These gluten-free Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies are soft cookies with oats and Fall spices throughout. They’re the BEST easy Fall cookie!
Are you a pumpkin addict?
If so, you’ve landed on the right blog! 😉
Okay, so, I wouldn’t label myself as a pumpkin addict… you see, I’m a total Fall addict.
I love the crisp air, changing leaves, cool evenings and.. food. I love to eat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes, snack on Chai-Spiced Granola, enjoy a few Apple Cider Cupcakes, and drink endless hot drinks!
Apple cinnamon, chai, maple pecan, apple cider, ginger, pumpkin, snickerdoodle… I love ALL Fall flavors! 🙂 My favorite time to bake is Fall, you probably guessed that by now though huh? 😉
I love baking with pumpkin in particular. Pumpkin puree adds a bit of a healthy spin to recipes, and adding pumpkin spice seasonings like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves to baked goods is pure Heaven.
These soft Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies are all of that Fall goodness in one cookie. Soft, almost melt-in-your-mouth Pumpkin Cookies made with oats, creating a great texture combination of soft cookies and chewy oats.
If you’re a texture eater and love pumpkin and spices, you GOTTA make these easy cookies! And also, be my best friend 😉
Let’s bake some Soft Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies!
To begin, you’ll need to preheat your oven to 350 and line two pans with parchment paper. I especially recommend using parchment paper with soft cookies so they are easier to remove from the pan after baking.
Now, in a small mixing bowl add your dry ingredients and stir them together. Easy peasy right? This would be your flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice seasoning.
You can use store bought pumpkin spice seasoning, or make your own.
If you do make your own, I recommend that you use high quality seasonings. It’s a real bummer to take a bite out of a cookie that isn’t quite seasoned enough, and using cheap seasonings won’t quite get you where you wanna be.
I prefer to make my own pumpkin spice seasoning, and I think the cinnamon I have been buying now has really made a huge difference. No more store brand seasonings for me (even though I love the low price!).
To make your own pumpkin spice seasoning, I recommend using 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice and 1/4 tsp cloves (for 1 tbsp of pumpkin pie seasoning total).
Now, in a large mixing bowl, add your butter (or coconut oil, if dairy-free) and white and brown sugars and beat them together. You want to mix them together till they are creamy, for about 1-2 minutes.
Next, add in your pumpkin, vanilla and egg and briefly blend them in. Be careful not to over-beat your egg in.
Take your dry ingredients and pour them in with your wet ingredients. Stir them all together till you have a well combined, wet cookie dough. Now add in your oats, and gently fold them into your batter.
Scoop your cookies onto your pan, evenly spaced apart, for no more than 12 cookies per pan.
After you have scooped all of your cookies onto your pans you have two options.
You can flatten the cookies out (I recommend using a spatula) to a more classic cookie shape, or you can leave them in balls. The cookies themselves don’t spread much. I’ve made them both ways and love them both.
So, if you want pumpkin pillow-like cookies (like in the pictures) then leave them the way they are. If you want more flat, larger cookies, gently use a spatula to spread the batter around into a flatter cookie shape.
Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes, or till the edges and tops of the cookies are set.
Don’t you love how easy cookies are to make?!
I think that’s why they’re my go-to dessert, and why I have so many cookie recipes on here!
I hope you take a big bite out of these soft Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies and are immediately transported to a world with falling leaves, crisp air, and people going crazy for pumpkin spice lattes 😉
Looking for more Pumpkin? Check out my Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Muffins, Skinny Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes, and Pumpkin Spice Latte Bread (all gluten-free!).
- 1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (or regular flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp pumpkin spice seasoning
- 1/2 cup butter, or coconut oil (for dairy-free)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free)
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To begin, preheat your oven to 350 and line two baking pans with parchment paper.
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In a small mixing bowl add your flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice seasoning and stir them together till well combined.
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In a large mixing bowl, add your butter and sugars and "cream" together with a hand blender for a minute or two. Add to the bowl your pumpkin, vanilla and egg and briefly blend them in with the rest of the ingredients.
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Pour your dry ingredients into the large bowl with your wet ingredients and stir them together till they are well combined. Finally, add your oats into the bowl and gently fold them into the batter.
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Scoop your dough onto the pans, evenly spread apart, for no more than 12 cookies per pan. Leave cookies as is for thick cookies, or spread each cookies out (wider and thinner) with a spatula if you would like thinner cookies, as these cookies don't spread much.
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Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes, or till the cookies have set around the edges and on top.
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Let cool and devour!
