Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Soft and chewy, these brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies are packed with warm fall spices, hearty oats, and a rich nutty flavor. Perfect for cozy autumn days, they’re an irresistible treat everyone will love!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup white chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- First, let’s brown that butter – it’s going to give these cookies an amazing nutty flavor. Put the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Keep swirling the pan occasionally. When it smells nutty and looks golden amber (about 5-7 minutes), immediately pour it into a large heat-safe bowl. Let it cool for about 15-20 minutes until it’s still liquid but not hot.
- While the butter’s cooling, whisk together your flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Once the butter has cooled down, add both sugars and whisk until it looks like wet sand. Add the egg, extra yolk, and vanilla, whisking until the mixture gets smooth and starts looking a bit lighter in color. Now mix in the pumpkin puree – it’ll look a bit curdled at first, but keep mixing until it’s even.
- Add your dry ingredients to the wet mixture in two parts, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or spatula just until you don’t see any more flour streaks. If you’re using white chocolate chips, fold them in now. The dough will be pretty soft and a bit sticky.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight if you can wait. This helps the oats soften up and lets the flavors develop.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough balls about 2 tablespoons each. Space them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. You’re looking for edges that are just starting to turn golden brown, while the centers still look slightly underbaked and puffy. They’ll continue cooking a bit on the hot baking sheet, so don’t wait until they look completely done in the oven.
- Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes – they’re really delicate right now and will fall apart if you try to move them too soon. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies should feel set but still soft in the middle when you pick them up.
- The finished cookies should be soft and chewy with slightly crisp edges, and they’ll stay that way for about 5 days in an airtight container. You can even freeze the baked cookies or portions of dough for later.