Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Soft, Chewy & Easy Fall Cookies

Introduction

These Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, chewy, warmly spiced, and loaded with pumpkin flavor and chocolate chips, making them an irresistible fall baking favorite. Each cookie combines hearty old-fashioned oats with buttery brown sugar sweetness, pure pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves for that cozy autumn flavor everyone loves. Blotting the pumpkin puree before adding it to the dough helps control excess moisture and keeps the cookies soft without becoming overly cakey. Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are perfect for fall afternoons, holiday cookie trays, lunchbox treats, bake sales, family gatherings, or simply enjoying with a warm snack. With a tender center, lightly crisp edges, plenty of chocolate chips, and an optional sprinkle of flaky sea salt, these easy pumpkin cookies offer the perfect balance of sweet, spiced, chewy, and chocolatey in every bite.

Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Soft and chewy texture: The oatmeal and pumpkin create a tender cookie with a satisfying chew.
• Packed with fall spices: Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves give these cookies a warm seasonal flavor.
• Loaded with chocolate chips: Every batch includes plenty of chocolate for a rich, familiar cookie finish.
• Easy to make: The dough comes together with a stand mixer or hand mixer and straightforward pantry ingredients.
• Makes a generous batch: The recipe yields approximately 36 cookies, making it perfect for sharing.
• Optional flaky salt: A small sprinkle of flaky sea salt adds a delicious sweet-and-salty contrast.

Ingredients Breakdown

The ingredient list combines classic oatmeal cookie components with pumpkin puree and warm spices.

All-Purpose Flour

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Flour provides the structure for the cookies and helps create the soft, chewy texture.

Baking Soda

1 teaspoon baking soda

Baking soda helps the cookies spread and contributes to their final texture.

Warm Spices

1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

This combination creates the characteristic warm, cozy flavor of fall baking. Cinnamon leads the spice blend, while ginger, nutmeg, and cloves add depth.

Kosher Salt

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Salt balances the sweetness and helps bring the pumpkin, spices, butter, and chocolate flavors together.

Unsalted Butter

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Room-temperature butter creams smoothly with the sugars, creating the rich foundation of the cookie dough.

Light Brown Sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

Brown sugar contributes sweetness and helps give the cookies their soft, chewy character.

Granulated Sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Granulated sugar works alongside the brown sugar to provide sweetness and influence the cookies’ texture and spread.

Pumpkin Puree

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

Pumpkin provides the signature flavor and moisture in these cookies. The recipe specifically calls for blotting the puree before adding it to the dough to remove some excess moisture.

Egg Yolk

1 large egg yolk

The egg yolk contributes richness and helps bind the dough without adding the additional moisture of a whole egg.

Vanilla Extract

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Vanilla enhances the pumpkin, spices, brown sugar, and chocolate.

Old-Fashioned Oats

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats

The oats give these cookies their classic oatmeal texture and hearty chew.

Chocolate Chips

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Chocolate chips add rich sweetness and chocolate flavor throughout the cookies.

Flaky Sea Salt

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling, optional

A light sprinkle of flaky sea salt provides a pleasant contrast to the sweet pumpkin and chocolate flavors.

Tools & Equipment Needed

You don’t need complicated equipment for this recipe. Gather:

• Large baking sheet
• Parchment paper or Silpat baking mat
• Medium mixing bowl
• Stand mixer or hand mixer
• Spatula
• Paper towels
• Cookie scoop
• Wire cooling rack

A cookie scoop is especially useful for keeping the cookies similar in size so they bake evenly.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Prepare the Oven and Baking Sheet

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat and set it aside.

2. Combine the Dry Ingredients

In a medium bowl, whisk together:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Set the dry mixture aside.

3. Cream the Butter and Sugars

Place the room-temperature butter, packed light brown sugar, and granulated sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Alternatively, use a hand mixer.

Beat the butter and sugars together until creamy and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.

This step helps create a smooth, well-blended base for the cookie dough.

4. Blot the Pumpkin

Place a couple of paper towels on a plate or in a bowl.

