During high school and college, I helped prepare nearly every dish for our Thanksgiving feast, other than the turkey. My dad handled that, preferring to barbecue it outside on his charcoal grill, and I stayed firmly planted in the kitchen, carefully reading our well-worn family recipe cards, measuring ingredients, and mixing them together by hand until tantalizing aromas wafted throughout the entire house.
Despite small gatherings with no more than six people, we still cooked enough to feed a small army. Stuffing, cranberry salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, whole wheat bread rolls… And especially dessert.
At the bare minimum, we baked both a pumpkin pie and pecan pie completely from scratch. Anything else, whether soft pumpkin cookies or cozy pumpkin cheesecake or other festive treats, was always welcome at the table — but those two pies were absolutely mandatory. Certain family members might have mutinied and jokingly refused to join us or headed to neighbors’ houses instead if we didn’t serve both!
We always ended up with leftovers of everything, so the morning after, when I pulled open the refrigerator to reach for slices of whole grain bread for toast or the carton of milk to splash into cereal for breakfast, those two pies stared back at me… Tempting me with their flaky crusts and sweet fillings and oh so irresistible flavors.
On multiple occasions, I nearly caved and snuck a slice. With its luxuriously creamy texture and extra cozy spices, the pumpkin was my favorite! A small piece of that for breakfast sounded like pure bliss, yet I rarely mustered up the courage to follow through. I didn’t want to upset anyone else by eating more than my fair share of the pies!
I would’ve looked straight past the pies and immediately reached for these healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies if they were in our refrigerator on that day though — or any other fall morning! They remind me of pumpkin pie with their cozy spiced flavor, and they have the same texture as regular “dessert” oatmeal cookies. However…
Unlike those Thanksgiving pies, these definitely qualify as a breakfast food! They’re also portable and wonderful for busy mornings, meal prepping, and make-ahead breakfasts or snacks. (Whether for kids, teens, adults… Or all of the above!)
QUICK OVERVIEW – HEALTHY PUMPKIN OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
Difficulty: Fairly easy, including for many beginner bakers.
Taste: Very lightly sweetened with plenty of warm spices, comforting oats, and cozy pumpkin flavor.
Texture: Supremely soft, moist, and chewy.
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY PUMPKIN OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
Let’s talk about what you’ll need to bake a batch of these healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies! Since your cupboards likely hold common baking staples (like vanilla, baking powder, and salt!), we’ll mainly go over the more interesting and important ingredients right now.
Oats. Definitely a key ingredient for oatmeal breakfast cookies! For this recipe, you’ll need instant oats. They’re also called “quick cooking” and “one-minute” oats. Despite what some labels may suggest, they’re not the ones that come in individual packets with flavors like maple brown sugar or apple cinnamon!
Just like old-fashioned rolled oats, instant oats only contain one ingredient: oats! The main difference? Instant oats are smaller and thinner than their old-fashioned counterparts. This means they soften faster, which gives your breakfast cookies an exceptionally soft and chewy texture. It’s the best — and why I use instant oats in basically all of my healthy oatmeal cookie recipes!
Hint: Instant oats are usually sold in bags or canisters right next to the old-fashioned rolled oats at the grocery store!
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies gluten-free, then swap in certified gluten-free instant oats. They work perfectly!
Flour. To make these breakfast cookies healthier, I opted for whole wheat flour. It contains more fiber and other micronutrients compared to all-purpose flour, and its subtle nutty undertones also boost the cozy flavor in these cookies.
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve included my top recommendations there!
Pumpkin pie spice. This might be my favorite part of these healthy breakfast cookies! Pumpkin without spices feels as if it’s incomplete or missing its other half… Like cereal without milk or pizza without cheese. They make the perfect pair!
Although store-bought premade jars can certainly come in handy, I prefer to make my own pumpkin pie spice blend. I’ve found that many premade options contain a lot of cinnamon and very little of the other spices, which gives them a more one-dimensional taste. I fancy a much richer and cozier flavor!
For my homemade mix in these breakfast cookies, I combine Saigon cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves. As confusing as it sounds, allspice is a single spice! It earned its name because it tastes like a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. If you haven’t tried Saigon cinnamon, I hope that changes ASAP! It tastes a bit warmer, stronger, and sweeter compared to regular cinnamon. I’m obsessed — and it’s basically the only kind I now use in my baking! I buy it online here. It’s really affordable!
Hint: Pumpkin pie spice is often shortened to “pumpkin spice” — and that moniker simply refers to the spices typically used when making pumpkin pie. Therefore, “pumpkin spice” doesn’t contain any pumpkin!
Coconut oil or butter. You have three options here! Coconut oil, stick-style vegan butter (I like this one and this one), or unsalted butter. All three produce the same soft and chewy texture in these pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies, so reach for whichever one you feel most comfortable with or normally keep on hand!
Hint: If you use coconut oil or stick-style vegan butter, your healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies will be vegan and dairy-free!
