Chewy Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Chewy pumpkin oatmeal cookies made with nutty brown butter in both the dough and the icing. Blotted pumpkin and rolled oats keep them soft, never cakey.
Servings 20 cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter browned and cooled
- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup canned pumpkin puree not pie filling, blotted
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Brown Butter Icing
- ¼ cup unsalted butter browned
- 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar sifted
- 3 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Brown the Butter
- Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until it foams, then turns golden with brown flecks and a nutty aroma, about 5 minutes. Scrape it, flecks and all, into a bowl to cool. Brown the dough butter and icing butter separately.
Make the Cookies
- Press the pumpkin between paper towels to blot out excess water.
- Whisk together the flour, oats, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk the cooled brown butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Stir in the blotted pumpkin, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet just until combined, then let the dough rest 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment. Scoop rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart.
- Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers look soft. Cool on the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Make the Icing
- Whisk the second batch of browned butter with the sifted confectioners' sugar.
- Whisk in the milk a tablespoon at a time and the vanilla until smooth and pourable. Drizzle over the cooled cookies and let set.
Notes
- Blot the pumpkin: Removing water is the key to chewy, not cakey, cookies.
- Watch the butter: Browned butter burns fast, so pull it as soon as it smells nutty.
- Rest the dough: Ten minutes lets the oats hydrate for better chew.
- Cool before icing: Warm cookies melt the glaze.