These pumpkin oatmeal cookies are extremely soft with the perfect pumpkin spice flavor. Filled with chocolate chips and chewy oatmeal – they’re the perfect fall cookie recipe.

The Best Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

I like to think of these pumpkin oatmeal cookies as one part oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and one part pumpkin bread. They’re filled with warm spices, brown sugar and pumpkin for the perfect fall flavor. Then they have a moist and pillowy soft texture to give you cookies that are thick with a delicious hint of chewiness from the oatmeal.

If you like thin, crispy cookies – then this probably isn’t the recipe for you. But if you love fall flavors and thick, moist cookies that almost verge on muffin tops – then these chocolate chip pumpkin oatmeal cookies are definitely for you.

Making the Cookies – Step by Step Photos & Explanation

This recipe is very simple, but there are a few key steps. If you want to get straight to the recipe, feel free to scroll down. But for a deeper explanation and cookie making tips, keep reading:

First, you’ll need to blot the pumpkin puree with paper towel to remove the excess liquid. This is absolutely imperative to ensure that there isn’t too much liquid in the cookies. Too much liquid will create cookies that are way too cakey in texture.
Then you’ll whisk together the dry ingredients. Flour, spices, baking soda and salt. I’ve used a combination of spices to create my own pumpkin spice combination. But I’ve also included the option to use pumpkin spice mix as well in the recipe notes.
In a large bowl you’ll beat together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until fluffy. I love using brown sugar because of how the flavor pairs with the spices.
Then you’ll mix in the egg yolk, pumpkin, vanilla and maple syrup. Note that we’re only using 1 egg yolk, and not the full egg. Again, this is to avoid the cookies from becoming too cakey we’re just using the egg yolk and not the whole egg. The maple syrup adds flavor and sweetness.
The dry ingredients are then added into the batter. You’ll notice that the mixture is quite sticky, which is expected.
Then stir in the oats. I like to use large rolled oats (AKA old-fashioned oats) in this recipe because they provide the most texture. Quick oats are OK, but I definitely prefer the texture with large oats.
Then in go the chocolate chips.
You’ll form the dough into balls with about 2 tablespoons of dough each (I got 20 cookies in total). Then press them down slightly and they’re ready to bake. They’ll bake for about 10 minutes at 350F.

Baking Tips

Make sure you’re using pure pumpkin puree and not canned pumpkin pie filling.
Don’t forget to blot and squeeze out the excess liquid from the pumpkin for the proper cookie texture. To do this, I place a paper towel into a small bowl and then spoon in the pumpkin. Squeeze the pumpkin gently with the paper towel to get rid of the excess water.
Feel free to cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate the dough for up to 24 hours. This will create thicker cookies.
After forming the dough into balls, it’s important to press them down slightly – otherwise, they can be too thick.

Looking for more pumpkin treats? Then be sure to try:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – if you want to skip the oats
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Caramel Frosting
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
Pumpkin Bundt Cake

6 pumpkin chocolate chip cookies on a cookie rack.

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