Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Maple Drizzle

Pumpkin oatmeal cookies with icing drizzle cooling on a wire rack, with small pumpkins in the background for a fall touch.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Maple Drizzle

Pumpkin, oats, and brown butter team up for chewy cookies that taste like fall in Hallmark-land—finished with a sweet, old-fashioned drizzle.

Course cookies

Cuisine American - Vintage

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 16

Total Time 26

Servings

Calories 298kcal

Author Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

Wet ingredients:

1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin puree press it with paper towels to remove excess moisture
1 cup butter browned and cooled
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
⅔ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Dry ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup bread flour or use all all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¾ cup toasted pecans chopped

Maple Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon cream to thin - you may need up to a teaspoon more

Instructions

Brown the butter like you mean it. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until it foams, sizzles, and starts smelling like a nutty dream. When the milk solids at the bottom are golden brown (don’t blink—it turns fast), remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl to cool for about 20–30 minutes.
Blot that pumpkin.Spread your canned pumpkin puree onto a few layers of paper towel, pat it down, and let it sit for a bit. This keeps your cookies from getting cakey and sad. You want the flavor, not the soggy drama.
Mix the wet ingredients. Once the brown butter is cool, beat it with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until it’s silky and glossy. Add the egg, vanilla, maple syrup, and blotted pumpkin. Stir until well combined and looking like fall in a bowl.
Combine the dry. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and cardamom. Stir in the toasted pecans like you’re tossing confetti.
Bring it all together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until it’s all incorporated.
Cover and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days if you're busy binging Netflix).
Preheat and prep. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop and bake. Scoop desired size portions of dough and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
Bake for 16–18 minutes (8-10 minutes for small cookies, 12-14 minutes for medium sized) or until the edges are golden and the centers are just set. Don’t overbake unless you want crispy disappointment. You're looking for an internal temperature of 195℉-200℉ on an instant read thermometer.
Cool it. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Or eat one warm and feel no guilt.
Glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar, maple syrup, and enough milk/cream to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle over the cooled cookies. Let it set—or don’t. You’re the boss of you.

Notes

Yield:

This recipe makes 18 cookies using a ¼ cup size scoop, about 28 to 32 cookies using a standard 2-tablespoon scoop—perfectly plump, chewy, bakery-style rounds of pumpkin-spiced happiness.

If you make them smaller (1 tablespoon scoop), you’ll get around 48–50 cookies, but I mean… why would you do that? Unless you're feeding a preschool class or trying to pretend you only ate one. 😏

Storage:

Keep cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 3–4 days, or freeze (raw dough or baked) for up to 3 months.

Tips:

Brown the butter, don’t burn it. Keep an eye on that pan—the line between nutty perfection and scorched sadness is about 30 seconds.
Pat your pumpkin dry. If your puree looks watery, blot it with paper towels. Too much liquid = gummy cookies.
Use old-fashioned oats. Quick oats won’t give you the same chew, and steel-cut will break your teeth.
Using part bread flour makes them chewier but you can use just all-purpose flour.

Nutrition