Put the pumpkin puree in the center of the paper towels.

Use another paper towel to blot the pumpkin 5 or 6 times to soak up some of the moisture.

This is an important step in the supplied recipe. Pumpkin puree contains considerable moisture, so blotting it helps control the amount of liquid going into the dough.

5. Add the Pumpkin Mixture

Add the blotted pumpkin puree, egg yolk, and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl.

Beat until everything is well combined.

The mixture should be evenly incorporated before the dry ingredients are added.

6. Add the Dry Ingredients

With the mixer on low, beat in the dry ingredients until just combined.

Do not overmix.

Overmixing can affect the final cookie texture, so stop mixing once the flour mixture is incorporated.

7. Add the Oats and Chocolate Chips

Stir in the old-fashioned oats and chocolate chips.

Mix just enough to distribute them throughout the dough.

The finished dough should contain oats and chocolate chips throughout rather than having them concentrated in only a few areas.

8. Portion the Cookie Dough

Use a cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet.

Use approximately 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie.

Leave about 2 inches of space between cookies because they will spread as they bake.

Avoid overcrowding the baking sheet.

9. Bake

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges but still soft in the center.

The soft center is an important visual cue for achieving the intended chewy texture.

10. Add Flaky Salt

Remove the cookies from the oven.

If desired, sprinkle them with flaky sea salt.

The optional salt adds a subtle savory contrast to the sweetness of the pumpkin, brown sugar, and chocolate.

11. Cool

Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet.

Then transfer them to a wire cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

The Secret to Soft Pumpkin Cookies

One of the most important details in this Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is the pumpkin preparation.

Instead of adding the pumpkin puree directly to the dough, the recipe instructs you to blot it several times with paper towels.

Pumpkin puree naturally contains a significant amount of moisture. Too much moisture can change the texture of cookies and make them softer or more cake-like.

Blotting the pumpkin helps remove some of that excess moisture while keeping the pumpkin flavor in the dough.

Another important detail is the baking time. The cookies should be set around the edges while remaining soft in the center when they come out of the oven.

They continue to set as they cool, so the center should not look completely firm when you remove the cookies from the oven.

Tips for the Best Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Use Room-Temperature Butter

The recipe calls for butter at room temperature. This makes it easier to beat the butter and sugars together until creamy and smooth.

Don’t Skip Blotting the Pumpkin

This is one of the recipe’s most distinctive preparation steps.

Blot the pumpkin puree 5 or 6 times using paper towels to soak up some of its moisture before adding it to the mixing bowl.

Don’t Overmix the Dough

Once you add the dry ingredients, mix only until they are just combined.

The recipe specifically says not to overmix.

Use Old-Fashioned Oats

The recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats. They provide the hearty oatmeal texture that makes these cookies different from ordinary pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Leave Enough Space

Portion approximately 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie and leave around 2 inches between portions because the cookies will spread during baking.

Watch the Center

Bake until the edges are set but the centers are still soft.

This helps preserve the soft and chewy texture described in the recipe.

Don’t Move the Cookies Too Quickly

Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes after coming out of the oven before transferring them to a wire rack.

That short resting period allows them to firm up enough to move without losing their tender texture.

Flavor Profile

These cookies have a distinctly autumn-inspired flavor profile.

Pumpkin provides the main seasonal flavor and contributes moisture to the dough.

Cinnamon gives the cookies their familiar warm bakery character.

Ginger, nutmeg, and cloves add depth and a gently aromatic spice blend.

Brown sugar contributes a deeper sweetness and complements the pumpkin beautifully.

Chocolate chips add rich chocolate flavor that contrasts with the warm spices.

Flaky sea salt, when used, creates a sweet-and-salty finish.

Together, these ingredients create a cookie that tastes cozy, warmly spiced, buttery, chocolatey, and unmistakably fall-inspired.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies vs. Traditional Oatmeal Cookies

Traditional oatmeal cookies often rely heavily on brown sugar, butter, oats, and sometimes raisins or chocolate chips.

