Chewy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Walnuts and Raisins

Looking for the perfect fall cookie? You've found it with these chewy gluten-free pumpkin oatmeal cookies! These easy to make cookies feature the fall flavors of real pumpkin and warm spices. They're made with brown butter for an extra deep nutty flavor. These oatmeal pumpkin cookies with whole grains, raisins, and walnuts are sure to satisfy your cravings!

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love These Cookies
• Simple Ingredients
• How to Get Chewy Pumpkin Cookies
• How to Make Browned Butter
• How to Make the Cookies
• Other Mix-Ins
• Equipment
• How to Store These Cookies
• Top Recipe Tips
• More Gluten-Free Fall Recipes You'll Love!
• Recipe
• Comments and Ratings

Why You'll Love These Cookies

Fall baking is great, but let's be honest, it's actually pumpkin season. Everywhere you look, you just cant escape delicious gluten-free pumpkin pie, gluten-free pumpkin cakes, gluten-free pumpkin cookies filled with cream cheese, or homemade pumpkin spice lattes!

We're not complaining though! Fall is arguably the best baking season. As soon as those temps dip, even the slightest, everyone is eager to bust out all of the warm spices, comforting foods, and cozy recipes they've been craving.

So here we are with another delicious pumpkin cookie that you sure don't want to miss! What makes these cookies so delish? I'll tell you!

• Chewy Texture: This is a chewy pumpkin cookie with crisp edges, not a cakey cookie!
• More Texture: Aside from oats that give a satisfying chew, I've added walnuts and raisins as well. Feel free to swap in any other mix-ins your heart desires!
• Flavor: Pumpkin, warm spices, and brown butter... need we say more? Seriously, don't skip the brown butter. It's easy to make and adds the most insanely deep, nutty, toffee-like flavor to these cookies!
• Quick and Simple: Yes, even the most novice of bakers can handle making these cookies! Even with the extra step of making brown butter, this is an easy recipe to make that requires no chilling of the dough!

Simple Ingredients

• Pumpkin Purée: Use pure pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling.
• Gluten-Free Flour Blend: I used King Arthur Measure for Measure and Cup4Cup Multi-purpose flour when testing this recipe. Bob's Red Mill will likely work here as well.
• Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: Use old fashioned oats, not quick oats. While quick-cooking oats may work, they may change the texture of the cookies.
  Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats especially if you're very sensitive to gluten. Regular oats are not considered gluten-free as they can be highly contaminated with wheat during growing and processing.
• Butter: Feel free to substitute vegan butter, such as Earth Balance Vegan Buttery sticks, for a dairy-free option.
• Gluten-Free Cinnamon

How to Get Chewy Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin puree is full of moisture. This is ok for some things like gluten-free pumpkin bread or gluten-free pumpkin bars, but if you want these gluten-free pumpkin oatmeal cookies to be chewy, that moisture will work against you! So here's how to get chewy pumpkin cookies rather than cookies that are cakey, spongy, and weird!

Squeeze the pumpkin! Yes, you're going to literally squeeze out some of the extra moisture from the pumpkin.

This is easy to do with cheesecloth, a clean kitchen towel, or two paper towels. Simply place the pumpkin in the cheesecloth and squeeze. Do this over a bowl or the sink to avoid a mess of bright orange pumpkin juice!

Use only egg yolk. I use this trick a lot to get chewy gluten-free cookies! Removing the egg white, which is mostly water, and using only the yolk will add richness and stability, and ultimately makes for chewier cookies.

If you use a whole egg, it will be okay but your cookies may be more cakey.

How to Make Browned Butter

Have you ever accidentally browned butter? If so, maybe you should have saved it to make some cookies! Browned butter adds deep nutty flavor to your baked goods! Yes, it's an extra step but don't worry, it's easy to do and so, so worth it!

• Place butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. While the butter melts, stir continuously with a small wooden spoon or spatula.
• Soon the the butter will start to bubble.
• Then it will get very foamy!
• After several minutes, the foam will start to settle down. You'll also see the butter turning brown and smell a nutty aroma. As soon as this happens, remove the butter from the heat and set aside to cool.

That's it! It really is that easy to brown your butter and up the flavor of your cookies! The whole process takes about 5-8 minutes. I suggest doing this first so your butter has time to cool a little bit before you make the cookies.

How to Make the Cookies

• In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
• Add the wet ingredients, squeezed pumpkin puree, browned butter, sugars, and egg yolk, to a large mixing bowl and blend them together until smooth.
• Then blend the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture.

• Lastly, fold in the oats, raisins, and walnuts. (How do you fold it in? I can't tell you everything. You just fold it in, David!)
• Now it's time to bake the cookies! Take 2 tablespoons worth of dough and form a ball.
• Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined sheet and flatten slightly with your hands. These cookies will not spread very much, so flattening them helps!

Pro-Tip! If you like cookies extra pretty and chunky looking, press a few more raisins and walnuts on top of each ball of dough before baking. This will ensure you have some peaking out the tops after they bake!

Other Mix-Ins

The great thing about cookies is that you're free to change up the mix-ins to suit your preferences! Here are some options:

• Chocolate chips. I know raisins are not always a favorite. Feel free to swap with semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dark, or even butterscotch!
• Dried cranberries. Cranberries and pumpkin are always a good pair. Other dried fruits, like dried cherries or golden raisins would be good as well!
• Pecans or Pistachios. Use your favorite nut!
• Shredded coconut or pepitas (small green pumpkin seeds) might also be a fun addition!

Equipment

• These large baking sheets are perfect for almost everything in the kitchen. I typically always use parchment paper when baking cookies, so a non-stick pan isn't really necessary. If you have nice non-stick cookie sheets, you don't need the parchment.
• An electric mixer makes life so much easier!
• Every baker needs set of mixing bowls.
• A medium-sized cookie scoop is helpful for uniformly sized cookies.

How to Store These Cookies

These cookies should be kept at room temperature in an airtight container. They are best as fresh as possible but can be enjoyed for up to 3-4 days before getting stale.

Feel free to freeze these cookies. You can freeze the cookie dough or freeze the baked cookies. Either way, place them in an airtight container. Frozen cookie dough does not need to be thawed before baking, but may take a few extra minutes to bake.

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More Gluten-Free Fall Recipes You'll Love!

Enjoy this delicious pumpkin oatmeal cookie recipe made with wholesome ingredients and tons of flavor! Loaded with oats, walnuts, and raisins these cookies could almost be a breakfast cookie! Switch up the mix-ins as you like for a cookie the whole family will love. If you're looking for more pumpkin recipes, enjoy gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies or chewy gluten-free pumpkin snickerdoodles!

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