Due to the amount of pumpkin and soft cookie texture, I recommend storing these cookies in the fridge for them to last longer. In the fridge they should last about a week or so.
Just to clarify, this recipe is good as is for 7000 ft?
Yes! They should work just fine at that altitude.
I made these as written but subbed plant butter for my dairy free kiddo. They reminded us of a muffin in texture, so we decided they are breakfast cookies! Great flavor and easy to throw together.
Hi. What size scoop did you use? These sound so yummy! Can’t wait to make them. Thanks
Hi Stephanie. I typically use a medium scoop, or I use a small scoop but do a large rounded scoop with it.
I have made these several different ways. I even made them with regular self rising flour and they were delicious just more of a cake cookie. I really prefer sweet potato over pumpkin so I usually use fresh sweet potato. Also I’m not that fond of pumpkin pie spice so I only put 1 teaspoon and added 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon ginger. The recipe is delicious even if there are no changes. Thank you!
These are amazing!! I added some chocolate chips to the second half of the batch. They are delicious with or without the chocolate! Thank you for my new favorite cookie recipe!!
Delicious cookies so soft yummy pumpkin flavor. I baked mine for 14 min they were on the large side, I also added a few chocolate chips . Great recipe thanks for sharing.🙂
Once cooled can these cookies be frozen for storage?
Yes. They should freeze just fine! I would let them defrost in the fridge.
These cookies are delicious!!! I substituted the brown and white sugar sweetenings for 1/4 cup of coconut sugar and 1/4 cup of honey. They were plently sweet for me and they had a great texture too!
Great to hear the substitutes worked! Thanks Alicia.
I just made these and they are delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks Victoria! Love hearing that.
Haven’t tried this yet but did you use rolled oats or quick oats?
Hi Nicole. I’d recommend using rolled oats! They’ll give the cookies the best texture.
I used regular all-purpose flour and butter instead of gluten free flour and coconut oil and they turned out better then I could have expected! I think these are my new favorite cookies!!!! Great recipe!
Awesome!! Thanks for the feedback, Eva!
I used butter and regular flour also. I love pumpkin anything and this doesn’t disappoint!
Are there any healthier alternatives to the 1/2 of butter? Possibly adding more pumpkin and halfing the butter?
Hi Kylie. You could try doing 1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, and 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree instead. The cookies will probably spread even less then, so they’ll definitely need to be flattened out prior to baking. I haven’t tried this, but I think it should work okay. Hope this helps!
Can I use coconut flour instead of gluten free flour? Or a blend of almost flour and coconut flour?
Hi Kristianna. I have never used coconut and almond flour to make these cookies, so I can’t recommend it. But, if you are experienced with substituting coconut and almond flour for regular flour, then it may be worth a shot!
What brand of cinnamon do you prefer to use?
Hi Claudia. I like Private Selection’s Cinnamon a lot, or Kroger’s Simple Truth Cinnamon. What I typically look for is cinnamon that isn’t in a plastic or tin container. Usually I buy whatever is the best deal that comes in glass at the time (the higher quality/more expensive spices are in glass, which have the best flavor). Nothing more than $5!
These were so yummy! I’ve made them twice now.
It was my dear friend’s birthday. She is dairy-free and I am gluten-free. She loves cookies, pumpkin, oatmeal, and I threw in some dairy-free chocolate chips so these were perfect for her. We both loved them!
Awesome!! Thanks for the comment, Chelsea.
Does anyone have any recommendations on which gluten free oats works best?
Thanks!
Hi Lori. I would recommend Bob’s Red Mill certified gluten-free oats.
These cookies are wonderful! I added some chocolate chips and they are delicious. I am a novice when it comes to gluten free baking but this is some of the best success I’ve had so far.
Thanks Aubrey! Great to hear that 🙂
What can I sub the egg for to make these vegan?
Hi Rachel. You can try a flax or chia egg (1 tbsp flax/chia seed and 2.5 tbsp water, combined and let rest till gelled) and they should work well. Hope this helps!
I dont have pumkin pie spice what can I use in place
Hi Audrey. You can make your own pumpkin pie spice (I like to make mine with 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp ginger) or you can just use cinnamon if all else fails. I hope this helps!
I have not yet made these–but they look delish– what is your pumpkin spice proportion?
2 T cinnamon, 1T ginger, 1/2 T cloves 1/2 T allspice is one recipe I found.
AND do I need to make changes for New York City’s low altitude?
No changes necessary! I like to use 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp each of ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. I hope you enjoy them!