These pumpkin oatmeal cookies take that familiar foundation in a seasonal direction.

The addition of pumpkin puree brings a distinct pumpkin flavor and changes the texture of the cookie. The warm spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves reinforces the fall character.

The result is still recognizably an oatmeal cookie, but with a softer, more autumn-inspired personality.

Make-Ahead Baking Tips

These cookies are convenient for preparing ahead when you want a batch of homemade fall treats available for gatherings or sharing.

The recipe itself does not provide specific instructions for refrigerating or freezing the unbaked dough, so no additional dough-storage times are assigned here.

For the finished cookies, follow the supplied cooling process: allow them to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Because the recipe makes approximately 36 cookies, it is also well suited to occasions when you need a generous batch rather than a small dessert.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree?

The recipe calls for 1 cup pure pumpkin puree. Use pure pumpkin puree as specified rather than changing the ingredient.

Why do I need to blot the pumpkin?

The recipe instructs you to blot the pumpkin puree 5 or 6 times with paper towels to soak up some of its moisture. This helps control the moisture going into the cookie dough.

How much dough should I use for each cookie?

Use approximately 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie with a cookie scoop.

How much space should I leave between the cookies?

Leave approximately 2 inches of space between dough portions because the cookies will spread while baking.

How do I know when the cookies are done?

The cookies should be set around the edges but still soft in the center. The supplied recipe gives a baking range of 12 to 14 minutes.

Do I have to use flaky sea salt?

No. The flaky sea salt is optional. It can be sprinkled over the cookies immediately after they come out of the oven for an extra sweet-and-salty finish.

Cooking Timeline

Stage	Time
Prep Time	15 minutes
Cook Time	12 minutes listed
Detailed Baking Range	12–14 minutes
Total Time	30 minutes
Yield	36 cookies
Oven Temperature	350°F

The recipe header lists a 12-minute cook time, while the detailed instructions specify 12 to 14 minutes, depending on when the edges are set and the centers remain soft.

Serving Suggestions

These Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are ideal for casual fall snacking, dessert tables, cookie exchanges, bake sales, and family gatherings.

Serve them after they have cooled completely so the oatmeal cookie texture has had time to settle.

For a simple presentation, arrange the cookies on a platter with the chocolate chips and optional flaky sea salt visible across the tops.

They also make a convenient treat for sharing because the recipe produces approximately 36 cookies.

Creative Ways to Enjoy the Same Cookies

Fall Cookie Platter

Arrange the cookies together on a large serving platter for an easy autumn dessert display.

Holiday Cookie Box

Include these pumpkin oatmeal cookies in a homemade cookie assortment. Their pumpkin spice flavor gives the selection a distinctly seasonal element.

Double-Chocolate Finish

For a more chocolate-forward presentation, emphasize the chocolate chips already included in the recipe by making sure they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Salted Pumpkin Cookie Finish

Use the optional flaky sea salt immediately after baking for a more pronounced sweet-and-salty flavor contrast.

Ingredient Spotlight: Pumpkin

Pumpkin is what transforms these from ordinary oatmeal chocolate chip cookies into a seasonal fall favorite.

The recipe uses 1 cup pure pumpkin puree. It provides the signature pumpkin flavor while also contributing moisture to the dough.

Because pumpkin contains a lot of moisture, the recipe takes the extra step of blotting the puree with paper towels before incorporating it.

That small preparation step is worth paying attention to because it is specifically designed to remove some of the pumpkin’s excess moisture.

Ingredient Spotlight: Old-Fashioned Oats

The 1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats provide the hearty texture that defines these cookies.

Rather than simply adding pumpkin flavor to a standard chocolate chip cookie, the recipe builds on the classic oatmeal cookie structure.

The oats give the cookies a satisfying chew and pair especially well with the soft pumpkin-infused dough and melted chocolate chips.

Ingredient Spotlight: Warm Spices

The spice combination is deliberately balanced:

• 1 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves

Cinnamon provides the dominant warm spice character, while ginger, nutmeg, and cloves create a deeper fall flavor.

