Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
My husband is a cowboy at heart so it never surprises me when he inevitably brings home a farm animal. He’s brought lambs, turkeys, many many cows and briefly a goat home over the years. His great love is cows and he’s always looking for just the right animal to add to his herd. So it was no surprise on Saturday morning when he woke three surly teenagers at the crack of dawn (it was 8am) to load the trailer to help bring home some new animals.
A few hours later, seven mama cows and one baby bull cow arrived at the house to start settling in. The thing with cows is they often take a few days to acclimate to a new place and they will moo and complain while they get used to their surroundings. And when I say moo, I really mean bellow loudly and insistently at all hours of the day and night. It’s part of the process, but not the most fun or enjoyable part of the process.
I quickly realized our poor neighbors had to put up with all that noise too, and a batch of cookies needed to be immediately made and delivered. We might be annoying neighbors with our motley crew of animals, but at least we can offer a batch of warm, soft, perfectly chewy pumpkin oatmeal cookies as our condolences.
I based this recipe very loosely on one I found online that called for a couple extra steps including browning the butter and sourcing pumpkin butter, which I just didn’t have the time or energy for. Instead I softened salted butter and whipped it with brown sugar until the mixture was light ands fluffy. I stirred in an egg, pumpkin puree, vanilla, a little espresso powder (trust me, its the secret ingredient to making these cookies outrageously good) plus flour, oats and chocolate chips. The only fussy step to this recipe is the batter needs at least an hour in the refrigerator before baking. This helps the texture of the cookies and well worth the small hassle of waiting to bake your cookies.
Whether you just need a sweet treat this week, or have a reason to spoil a friend or neighbor, these pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are the answer. Also, I’ve got it on good authority these make an excellent breakfast enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee!
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup salted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon espresso or instant coffee powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Coarse sea salt (optional)
In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and sugars. Whip on medium speed until the butter and sugars are smooth, light and fluffy. Scrape sown the sides of the bowl to make sure its well-combined. Add the egg, pumpkin, vanilla and espresso powder. Mix again until combined. The mixture may look a bit separated, but that’s ok, it will come together just fine.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture a third at a time, gently mixing to combine. Add in the chocolate chips, and very briefly mix one more time to combine the chocolate chips with the cookie batter. Cover the bowl with parchment paper and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to four hours.
When you’re ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop 2-tablespoon size dough balls and gently roll between your clean hands to form a ball. Place in rows, spaced at least an inch apart on the tray. Sprinkle lightly with coarse sea salt and bake on the center rack of the preheat oven for about 13 minutes.
The cookies will spread slightly, and look firm on the edges and a tiny bit soft in the center of the cookie. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Repeat until all the dough is gone. Recipe will make about 24-28 cookies.