Four years ago while still in school and preparing for a career in the pharmaceutical industry, one of my professors scheduled a rather large and important chemistry exam for the day after Halloween. As a good student, I skipped the costumes and trick-or-treating festivities to study instead.
I barely missed those parts of the holiday, seeing as I lived across the street from a grocery store and always took advantage of the 75% off sale on leftover chocolate Halloween candy the following day, but…
I really missed carving pumpkins.
The week before, I had bought a perfectly plump, bright orange pumpkin from the Trader Joe’s across town, and I had planned on carving it over the weekend a few days prior to Halloween when I had a free hour. However, memorizing chemical equations and reaction mechanisms for my midterm took much more time than I anticipated, so my pumpkin sat plain and faceless in the entryway.
My guy felt really badly for me, so the first weekend of November, he cancelled our movie theater date night, rented a cute animated DVD instead, and pulled out some nails and a sharp knife. He spread newspapers all over the floor before cutting the top off of the pumpkin, gutting the insides, and helping me carve a classic face into the side.
It was so sweet—and better late than never!
Just like our pumpkin carving that year, autumn around these parts waits to settle in until mid-October, or even the beginning of November some years. Although the calendar calls September 23 the first day of fall, we still wear shorts clear through the end of October to deal with the 80° temperatures!
Even though it doesn’t really fell like pumpkin season until right around Halloween where I live, I think that cookie season is all year round… So I baked a few batches of these Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies as a compromise! They’re soft and chewy—not cakey at all—and they just might be my favorite cookie recipe yet!
Have you tried any of my other clean eating oatmeal cookie recipes? They’re the most popular recipes on my blog—and for a good reason! All of the cookies are extremely soft and chewy, but they’re made with entirely wholesome ingredients and contain absolutely no butter, refined flour or sugar. Countless readers have called them the best cookies they’ve ever made!
Just like all of those recipes, this one starts with whole wheat flour and instant oats. Remember, instant oats are not the ones sold in the individual flavored packets! Instant oats are also called quick cooking or minute oats, and they’re sold right next to the old-fashioned oats in large canisters. You can also make your own from old-fashioned oats—see the Notes section beneath the recipe to find out how!
To create the pumpkin pie flavor, we’ll use pumpkin purée, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Yes, that’s plain ol’ canned pumpkin purée, not the pumpkin pie filling! The latter contains refined sugar, and we’re trying to avoid that in order to make these cookies clean eating friendly. You’ll sweeten these cookies with pure maple syrup instead!
As for the spices, I almost always prefer to blend my own instead of using pumpkin pie spice because it’s cheaper and I can control the ratio of spices. However, you’re welcome to substitute pumpkin pie spice or add a hint of allspice too if you prefer.
Now for one final note… These cookies do not spread while baking, so you must flatten the cookie dough to your desired thickness and width before popping the tray in the oven. I use these mini silicone spatulas to flatten (aren’t they adorable??) because the cookie dough is somewhat wet and will stick to your hands. Then press a few extra chocolate chips into their tops, bake, and…
Yum! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (measured correctly and gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¾ cup (183g) pumpkin purée
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp (28g) dark or semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp (14g) miniature chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Whisk together the oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, pumpkin purée, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the dark chocolate chips and ½ tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten to the desired thickness and width using a spatula. Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 325°F for 11-14 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Instant oats are also known as quick-cooking or minute oats. They come in large canisters, just like old-fashioned oats. They are not the ones in the small flavored packets of oatmeal. To make your own, add the same amount of old-fashioned oats to a food processor, and pulse 10-12 times.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free instant oats and a gluten-free flour blend. I recommend the following blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, 2 tablespoons (17g) brown rice flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum.
For answers to all other questions regarding substitutions and tips, see my Oatmeal Cookies FAQ page.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Help! The dough is really wet. I used 3/4 cup almond flour and a cup of the oats as is in the recipe – all measured as you described with the level. I have the dough chilling now in case that will help. Do I add more almond flour?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Kristen! The dough is supposed to be somewhat sticky when you first mix it together. It won’t ever be stiff enough to roll between your palms, which is why I (a) use a spoon and spatula to drop it onto the baking sheet and (b) use a spatula to flatten it. Did you watch my video above the recipe? Does your cookie dough look like the same consistency as mine did in the video? 🙂
Chilling it will make it so your cookie dough isn’t quite as sticky, but it definitely won’t spread at all during baking — so remember to flatten the cookie dough with a spatula. Your cookies will look exactly the same after baking as before, just fully baked and not raw! 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them!
I kept the faith and baked them after chilling for about an hour. The dough was still wet – too wet to roll into balls – but the spatula allowed me to plop them and shape them. I had to raise the temp to 350 degrees. I’m at altitude, and they just would not bake enough to pick up when I did a tray at 325 even after 15-20 min. Here at 5,000 feet, 350 for 13-15 min seemed to work best.
The flavor is outstanding!!! And the texture is chewy, not dry at all. My absolute favorite cookie!! Delicious!!
I’m so glad you loved these Kristen! That means SO much to me that you’d call them your absolute favorite cookie — you just made my entire day!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
I made these and they are really good. I added walnuts. They did taste somewhat bitter and maybe it’s due to the 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder. Next time I will only add 1 tsp see if that fixes the issue
I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies Sagrario! 🙂 That’s strange about the bitter flavor… Did you use baking powder, not baking soda? Also, how did you measure the oats and flour?
Yes there was a bitter taste and it wasn’t as strong the following morning. Bitter like the way yeast can taste if you add too much. I measured with measuring cups. I will make these again tonight. They’re so good. Do you think they’ll fluff if I use a little less baking powder?
Thanks for sharing Sargrario! How did you use the measuring cups to measure the flour and oats? Did you scoop them directly from their containers using the measuring cups, by any chance?
And just to confirm, you used baking powder and not baking soda, correct? (I couldn’t tell what your “Yes” referred to, just I just wanted to be crystal clear before providing any additional advice! 🙂 )
Yes, I used baking powder. I scooped the flour directly from the bag and I poured the oatmeal into the measuring cup.
Thanks for sharing Sagrario! I think that measuring method is actually the biggest issue. When measured like that, you can end up with 1.5 times as much flour as when you lightly spoon and level, and that extra flour would definitely contribute to the issues that you’ve experienced! If you don’t own a kitchen scale, here’s what I recommend doing for measuring flour (and cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up flour from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of flour extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess flour. Never “pat” the flour down with the knife or fork. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less flour to the cookie dough, so you’ll end up with moist and tender cookies (that shouldn’t taste bitter!). Does that make sense? 🙂
Yes thank you for the advice. I used the fork method to measure the oatmeal and flour. I used a scale to measure the baking powder and they tasted less bitter. I also made the cookies a third time and used 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda instead. They were still nice and moist and not bitter at all. I love this recipe. I always add walnuts to the batter!
I’m so glad the new measuring methods worked and reduced the bitterness! Thank you for taking the time to let me know Sagrario! 🙂