Pumpkin Iced Oatmeal Cookies
These beautiful Pumpkin Iced Oatmeal Cookies are soft and chewy oat cookies made with pure pumpkin and a sweet vanilla icing. This is a nice way to elevate your typical oatmeal cookie, and they are so festive for Fall and Thanksgiving. I love to enjoy these with a cup of coffee which gives a pumpkin spice latte kind of experience. If pumpkin cookies are your thing, be sure to also check out my Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, Chewy Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and my Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
- Easy to make - you don't need a mixer or any special equipment to make this recipe. The cookie dough comes together with a bowl and a spatula.
- Soft and chewy oatmeal cookies - pumpkin gives these cookies a nice chewy texture and they stay soft in storage as well. They are not cakey like a lot of pumpkin cookies tend to be.
- Pure pumpkin flavor - there's ¼ cup of pure pumpkin puree in the cookie dough and you don't need to blot or dry it out before using it.
- Pumpkin spice cookies - a fragrant blend of cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice and nutmeg adds warm cozy flavor to these cookies.
- Eggless cookies - that's right! You don't need eggs for this recipe. The pumpkin provides moisture and structure to make these chewy cookies.
- Vanilla icing - the signature look of iced oatmeal cookies is a thick icing that coats the bumpy surface so they look frosted from a fresh snowfall.
INGREDIENTS FOR PUMPKIN ICED OATMEAL COOKIES
- Butter - I highly recommend salted butter for this recipe because it adds a richer flavor to enhance the pumpkin and the spice. You'll melt the butter for this recipe so no need to leave it out to soften before baking.
- Brown sugar - the molasses in brown sugar gives these cookies a subtle butterscotch flavor that complements pumpkin so well. I use light brown sugar in this recipe, however either light or dark brown works well.
- Granulated sugar - this will help create those slightly crisp golden edges.
- Pure vanilla extract - good vanilla is absolutely essential to making delicious cookies. I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
- Canned pumpkin - canned pumpkin is easily accessible and inexpensive. I recommend using store-bought pumpkin since it is more consistent. If you make your own, it is important to reduce it down so it is very thick otherwise the moisture balance will be off in the recipe. You do not need to dry out or blot out the pumpkin puree since it is the only source of moisture in this recipe.
- All-purpose flour - I always use unbleached all-purpose flour to make cookies.
- Quick oats - this recipe is designed to use quick-cooking oats so they absorb evenly into the cookie dough and bake thoroughly into the cookies. This will create a very chewy texture throughout and create evenly sized cookies.
- Baking soda - it gives the right amount of spread and also helps with browning.
- Baking powder - the blend of bicarbonate and baking powder creates the right amount puff so the cookies aren't too flat.
- Pure vanilla extract - I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
- Pumpkin pie spice - use your favorite brand, or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. It's easy and so delicious!
- Powdered sugar - the vanilla icing is a simple blend of powdered sugar and light cream or milk. It's nice and thick to create a melting texture over the cookies.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PIE SPICE
To make pumpkin pie spice at home, blend certain proportions of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and clove. Here is my recipe for homemade pumpkin pie spice that yields about 3 tablespoons of total spice.
ROLLED OATS VS. QUICK OATS
Both types of oats are the same ingredient just processed differently. Both are made from de-husked, steamed oat groats. Rolled oats are pressed and flattened between two stainless steel rollers and then dried. Quick oats are rolled oats that have been steamed a little longer, rolled thinner and then cut up to break them down finer. Quick oats cook faster than rolled oats since they have a smaller size, which means they absorb water and hydrate more quickly.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
- STEP 1). Combine butter and sugar. Combine melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract in a large bowl and whisk to blend until smooth.
- STEP 2). Blend dry ingredients. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk it together to blend evenly.
- STEP 3). Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add this to the butter mixture with the oats and use a rubber spatula fold it in until just combined.
- STEP 4). Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- STEP 5). Bake. Use a 1-oz cookie scoop to portion dough and release them onto the baking sheets leaving about 3 inches of space between them. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are brown and the center looks puffed and golden. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a 2 minutes. They will deflate and flatten as they cool and have beautiful cracks on top. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- STEP 6). Make the icing. Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of cream, salt and vanilla. You're looking for a thick opaque icing that is spoonable, but still drizzles. If necessary, add a bit more cream.
- STEP 7). Ice the cookies. Dip cookies top side down evenly in icing without pushing down to far. You want to dip it shallow so it only coats the humps and bumps on the cookie instead of getting deep into the crevices and valleys to get the snow-capped look.
- STEP 8). Let set. Transfer cookies to a rack or clean cookie sheet and let icing set before storing.
EXPERT BAKING TIPS
- Measure the flour accurately to ensure you get the right texture. Too much flour will make the cookies dry and crumbly, and too little will cause them to spread excessively. Using just the right amount of flour is what will make these cookies taste great too.
- Use a trigger-release ice cream scoop to portion these cookies for even baking.
- Do not over-bake. These cookies are ready when the edges are set and the centers feel a tiny bit soft. The will continue to set as they cool on the hot baking tray.
- Cool the baked cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring them. They are delicate while still warm so they need a few minutes to set up.
