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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 cookies are just O-K. As others have stated, I followed the recipe exactly and made the pumpkin butter recipe as recommended. The cookies are very “cakey” and really have no crunchy edge that I so desire in a cookie. I do have a high bar for cookies though, I made the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe from the Tasty Youtube Channel and they are SO good so it’s hard to compare these. Wish the pumpkin flavor would have come through more strongly too. A miss but they are an ok one time recipe!
Hi Maggie,
So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks so much for giving them a try and sharing your feedback! xT
I was so excited to try these cookies. I didn’t make my own pumpkin butter; I bought it from a local farm. Overall, the cookies were good but felt it was more of a spiced oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and lacked the pumpkin flavor.
Hey Laura,
Thanks so much for giving these cookies a try, so sorry to hear you didn’t love them! xx
Made these tonight…soooooo yummy! My husband isn’t a huge pumpkin spice fan but he loved them!
Hey Holly,
Fantastic!! I love that this recipe turned out tasty for you, thanks so much for giving it a try! xx
These were a hit at a chili cook-off party I brought these too last night! The homemade pumpkin butter was so easy to make. I’m usually wary of bringing something I made for the first time to a party, but I mean, who doesn’t like pumpkin and chocolate??? Glad I took a chance and now to use the rest of the butter in other recipes.
Hey Samantha,
Happy Monday!! 🍁 Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for making it! xT
Amazing! My family was upset with me for adding pumpkin to their chocolate chip cookies until they tasted them. Big smiles! Im making these for the second time today and they (the family) are stopping over for these cookies.
I made Tieghan’s pumpkin butter and that was so easy and yummy! The dough of these cookies is very sticky. I followed Tieghan’s directions exactly and voila …perfection! I held out some dough without any chocolate chips and added some raisins . They were still good but the chocolate chips are a must!
Thank you , Tieghan
Hey Sally,
Happy Sunday!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for giving it a try! Thanks so much for your kind message! xT
These are killer!! I used the HBH pumpkin butter that I made the other day, left out the espresso powder since I didn’t have any, and used GF flour (Bob’s Red Mill). They are so delicious and hit the spot. This recipe made A LOT of cookies. Can’t wait to share them 🙂
Hey Emily,
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback and giving this recipe a try, I am so glad it turned out well for you! Have a great weekend:)
Hi Tieghan – Thanks for creating and sharing this! We live in Breckenridge and are wondering if we should modify your recipe for high elevation?
Hey Mark,
No need to make any adjustments, you can follow the recipe as written. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Baking off the second batch now. Very sophisticated, very adult flavor profile. Excellent. Somewhat less sweet than traditional chocolate chip cookies. They taste expensive.
Hey Debbie,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xx
made these for halloween last night & everyone loved them!
Hey Brittney,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xx
delicious – just made these!
Hey Ronnie,
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for making these cookies🍪 I am so glad they were enjoyed! xT
I made Minimalist Baker’s pumpkin butter and used vegan butter, a flax egg, and gluten-free flour, and these came out great! The only mistake I made was to add the pumpkin butter at the beginning instead of swirling it 🤦🏻♀️. I also added walnuts. Thanks for a good recipe!
Hey Jenny,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you! xx
I finally made these cookies this evening and I’m super impressed, as I am with a ton of your recipes. The pumpkin butter is 100% the game changer and now I have a few jars for future recipes too, so thank you for that also. I thought 2 cups of chocolate chips and chunks was a bit aggressive, but I. this case it worked well, as well as the browned butter which was new to me in cookie recipes. I used unrefined sea salt since I ran out of Malton sea salt flakes and it turned out just fine. Thank you for this delicious autumn treat!
Hey Cora,
Happy Halloween! 🎃 I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it and sharing what worked well for you! xT
Could you make these into bars
Hey Claire,
You could certainly give that a try, let me know how they turn out! I hope you love the recipe! xT
I just made these- followed the recipe perfectly. I even cut down on the soda. They are still not as flat as I would have hoped. They taste delicious and I’m sure they will be a Halloween hit at work 👻🎃
Hey Leanne,
Happy Monday! 👻 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! Happy Halloween! 🎃
These unfortunately are puffy cookies 🙁 I followed the recipe very closely and they did not turn out like the picture. They have a very cakey texture where I prefer a flatter, crispy and chewy cookie.
Hi Katie,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xT
Any suggestions for making these as bars? I’m too lazy to do cookies, but they sound amazing!!
Hey Jen,
I’ve not tried this, but you could just try baking them in a 9×13 pan and see how that works! Let me know! Happy Halloween! 👻
Y’all. It can’t be understated how great these are. Turned out perfect, my non-foodie husband commented that these were “great” and that’s a hard status to achieve here! For me I’d take it to another level and say gold medal, even 😉 Fantastic use of the pumpkin butter, Tieghan.
Things to consider:
-definitely press down on the dough balls before going in the oven, better to have a less perfect shape and no cake-like texture that you can get from rise. Definitely worth the babysitting to pull out, rotate and give a good counter tap to settle/deflate. Worked like a charm.
-know how your oven bakes. Mine’s a bit on the hot side so I made sure to pull out at 6ish minutes and tap and cook for 2-3 more minutes before they were ready to take out and finish cooking on the pan for a couple more minutes.
-if you really want the pumpkin to shine through, add the extra pumpkin spice and have the pumpkin butter both times be a rounded 1/3 cup (not too much! just slightly more). I may dial down the syrup I put in the pumpkin butter next time as it perhaps masked the pumpkin taste with sweetness, but that’s such a minor thing.
– yes, yes, yes to flaky sea salt.
– serve with cold milk. Voila. Guys, together this is a great fall dessert for company!
Hey Jen,
Happy Monday! 👻 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! Thanks so much for sharing what worked well for you! Happy Halloween! 🎃