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’ve been making these for years and they turn out great every single time. I’ve tried adding raisins, pumpkin seeds, white chocolate and everything just works. Even smaller quick oats stand up to the full baking time as well. Not overly sweet, just a really nice pumpkin flavour.
A hearty cookie, a little on the dry side, but great with a coffee or milk. I subbed chocolate chips for cranberries and they made a satisfying treat/snack. I made them twice so far and they are both adult and toddler approved!
They are a bit bland. I don’t taste the pumpkin. They are more like biscuits than cookies.
Are the nutrition facts listed anywhere on this recipe? I really love these cookies but need to know those because I am on Weight Watchers. I would like to continue making them, but not until I know the point value! Lol thanks for the info if you know it or can send it.
We only recently brought on a Registered Dietician to our team. She’s working hard behind the scenes to update the entire recipe database, over 1500+ recipes, with nutritional information. She’s working her way from the newest recipes back and it takes some time to update them all. Stay tuned!
I modified this based on convenience and the dryness reviews. The starred changes affected the texture, the rest was flavor.
I doubled the recipe, * used an entire 15oz can of pumpkin, * nearly halved the sugar (added a tbsp of white sugar and a tbsp of molasses on top of half the sugar called for), and added about a cup of raw almonds, well toasted and chopped. I chopped the cranberries small, too. I also spiced it with the full array of pumpkin spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves) and added a tsp of spiced rum.
Baked golf ball sized cookies for 14 min. Soft, a bit chewy, sweet but not too sweet, and so good for Sunday breakfast or with coffee/tea! Thank you for the recipe, Beth!
I love this cookie. One of my favorite recipes. Quick question does it freeze well?
Yes it will be great!
Made with quick oats and turned out great! So light and fluffy!
Good to know! Thanks Sierra!
After seeing the reviews, I made my own artistic alterations to the recipe: I used whole wheat flour, added an additional 1/4 cup pumpkin plus 1/2 cup applesauce to lessen the dry factor, used steel cut oats since they were all I had in the house, included 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder + 2/3 cup chocolate chips instead of cranberries because well, #chocolate. Although they required an extra 5 mins of baking, these turned out pretty damn tasty. No ooey gooey, sugar infused chocolate bombs like a normal cookie, but I’ll take it.
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 ^.^
Just made these for my profoundly picky family for dinner. (Yes dinner, I was desperate to get them to eat something and I only had food storage items to cook with). I used gluten free flour with psyllium husks, reduced sugar to 4tbs white sugar and 3 tbs brown sugar. I left out cinnamon and cranberries. Before baking I sprinkled them all with sugar. I pressed dried cranberries into mine and sprinkled with cinnamon. They were wonderful. Everyone ate, it’s a miracle. I served with a meal sized spinach salad.
Just made a batch of these and they are so good! Really flavorful and fluffy. Definitely will make again!
oh and used coconut oil for half the butter
these are delicious. I added two scoops protein powder, used egg whites, whole wheat white flour and added 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice…. because of the protein powder addition, I added 1/4 extra pumpkin. These are so delicious, even better right out of the freezer! Thank you
Made these with olive oil because butter is really expensive where I live, and they turned out pretty good!
Oops, I posted my comment on the wrong recipe. XD
I doubled the batch and they are great! I used a 15oz can on pumpkin and softened coconut oil for the butter. They are very sweet so I will probably reduce the sugar next time to maybe a total of 3/4 cup of sugar. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Beth,
Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe! As you suggested at the end of the post, I modified your recipe slightly to make these a slightly sweet, fiber-rich version for breakfast! I loved them so much that I shared them on my blog. I hope you’ll like them too :) Here’s the link:
http://cestsibonmd.blogspot.com/2014/01/pumpkin-oatmeal-breakfast-rounds.html
Thanks again for sharing this!
Can you possibly give any sugar free options?
I am from a family of diabetics and i have a hard time finding good stuff that is sugar free. Thanks :)
Hmm, aside from just leaving the sugar out, I don’t think I have any suggestions. I’m not familiar with any of the sugar substitutes on the market today.
Made these last night! Very delicious. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all purpose white flour, instead of a full cup of white flour. It definitely made them more dense. I also added 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, chopped up (so they go a little further). YUM! I personally think the sweetness is the right amount, even for a breakfast cookie..very very very satisfying with a cup of black coffee. I also think that with the whole wheat flour, they are probably better warm, to soften them up a bit. I don’t have a microwave so I’ve only been able to eat room temp cookies, which I can NOT complain about. Still a wonderful little treat! Great recipe!
Hi Beth, something went wrong with mine, i don’t think the texture is right :( mine are a little dry and dense…they’re not that beautiful medly of crunchy exterior/soft interior…but then again i’ve never made oatmeal cookies before. i followed the recipe exactly, except for two things: 1) i live abroad and tehre’s no canned pumpkin, so i made my own puree fresh. perhaps it melted the butter too quickly? 2) i mixed it by hand (no hand mixer). could this be a problem too? please help!
Ah yes, those two things probably did affect the texture. Using an electric mixer will definitely whip more air into the batter, but if you’re good enough with your arm, you can do just as well. If your homemade puree was warm or hot it would have melted the butter and prevented it from trapping any air (solid butter will get fluffy, melted butter just stays flat) :) Also, homemade puree tends to have a bit more moisture, which could have caused them to be more dense? That’s a guess, though.
