Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies
Soon it will be my absolute FAVORITE time of year. Pumpkin spice everything, cooler weather and Autumn colors on the leaves. I really love the fall season in the northern United States. Its really beautiful and cozy. Football starts again and that means there are so many delicious tailgate foods to make and eat. I love when kids go back to school and you see moms and dads standing around at bus stops again. In Western Washington, we pull out our rain coats and prepare for the rainy winter ahead. It is usually pretty sunny around here until about November though.
I have the perfect fall cookie that you can bake with your kids or surprise them with at the bus stop this afternoon. Its very simple to make and it just tastes like autumn. Its a chewy and satisfying cookie with some healthy elements in it. Oats are really great dietary fiber and pumpkin has so much nutritional value. Almost every vitamin you can think of is in (plain) pumpkin flesh. So really, as long as you don’t eat too much sugar with your pumpkin, its really a great ingredient. Its no wonder it gets so much attention in the fall. I love to add pumpkin into my oatmeal with a few dabs of brown rice syrup or agave nectar.
So let’s get this pumpkin spice party started already! Pumpkin spice or pumpkin pie spice is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Its really great that you can buy this mixture now. I remember when you had to spend four times the amount of money on spices when making a homemade pumpkin pie. Now, wonderful companies have put it all together for you. You will need to start with two mixing bowls. Also, get your baking sheet pan ready with some foil or parchment on it and spray it down with cooking spray. You will need to first cream together the butter and sugar and your pumpkin puree. You don’t need to get your mixer out for this. With melted butter, I was able to mix these up really well with a large spoon as you can see in the picture. In a separate bowl, you’re going to combine the flour, salt and baking soda and then add that to the sugar mixture. Following the process this way helps distribute the ingredients properly in the dough so that you have more consistent and even cookies. 
I made a note in this recipe that you should add the oats as a very last step. An important element to these cookies is that IF you’re going to refrigerate them before you bake them like some people do, you’ll want to wait to add the oats until just before you bake the cookies. I have found that if you refrigerate this dough with the oats, the oats become soggy and turn the cookies kind of mushy and a weird texture. You want the oats not to break down before you bake them. Keep them out of the cookie until the last step before baking. Please use the quick cooking oats. DO NOT go for steel cut or another unusual large or thick cut. Quaker quick cooking oats will do. Its an inexpensive ingredient.
You can easily make the dough ahead of time, refrigerate it and then just add the oats the next day. I have often made cookie dough ahead of time when I have a busy week. This specific cookie dough took me all of ten minutes to put together so I don’t believe you need to pre make this dough to save time as its a very basic recipe.
You will really love the flavor of these cookies. They would be a nice surprise for an after dinner treat this weekend too. I would like to say that you can pare them with some delicious Pinot Grigio (haha!) but these cookies go with any adult beverage. 😉
When you bake the cookies, be sure not to crowd them in the pan. I have made that mistake more than once and its such a bummer when you have to kind of cut the cookies apart from each other and the pan. The cookies tend to crumble more and you end up with a lot more crumbs. 
Then the crumbs stick to the baking sheet paper and its a big mess. Now you have to change the baking paper…and on and on. Trust me I have been through this. When I baked these cookies, I stuck with 3 rows of two. If I have to bake one extra tray of cookies but I have perfectly round cookies, that is A-OK with me. This recipe made me 18 cookies so a dozen and a half. I did make the cookies pretty big though. Find me on social media by tagging @EmeraldMenus. Let me know how you love these Autumn treats. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies
Delicious chewy and sweet pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 each eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cup AP Flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups quick cooking oats, UNCOOKED.
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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In a medium size mixing bowl, cream together the melted butter, both the brown and white sugar and pumpkin puree. Completely incorporate all of these ingredients.
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To the sugar, add the vanilla, the pumpkin pie spice and the eggs, one at a time, stirring in between each added egg. Set that mixture aside.
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In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.
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Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir to combine well. If you wish to refrigerate this dough before baking it, do it now before adding the oats. It is NOT necessary to refrigerate this dough but it is an option.
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Lastly, add the oats into the mixture and stir to combine the cookie dough.
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Lay out a baking pan with parchment paper or foil and spray with cooking spray. Scoop the cookies with a large spoon and gently flatten slightly. This cookie dough is a little thick so the cookies do not flatten themselves as much in the oven.
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Bake 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are light blonde in color. Let the cookies cool on the pan and firm up before removing them from the pan so they don't break. They are fragile when first out of the oven. Enjoy!
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