PUMPKIN OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, moist and loaded with pumpkin, oats and chocolate chips. Perfect oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe for fall!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies have always been a favorite of mine, but then I added pumpkin. And I’m pretty sure they don’t get much better than this! I might have to stock up on pumpkin so that I can make this version year-round, not just in the fall!

WHAT KIND OF OATS ARE BEST IN OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?

You can use quick oats or old-fashioned oats in your cookies- it really comes down to a personal preference. I actually like to do a combination – half quick oats and half old-fashioned, but it’s totally up to you and what type of oats you have in your pantry! If you use all quick oats, the cookies will end up being a little bit more dense and a little bit puffier. I like the texture of old-fashioned oats because it make the cookies a little bit chewier (and also like I am eating real oatmeal which makes it easier for me to justify eating a few of these for breakfast!).

Ingredients in Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Flour – I usually use all-purpose flour, but you can use wheat flour if you’d like. It will make the cookies more dense and change the consistency a little bit, but they are still delicious!

Oats – I prefer old-fashioned oats in these cookies, but you can use quick oats if you prefer. Or even a combination of the two!

Baking soda & salt – Make sure your baking soda isn’t old or expired!

Cinnamon – Adds lots of flavor to the cookies that goes so well with the pumpkin!

Butter– I always use salted butter, but unsalted works fine too! Make sure it is softened to room temperature before making the cookies.

Brown sugar and granulated sugar – I use light brown sugar, but dark brown works also. Make sure your brown sugar is fresh (not dry and hard) for best results.

Pumpkin – You’ll need one 15 ounce can of pumpkin for the recipe. Make sure it’s just plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling!

Vanilla extract – The higher the quality of vanilla, the better!

Eggs– You’ll need 2 eggs to bind all of the ingredients together and provide the right consistency for the cookies.

Chocolate Chips – You can leave these out if you want, but I usually don’t! I prefer semi-sweet, but you can use any kind. Or swap them out for raisins or nuts (almonds/cashews/etc). These cookies are very versatile!

How to make Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars together for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and beat again for another 1-2 minutes.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet, or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges begin to lightly brown. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

HOW DO YOU MAKE PERFECT OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?

Making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies is easy! Here are a few tips to getting perfect cookies every time!

• Most cookie recipes require that you mix the dry ingredients separately before adding the wet ingredients. This is an important step!
• Spend a little extra time when you mix the shortening and sugar. Creaming them together for 2-3 minutes will improve the consistency of your cookies.
• Preheat the oven. This will help your cookies turn out right every time!
• Use a cookie scoop! If you want all your cookies to be perfectly shaped and have them all be the same size, a cookie scoop is the way to go.
• Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Doing this will make it really easy to remove the cookies from your cookie sheet so that you don’t have to scrape them off the pan – they will just slide right off in perfect shape!
• Don’t over bake the cookies – when I take mine out of the oven, they still look slightly under baked but they will continue to bake on the cookie sheet for a couple more minutes so that’s ok!

HOW DO YOU SOFTEN BUTTER TO ROOM TEMPERATURE?

The best way to soften butter is to set it out for a few hours before you make your cookies. Since most of us (or maybe just me!) aren’t that prepared or don’t think that far in advance, there are a few tricks to softening butter perfectly in just a matter of minutes.

My favorite way to soften butter is in the microwave. It’s definitely fast, but you do have to be very careful not to melt it. Just put the whole stick of butter in the microwave (as long as it isn’t wrapped in foil!) and microwave for about 6-7 seconds. If the butter is still really cold, try another 5-7 seconds and check it again. You may need a few intervals, and if the butter is starting to feel soft, you can shorten the final interval to just a few seconds to make sure it doesn’t start melting.

I actually prefer to use the defrost setting on my microwave – I don’t know exactly what that mode does differently, and it takes a little bit longer (closer to 30 seconds), but it seems to be easier to get the butter to soften without melting.

WHY DO MY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES BURN ON THE BOTTOM BUT AREN’T DONE IN THE MIDDLE?

If your cookies are always burning on the bottom, it is probably a cookie sheet issue! If you are using really dark cookie sheets, the bottoms of your baked goods will tend to burn before they are actually cooked all the way through. If you use a lot of cooking spray, the same result can happen. I prefer to use lighter colored non-stick pans so that I don’t have to use cooking spray at all. As mentioned above, I have been converted to silicone baking mats over the last couple of years and I love how easy it is for cookies to come off the tray – no sticking ever!

LOVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES? SO DO WE! HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPES!

• Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
• Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, moist and loaded with pumpkin, oats and chocolate chips. Perfect oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe for fall!

My oldest just started 11th grade this week. How in the world did she get that old?!? I just can’t believe that I only have a couple more years before she leaves home…but then I also can’t remember life without her. Time is kind of a crazy thing. I’m just so lucky to have her in my life – she is an incredible person and is so talented, beautiful and I can’t wait to see what she does in the future! She was having a little too much fun with her “first day of school photo shoot” this year – I think we got shots of like 30 different poses this year and most of them pretty goofy.