Pumpkin. Zero surprises here… You obviously need pumpkin to make these healthy breakfast cookies! Make sure you buy regular pumpkin purée. It’s also called “canned pumpkin” or “100% pure pumpkin,” and the only ingredient on the label should be “pumpkin.” For whatever reason, many US grocery stores place it on the baking aisle, rather than with the rest of the canned vegetables and fruits… Perhaps because they recognize how much we love making sweet treats with it??
Hint: During the fall, many stores also set out cans of pumpkin pie mix. Don’t be fooled! Pumpkin pie mix also contains spices and sugar, which can change the way it behaves in baking recipes. Stick with regular pumpkin purée!
The pumpkin provides more than just flavor. It adds moisture to the dough, which yields a beautifully soft cookie texture, and it also replaces the eggs. That’s right — these pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies are completely egg-free!
Sweetener. Instead of refined granulated sugar, I reached for pure maple syrup to sweeten these healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies. It’s the kind that comes directly from maple trees and only contains one ingredient: maple syrup! It often comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this).
Tip: Skip the pancake syrup and sugar-free maple syrup! These contain other ingredients, which changes the way they behave in baking recipes. This is particularly true of sugar-free maple syrup! It’s often water-based, which gives your cookies a cakey, bready, and drier texture.
Milk. To ensure these qualify as breakfast cookies, you’ll use half the amount of sweetener compared to regular “dessert” oatmeal cookies. To compensate for the missing other half and achieve the correct cookie texture, you’ll stir milk into the cookie dough. Almost any type will work! I generally use unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It’s the kind my family buys and drinks the most — and if you do the same, then your healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies will naturally be dairy-free too!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY PUMPKIN OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
Now that you’ve assembled your ingredients, let’s cover how to make these healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies! As I promised earlier, this recipe is easy and straightforward. These tips should help ensure your batch turns out with the best flavor and texture!
Measure correctly. This is just as important as those two mandatory pies at my family’s annual Thanksgiving feast. I could probably say it in my sleep… And wouldn’t be surprised if I actually do!
It’s extremely important to measure all of the ingredients correctly.
For the oats and flour, use this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) As tempting as it may be, do not scoop either one out of its container with a measuring cup. This can result in adding 1 ½ times as much — and that extra amount will quickly dry out your dough and give your cookies a cakey or bready texture! This is especially true of the oats. They act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture!
However, for the maple syrup and milk, I recommend regular measuring cups, not a kitchen scale. This is because most liquids have different densities, so they weigh different amounts (grams) per volume (mL or cups). Unless you want to look up the exact density and do the math to convert each one in order to use your kitchen scale, regular measuring cups are more accurate — and much easier too!
Make the dough. This is really easy to do! Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in the other, and gently stir to combine. Unlike many of my other oatmeal cookie recipes, no chilling is necessary for these!
Drop + shape. This cookie dough is very sticky, so use a spoon and spatula to drop it onto your baking sheet — not your hands! Trust me, it’s a good thing. That moist and sticky consistency is part of what makes these breakfast cookies so soft and chewy! I love these mini spatulas for doing this. They’re really handy (and cute too!).
Next, flatten the mounds of cookie dough and smooth out their edges. These cookies don’t spread at all while baking, so they’ll look exactly the same before and after you pop them in the oven… Just no longer raw!
And because someone always asks… No, I don’t use any special equipment to make my cookies look so neat and round. Just this mini spatula, time, and patience!
Bake. These breakfast cookies finish baking relatively quickly, so don’t stray too far from the kitchen! They’re ready to come out of the oven when the centers still look and feel somewhat soft and underdone. ← This is my #1 tip for soft and chewy oatmeal cookies!
The residual heat from the baking sheet will continue to cook those centers all the way through while you let them rest before transferring them to a wire rack. If you waited to pull your tray from the oven until the cookies felt completely firm and done, they’d end up overbaked and on the cakey/bready side because of that additional residual heat. Yet if you remove them a bit sooner, your pumpkin breakfast cookies will taste perfectly soft and chewy!
Reshape (optional). This is my other tip for perfectly round cookies! If you notice any lopsided or misshapen edges when you remove your cookies from the oven, then immediately grab a butter knife and gently nudge those bits back into place. The cookies will still be a little malleable when you first slide them out of the oven. They set and firm up quickly though, so act fast!
Again, this step is entirely optional. It only changes the way your cookies look — not the way they taste!
Wait to eat. Okay, so this is more of a recommendation than a requirement… But my taste testers and I noticed that these breakfast cookies tasted even better 24+ hours after baking them. That gave the spices a chance to meld and marry, so the spice flavor was a touch stronger and much cozier the following day. If you can plan far enough ahead — or wait that long — I highly suggest it!
FAQS ABOUT HEALTHY PUMPKIN OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
Are these healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies vegan, gluten-free, clean eating, low calorie, or low fat?
Yes — to everything! When following the recipe as written, these pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies are naturally vegan, dairy-free, eggless, clean eating, low fat, and low calorie (compared to other more traditional recipes!). I’ve also included gluten-free options in the Notes section of the recipe!
Can I use old-fashioned rolled oats?