Also, mine weren’t crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside like normal cookies, they were kind of soft all around. :)
Very good very soft.. more like bread…
Does it matter if it is semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips??
Nope, either will work, but if you like it more on the sweet side use milk chocolate.
Thank you!!
Can the oats be Quaker Old Fashioned or do they have to be Quick Oats? Thanks!
I used old fashioned oats, so you’re good to go. :)
Wonderful! I used white chocolate chips instead of cranberries, quick oats instead of rolled (what I had) but everything else I kept the same. Came out soft and chewy. Everyone that tried them loved them- even the pumpkin hater took seconds. Thank you so much for this recipe!
These turned out awesome! I added a small amount of pecan pieces. To my taste, I wouldn’t reduce the amount of sugar. They’re perfect!! Thank you!!
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.
These are sooo goooooood. I’m eating my 3rd one as I write this.
I used a stevia/maltodextrin blend in place of white sugar (SUPER cheap at Aldi).
I also try to avoid dried cranberries because they have SO much sugar (sugar makes my face break out), & my house is full of raisin haters. I used Plum Amazins instead, and I think they work really well with the pumpkin.
Could I use banana in place of the egg? Or just up the pumpkin puree as the binder? I want to make these vegan for a coworker without stocking my pantry with vegan substitutes for butter and eggs. Thanks for any suggestions!
I’ve made a version similar to that before and they were very dense and a little dry. Almost more granola bar-like. I would at least try using coconut oil in place of the butter. You need a little fat in there to soften them up.
I made these last night. I had raisins in the pantry, so I used that instead of buying dried cranberries. They were great!
These look delicious! We’ll be trying them out real soon. Each Monday, I host a Meatless Meal link up party. I would love it you’d share this recipe with my readers. If you’re interested, you can find the link party at http://www.littlestsweetpea.com
Thanks!
I have never seen canned pumpkin here, so would just cooking a regular squash and mashing it up do the trick? Or is there other things I would need to add to it?
Sarah, I used pumpkin I had processed myself and frozen. It really doesn’t change much except maybe the moisture content. I don’t used canned pumpkin, so I can’t really tell you much about any other differences. We prefer home processed.
Yep, that’s all canned pumpkin is – cooked pumpkin flesh that has been pureed until smooth. If making it yourself, just make sure that you get it really smooth so that it blends into the cookie batter well.
Could these be made with whole wheat four? I feel like they could.
They probably could, yes, but I think it would make them heavier (that might not bother some people).
These look delish! I don’t have any canned pumpkin in the pantry, but I do have a jar of pumpkin butter–do you think that I could sub? Would I reduce/eliminate butter from recipe?
If I am correct, pumpkin butter is just pumpkin puree that has been cooked down until the moisture content is much lower. It might also have some sugar and spices added to it. Because it has a different moisture content, I’m not sure how the substitution would affect the end product. I think it would take some experimenting to get it right.
What would happen if you used whole wheat flour?
I think they would just be more dense and perhaps more dry.
I made a double batch of these and made them in a bar pan (only change I made was subbed choc chips). They were great, kids loved them. I think next time I will add more pumpkin….they were just a tad on the dry side. But the pan didn’t last long at all! Thanks for all of the great recipes :). I’m in love with this site!!!!
Nice! Thanks for letting us know how that worked out! :D
If I did want to have 30 cookies lying around, would just doubling up the recipe do it? I know sometimes with baking doubling the amount of ingredients just doesn’t cut it. What do you think?
Yep! It should work exactly the same if the ingredients are simply doubled. :)
I had a REALLY big can of pumpkin, so made this recipe times 6. It turned out great! I also used half unbleached white flour and half whole wheat flour along with an egg substitute. Even my junk foodie friends won’t know the difference. Since I made such a huge batch, I froze a lot of the dough. It’ll be great to be able to bake up a batch or two with very little fuss for the next several months. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
These look absolutely gorgeous! I’m definitely going to make them as soon as canned pumpkin goes on sale in my area in another couple weeks or so :9
In the meantime, do you think that the basic frame would work well for other fruit puree, like bananas?
Yes, probably! Just make sure to get those bananas mashed really smooth.
If you have a dollar store near you check it out for canned Pumpkin. Mine just got some in and doesn’t expire till 2015!
These look delicious and I’ll probably make them – but they are crying out for chocolate chips. I’m going to leave out the cranberry and add the chocolate :)
I made them with chocolate chips like you said, they’re amazing! I made a batch without chocolate chips (and no craisins) and I didn’t think they were sweet enough but the chocolate really helped.
These are SO GOOD. I made them and brought them to bible study… people were coming back for 3rds and 4ths! I found the amount of sugar to be just right – a lot of people commented that they liked them because they didn’t seem too sugary like most cookies.
Ugh, thank god these have dried cranberries. I hate raisins, but these sound FANTASTIC with cranberries. Perfectly autumnal.
Could these be made into bars or squares, do you think? I think I’ll try that and also add some chopped pecans.
Yes, I think they probably could!