These healthy oatmeal pumpkin cookies are the perfect dessert to make for fall! Made from good-for-you ingredients, lower in added sugar than most cookie recipes, these healthy cookies are soft, chewy, full of pumpkin and warm fall flavors.
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Healthy Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies
Fall is basically here . I mean, it’s September, after all — except it doesn’t really feel like it in San Diego. It is hot, hot, hot and will be for a while yet. That is just kinda how we do fall in Southern Cali. I suppose it is the trade off for not having to shovel our cars out of snowbanks in mid-January.
But the Maine girl in me waits for fall and pumpkin season on bated breath every year. And even though it doesn’t feel like autumn where I am yet, I am determined to make it taste and smell like fall in my house.
I’ve been waiting all year to make these pumpkin cookies. And even though it means I have to turn my oven on in my already-hot kitchen, these oatmeal pumpkin cookies totally make the sweat worth it!
What is “pumpkin pie spice?”
This oatmeal pumpkin cookie recipe (along with many other pumpkin recipes) calls for pumpkin pie spice.
Pumpkin pie spice is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a blend of spices that are commonly used together to give pumpkin pie that warm fall flavor that many of us have come to love.
You can usually find pumpkin pie spice with all the more commonly used spices at your local grocer. But, if you can’t find it or simply don’t want to run out the the store, you can easily make your own using the following:
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Just combine in a jar with a lid. Secure the lid on top, shake to mix everything up and enjoy in this recipe. Plus, you will have leftovers to enjoy in your next pumpkin creation!
Where to find pumpkin puree
Chances are, if you have ever made a pumpkin pie or pumpkin anything…you likely know a place to get some pumpkin puree. However, if you are a newbie at cooking with pumpkin, head to your nearest store and grab a can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!) to make whipping up these cookies that much easier!
You can find pureed pumpkin (and sweet potatoes and butternut squash) in most grocery stores (here in the US, at least) where they keep canned veggies or beans.
Look for purees that are JUST the pumpkin and without any added sweetener or spice.
Suggested Adaptations
- Skip the chocolate chips all together to make these into the perfect breakfast cookies.
- Use raisins instead of chocolate chips.
- Replace the the pumpkin puree with butternut squash puree or sweet potato puree.
- Make them gluten free by subbing the whole wheat flour in this oatmeal pumpkin cookies with a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend and using certified gluten free rolled oats.
- Make them egg-free by replacing the egg with 1 flax egg.
- Replace the applesauce with mashed ripe banana.
Other pumpkin recipes that are going to knock your socks off!
- Healthy Carrot Pumpkin Muffins
- Breakfast Pumpkin Soufflé
- Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (with pumpkin)
- Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding
Healthy Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons avocado or melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk together and set aside.
- In another bowl, combine pumpkin puree, egg, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and syrup. Whisk together.
- Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined and dough has an even consistency.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Using a heaping tablespoon or small cookie scoop, portion the dough out onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving room in between each cookie. Gently press down with your hand to flatten each cookie a bit.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy or cool complete before storing in an air tight container for 4 days or in freezer for months.
Really good! Family loved them!
I am looking forward to making these, and I am guessing there is one egg from the directions but I believe it may be missing from your ingredient list. Or am I missing it? That could be entirely possible…
You were right! The plugin I use for making my recipe cards likes to sometimes delete eggs out of recipes. Just eggs for some reason 🤪! Thanks for catching that and letting me know! All fixed
Love the taste and texture. Only thing different I did was raisins over chocolate cause I LOVE raisins. Added to the list of other recipes from here I will make
I am so glad you enjoyed them! And I love the sub of raisins!
Hello, question if I may? I can not eat wheat flour, can I use almond? Or
Hi Hilary! I haven’t tried it with almond flour and it might work! I find that almond meal has some more natural oils and so the cookies might be a bit softer than the ones pictured here! If you give it a try, please let me know how it goes.