In a pinch — but briefly blitz them in a blender or food processor first! Aim to make them about ⅛ to ¼ of their original size. This makes them closer to the thickness and size of instant oats, so your cookies should have a similar soft and chewy texture.
What about a different flour?
Absolutely! White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and all-purpose flour all perform just as well. Oat flour (gluten-free, if necessary!) also works, but be extra careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent than wheat-based flours.
Or store-bought pumpkin spice?
Sure! I realize just how handy those premade jars can be. (See the “Pumpkin pie spice” header in the “Key Ingredients to Make Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies” section above for why I prefer to make my own!)
Can I substitute more pumpkin for the butter or coconut oil?
Please don’t! That will give your cookies a cakey, bready, and drier texture. It’s a small amount, but it makes a noticeable difference in their consistency!
Would a different sweetener work?
You bet! Honey and agave are the two best alternatives.
What about another kind of milk?
Yes again! Almost any type will work, so feel free to substitute whatever you normally keep on hand.
My cookies turned out cakey, bready, or dry. Why is that?
There are a few common culprits! First, make sure you’re measuring the ingredients correctly. Too much flour or too many oats — or not enough sweetener, milk, or pumpkin — will yield a cakey, bready, and drier cookie texture. (See the “Measure correctly” header in the “How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies” section above for details!)
Second, substituting certain ingredients also yields a cakey and bready texture. Using sugar-free maple syrup is a notorious one! (See the “Sweetener” header in the “Key Ingredients to Make Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies” section above for more info about this.) Replacing the coconut oil or butter with more pumpkin purée has the same effect, as well as substituting coconut flour in place of the whole wheat flour, so don’t be tempted to try these swaps either!
Third, baking your cookies for too long gives them a cakey, bready, and drier consistency. Try pulling them out of the oven a little sooner — and see the “Bake” header in the “How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies” section above for more details about how to tell when your cookies are done!
How should I store these healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies? And how long will they last?
Store your pumpkin breakfast cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep at least five days, if not closer to a week or more!
Can I freeze them?
Yes! Once fully baked and cooled, these cookies freeze really well. I like to thaw individual cookies in the microwave on 30% power until they’re warmed all the way through. I think they almost taste freshly baked when thawed like that!
With how amazing these turned out, I’d happily eat them any autumn day… And all year long too! 😉 Then 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 healthy pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies!
Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 ¼ tsp homemade pumpkin pie spice (see Notes!)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) vegan butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly (see Notes!)
- ¾ cup (183g) pumpkin purée (room temperature – and see Notes!)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup (room temperature)
- ¼ cup (60mL) unsweetened vanilla almond milk (room temperature)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the butter or coconut oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Stir in the pure maple syrup. Stir in the milk. Add in the oat mixture, and stir until just incorporated.
- Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet. Flatten to ⅜”-thick using a spatula. Bake at 325°F for 8-11 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Gingerbread Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Apple Pie Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Scones
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Snack Cake
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy pumpkin recipes and healthy breakfast recipes!
This is a great recipe! Comes together quickly and easily.
My first batch was made as listed. The second batch I made changes.
I substituted date syrup for the maple syrup, and it was great.
I also used 2 tsp Pumpkin spice and 1/4 mace – which added a bit of a different flavor which my family liked.
We’re honored to hear that you’ve already made two batches of these breakfast cookies, Susan! That’s a huge compliment, and I’m so happy to hear that your family enjoyed them! Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know and rate the recipe, it really means a lot! I appreciate you sharing your modifications, too. We love to hear about recipe tweaks that work well! 🙂
Can you flatten the cookie batter in a pan and bake it as a batch of bar cookies?? Or will it not bake properly?
I had planned to make this recipe and then I saw a similar recipe on Kroger’s website for a bar cookie and wondered if your recipe could be used as a bar cookie. I am thinking I might do this as part of my holiday gifts.
TIA for your advice.
It’s so sweet of you to consider using this recipe as a part of your holiday gifts!
Yes, you can use this recipe to make bars! We have some oatmeal bar recipes with instructions that should work for this! We would recommend using an 8″-square pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 300°F for 10-12 minutes or until the edges look firm but the center still appears a little soft and underdone. (The heat from the pan will continue to cook the center all the way through while you let the bars cool to room temperature and set.) Cool completely to room temperature in the pan. Allow them to rest for an additional 6+ hours once at room temperature for the best soft and chewy texture before slicing into squares.
Pan dimensions are measured along their top rims, not their bottom sides. Some square baking dishes have sloped sides, so they’re 9” across the top and closer to 8” across the bottom. If that’s true for your baking dish, it’s actually a 9”-square pan and too big. Because it has a larger surface area (81 in2), your bars would turn out really thin, barely hold together, and be prone to overbaking.
We’d love to hear how these turn out for you! 🙂
I appreciate your reply and yes, we are definitely going to try these as a bar cookie. Thank you, Stcey! I’ll try to remember to come back to tell you how they turned out.
That means so much! We’d absolutely love to hear about your cookie bars, but we completely understand how busy and chaotic this time of year can be. No pressure whatsoever! 🙂 I hope you have an extra sweet and special holiday season!