By chance do you think I could substitute sugar for honey or maple syrup? And if so what would you recommend as a ratio (if at all)? I can’t wait to bake these! 🧡
Hi Kayley. Yes, sort of – I would recommend 1/4 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar) and 1/3 cup maple syrup/honey. You could try just 2/3 cup maple syrup/honey, but I haven’t done that and would be wary of the cookies spreading too thin and not being sweet enough. If you did try that, I would probably try and chill the dough for a bit first (maybe 30 minutes) and test one cookie, to be sure it bakes correctly. Hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy them!
Thank you Chelsea, I was wondering also about a sugar sub. That’s perfect as I use coconut sugar along with maple/ honey. I wasn’t sure how to use. I can’t wait to try these.👍🏼🤗
Dear Chelsea,
I would love to add nuts and raisins, have you tried it too, and how much?
Thank you,
Jan Riccelli
Hi Jan! I haven’t added nuts or raisins to these cookies in particular, but if you want to add both I would probably recommend 1/2 cup of each. Sounds delicious, I hope you enjoy them!
Can I use regular all purpose flour for these cookies?
Yes!
Hi Chelsea,
Can I substitute brown and white sugar with brown and white baking stevia?
~Terri
Hi Terri. I don’t work with stevia at all so I’m not sure. I would assume you could, but I don’t know how. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
Try tru via white and brown. I use them all the time.
i’d like to make this recipe egg free for my grandson. any suggestions for an eggsubstitute?
Hi Kathy. I would recommend an egg replacer or a flax or chia egg (mix 1 tbsp flax or chia seed per 2 1/2 tbsp water, and let them sit till gelled like an egg, for one “egg”). Hope this helps!
So strange – the first time I made these, they were perfect! Second time, the dough was incredibly dry and I have no idea why? I used coconut instead of quinoa flour this time but it was already dry before adding the dry mix to the wet. I am confused!
Hi Lisa, that is odd. The butter, both sugars, pumpkin puree, vanilla and egg were dry?
Coconut flour is very drying. When subbing in coconut flour you always need to add additional liquid.
Hi Lisa,
Coconut flour is extremely drying. It absorbs a lot of moisture & can not be used as a substitute for any other flour in recipes not developed for it. When used in recipes, it’s usually only a small amount because of this.
Oh my gosh, these cookies are delicious and came out perfect!
The perfect cookie for fall…..or anytime really!
We might make ours into Whoopie pies by placing some vanilla buttercream in between two cookies.
Awesome, Sharon, thank you! Happy to hear that. And as whoopie pies?! Sounds great!
Love finding a site that has high altitude recipes – we are at 7000 ft. Wondering if you have tripled the recipe since canned pumpkin comes in 15 oz cans?
Hi Cheryl. I haven’t tripled the recipe, just because that would be a LOT of cookies, but it would work great for a party! I usually use leftover pumpkin in pancakes, muffins, bread, or I freeze it.
These cookies are delicious! Made them exactly according to the recipe and wouldn’t change a thing. These would be great for breakfast with a cup of coffee.
Awesome, Hilary!! Love hearing that!
These are delicious!!! We made them according to recipe the first time. The second time I subbed in a paleo pancake mix i had for the flour. I also added chopped walnuts. It was so yummy! This is an easy yummy dessert! Thanks!
Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead? Would I omit some sugar and spices if I did?
HI Tamantha, I would not recommend using pumpkin pie filling instead. Stick to pumpkin puree! Hope that helps.
How do you think these would freeze?
Hi Jennifer – I haven’t frozen them yet, but I would guess that they would freeze just fine! I freeze a lot of my cookies, muffins and quick breads, and these cookies have a texture somewhere in between so it should work great.
I made these cookies tonight and my taste testers loved them . used Almond flour .I changed the sugars up as well . I’m making more tomorrow.
Awesome, Maryalyce! Thank you so much for the comment!
Do I use rolled oats or quick oats?
Hi Carol – I would recommend rolled oats. Hope you enjoy!
These cookies are delicious! I added chopped pecans and subbed Sugar with Splenda.
Will make these again & again.
Awesome, Regina! So glad to hear that, thank you for taking the time to leave that comment! 🙂
Made these with dairy free butter, almond flour and homemade pumpkin puree. Turned out AMAZING!!!
Thanks for leaving the comment Chrystal, I’m so glad to hear it!
hi there
how much almond flour did u use?
Also interested in your almond flour substitution. How much did you use?
Delicious! I made with coconut oil. 🙂 Turned out great and others were a fan as well. Thank you!
So great to hear that Brittany! Thanks for the comment!