RECIPE FAQ
This recipe calls for quick-cooking oats which are also called minute oats. Quick oats will hydrate and cook faster than rolled oats so they will bake more evenly into the cookie dough for uniform cookies.
If you make this recipe using rolled oats, the cookies spread a bit more and be flatter near the edges instead of having and even height throughout.
Both types of oats are the same ingredient just processed differently. Both are made from de-husked, steamed oat groats. Rolled oats are pressed and flattened between two stainless steel rollers and then dried. Quick oats are rolled oats that have been steamed a little longer, rolled thinner and then cut up to break them down finer. Quick oats cook faster than rolled oats since they have a smaller size, which means they absorb water and hydrate more quickly.
Yes, unsalted butter will be fine. In this case I would suggest to double the salt to ½ teaspoon of salt instead of ¼ teaspoon.
It is very important to chill this cookie dough since the oats need time to hydrate. If you don't chill this dough, the cookies will likely spread too much in the oven and they will be too thin. Refrigerating will help with the chewy texture.
These cookies are best stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They stay nice and soft and chewy!
Yes, you can freeze these cookies. First let them cool completely and let the icing set until it is firm and dry, then place them in a resealable freezer bag. You can keep them frozen for up to 3 months, and if you want them to keep longer, wrap them individually in plastic wrap before placing in the freezer bag.
If you love oats, check out these recipes:
Gooey Almond Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (gf, df option) Chewy Reese’s Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies Ultimate Monster Cookies Thick White Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Dark Chocolate Cherry Coffee Oatmeal CookiesVideo
Pumpkin Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie Dough:
- ½ cup (113g) salted butter, melted
- ½ cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60ml) pure pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp (120g) all purpose flour
- ¾ cup (75g) one-minute oats
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Vanilla Icing:
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 1 ½ - 2 tablespoon (22-30ml) light cream (I used half & half 10% cream), plus more as needed
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough. Combine melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract in a large bowl and whisk to blend until smooth.
- Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk it together to blend evenly. Add this to the butter mixture with the oats and use a rubber spatula fold it in until just combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 1-oz cookie scoop to portion dough and release them onto the baking sheets leaving about 3 inches of space between them. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are brown and the center looks puffed and golden. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a 2 minutes. They will deflate and flatten as they cool and have beautiful cracks on top. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cool, make the icing. Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of cream, salt and vanilla. You're looking for a thick opaque icing that is spoonable, but still drizzles. If necessary, add a bit more cream to get the correct consistency, but note that adding too much will make it thin and it will not set up firm. Dip cookies top side down evenly in icing without pushing down to far. You want to dip it shallow so it only coats the humps and bumps on the cookie instead of getting deep into the crevices and valleys to get the snow-capped look.
- Transfer cookies to a rack or clean cookie sheet and let icing set before storing.
Hi, what's a good substitute for the light cream?
Hi Doron! You can use full cream or whole milk, but will need to adjust the amount (reduce of using milk) to get the right consistency.
I've made these several times in the past week. I've made a single, double and triple batch. I felt they were delicious each time and didnt find any issues when making more than one batch at a time. The cookie scoop I used made ~24g balls of batter; one batch made 19 cookies, my triple batch made 71 cookies. One of the attempts I did not use a cookie scoop and l feel they come out better when the scoop is used.
My only hang up with the recipe is with the icing. I found 30ml of heavy cream was not enough to get to the described consistency. On my first attempt I used 52ml and, surprisingly, my second icing attempt I used 71ml (and probably could have done for a little bit more based on the consistency only almost drizzling). The icing recipe also makes more than enough icing for one batch. By the tripled recipe, I confirmed one icing recipe adequately covered 70 cookies.
I attempted to do the top-down dip into the icing for my first few cookies, but found I didn't have the patience for it. I used a silicone basting brush to paint the icing across the tops of the cookies and felt that it settled on the cookies nicely when completely set.
Really terribly delicious cookies. The icing does make them sweet, so on my double-batch effort, I left one batch un-iced in case any of the party guests didnt want the extra sweetness.
I meant to add: I'm still learning my oven, but find that 11min isn't enough cook time for me. 15min is the sweet spot in my oven on this recipe.
Thanks for the feedback Cynthia! I'm glad you enjoyed the cookies. The amount of cream needed to get the right consistency can vary, but double is unexpected. Did you use a scale to measure the powdered sugar?
I also found it wasn’t enough heavy cream. Even when used at room temp and of course weighing the powdered sugar. I found 4 tablespoons to be the perfect amount when using heavy cream.
Thanks for the feedback Jack. I have never had to use more than 2 tablespoons, but it is probably depends on which powdered sugar is being used.
These are delicious and easy! I added some pumpkin spice to the icing to punch up the pumpkin spice flavor 🎃
Thanks Stephanie! Nice touch with the added spices! 🙂
I love a good soft and chewy oatmeal cookie and these don't disappoint! Recipe comes together so easily and the flavours work perfectly.
Thank you Christine! I'm so glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Made exactly but used vegan butter (dairy allergy) and they came out great! Stayed moist for the whole week even! Highly reccomend!
Thank you Lisa! Great to know it worked well with the vegan butter! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
What did you substitute for the cream in the glaze? Thank you!
Easy to follow and delicious. Pay attention to the type of oats, though-- it makes a difference!
Thank you Maggie! I'm so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