes!
Hi Kelsey,
So sorry, I have never baked these as a bar so I don’t have the exact instructions, but I bet it would work well for you! Let me know how the recipe turns out! xx
Made the cookies today (omitted espresso b/c my husband doesn’t like coffee). Took a reader’s advice and gently flattened the cookies before cooking with the bottom of the glass. Mine look just like Tieghan’s photos. Another big hit with my family. Thank you!
Thanks so much for trying out the recipe! 🙂 xT
I made these today. The flavor was good but they were flat as could be. No idea what i did wrong. They came out of the oven fluffed up but immediately flattened 🥴
If I don’t want to leave pumpkin butter swirled in, should I mix the whole 2/3 cup in or just leave it at 1/3 cup and omit the second addition?
These were absolutely delightful! LOVE the addition of the pumpkin butter, so moist and yummy! Your recipes never disappoint, thank you so much!!
These are my first official fall cookies of the season, I couldn’t have asked for a more delicious cookie!!
Thank you SO much Denise! You’re so sweet! xT
Hi! I’m making these right now and just wanted to know if I can refrigerate or freeze the extra dough. Thank you!!
I love your recipes!❤️
Hi there! Yes you absolutely can freeze the extra dough! xT
Made these last night and they are super yummy. Mine were not cakey at all and were more of an oatmeal cookie texture…loved it. I did follow the recipe for the homemade pumpkin butter and that was delicious as well. The only problem, I made too many…do you think these would freeze well.? Thanks again for another great recipe.
Hi there! Yes, you can absolutely freeze them! xT
Would apple butter be an okay substitute for the pumpkin butter?
Yes, that should work just fine! xT
Made these today for an Oktoberfest party and they were gone in minutes. Making a second batch tomorrow since I have the pumpkin butter too! Absolutely easy enough to make both & totally worth the extra “effort”. Thank you for this keeper! Already a harvest favorite 🤎🎃🍁
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try! Hope you’re having a great Halloween weekend! 🙂 xT
Can’t wait to try these! Can I use pumpkin puree instead of pumpkin butter?
Pumpkin purée has much more moisture than pumpkin butter and will make your cookies cakey instead of chewy!
As usual, delicious, but these are definitely cake-like cookies. The issue with flattening out has happened fequently with the HBH recipes, even with the banging on the counter. My solution is to pull out 2 minutes before they are done and give them a gentle smoosh with the ball of my hand! Also subbed pumpkin puree for pumpkin butter,(I mixed with a bit of maple syrup and a dash of pumpkin pie spice for sweetness) and results were still a great fall treat!
Hey Amy! Thanks for the feedback Amy, I appreciate it! xT
Yours turned out Camry because you used pumpkin purée instead of pumpkin butter. Purée has much more moisture and will therefore cause cookies to puff up and be cakey. 👌🏻