This blend complements both pumpkin and chocolate without requiring additional pumpkin pie spice.

Pro Baking Tips

Start with room-temperature butter. It creams more smoothly with the sugars.

Scrape the bowl. The recipe specifically recommends scraping down the sides as needed while beating the butter and sugars.

Blot the pumpkin thoroughly. Use paper towels 5 or 6 times to soak up some moisture.

Mix gently after adding flour. Keep the mixer on low and stop once the dry ingredients are just combined.

Distribute the oats and chocolate chips evenly. Stir them into the dough so the finished batch has consistent texture and flavor.

Scoop consistently. Approximately 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie helps create a uniform batch.

Don’t crowd the pan. Leave about 2 inches between cookies.

Remove while the centers are soft. The edges should be set, while the centers remain soft.

Allow a five-minute rest. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet before moving them to the cooling rack.

Storage & Freezing Guide

The supplied recipe does not provide specific storage durations or freezing instructions for the finished cookies or unbaked dough.

For that reason, no additional storage or freezing times are assigned here.

Follow the provided cooling instructions and allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack after their initial 5-minute rest on the baking sheet.

Nutrition Information

The supplied recipe provides the following nutrition information per cookie:

Nutrient	Amount
Calories	170 kcal
Carbohydrates	25 g
Protein	2 g
Fat	7 g
Saturated Fat	4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	0.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat	1 g
Trans Fat	0.2 g
Cholesterol	20 mg
Sodium	71 mg
Potassium	48 mg
Fiber	1 g
Sugar	15 g
Vitamin A	1241 IU
Vitamin C	0.3 mg
Calcium	22 mg
Iron	1 mg

These nutrition values are the figures supplied with the recipe for the stated serving size.

Why These Are Perfect Fall Cookies

Pumpkin and oatmeal are a particularly natural combination for autumn baking.

The pumpkin brings moisture and seasonal flavor, while old-fashioned oats provide the hearty chew associated with classic oatmeal cookies. Warm cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves create the familiar aroma of fall baking, and chocolate chips add enough richness to make the cookies feel like a true dessert.

The texture is another reason these cookies stand out.

They’re not intended to be crisp throughout. The recipe specifically instructs you to remove them when the edges are set but the centers remain soft. After five minutes on the baking sheet and a complete cooling period on a wire rack, the cookies develop their characteristic soft and chewy texture.

That makes them especially appealing for anyone who prefers a tender oatmeal cookie rather than a crunchy one.

When to Make Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are perfect throughout the fall season.

Make a batch for a weekend baking project when pumpkin recipes are calling your name. They are also easy to bring to a fall gathering because the recipe yields about 36 cookies.

They can work beautifully on a Thanksgiving dessert table, in a seasonal cookie assortment, at a bake sale, or as a homemade treat to share with family and friends.

The familiar combination of pumpkin, oatmeal, warm spices, and chocolate also makes them a good choice when you want something more substantial than a simple chocolate chip cookie but easier than a decorated seasonal dessert.

Final Thoughts

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies bring together everything that makes fall baking so comforting: pumpkin, warm spices, brown sugar, buttery cookie dough, hearty oats, and plenty of chocolate chips. The result is a soft and chewy cookie with a tender center, warmly spiced flavor, and rich chocolate throughout.

The recipe has a few particularly useful details that make a difference. Blotting the pumpkin puree helps control excess moisture, while mixing the dry ingredients only until combined helps protect the texture. Portioning the dough with approximately 1.5 tablespoons per cookie and leaving about 2 inches between cookies gives them room to spread evenly.

The final touch of flaky sea salt is optional, but it adds a lovely contrast to the sweetness of the cookie and chocolate chips.

With approximately 36 cookies per batch, these Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are made for sharing. Whether you’re baking for a fall gathering, preparing a seasonal cookie platter, or simply craving a soft pumpkin cookie with chocolate chips, this recipe delivers a cozy homemade treat with plenty of autumn flavor.

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