These pumpkin cookies are unlike any other! They’re dense, chewy, and packed with so much flavor including brown butter and maple. With an added coating of brown sugar cinnamon, these cookies are bound to be your new favorite this fall. The dough also requires ZERO time in the refrigerator, so they’re quick and easy to make.
Tips for browning butter
The base of this recipe is rich brown butter. It adds so much flavor to these cookies and pairs perfectly with the warm spices and pumpkin. The very first step in this recipe is to brown the butter, so make sure you don’t skip it!
What is brown butter? Brown butter is exactly what is sounds like…butter that has been browned! It’s a process of melting butter over medium heat in order to separate the water from the milk solids. The solids sink to the bottom of the pot where they darken, roast, and brown. This short and simple process transforms the color and flavor of the butter from pale and mild to dark and nutty.
How do you brown butter? I have a whole post dedicated to the process of browning butter, but here are a few tips to ensure you get it just right:
- Have patience – The entire process takes about 10 minutes, but most of the time nothing really happens. The browning takes place at the very end, and it happens very fast. Just keep an eye on the butter and as soon as it starts to foam up, keep stirring until it turns a rich amber color.
- Don’t take it too far – The brown color will go from light to dark very fast, but you want to land somewhere in the middle. As soon as you start to see the butter turn brown, keep it over the heat for a few more seconds to take it a shade darker. Then, remove from heat and pour into a separate container. It’s important to pour it out of the hot pot as soon as you can to prevent it from browning any further.
- Scrape the pot – All the flavor is in the brown bits at the bottom of the pot, so don’t leave those out! When you’re pouring the butter into a measuring glass, make sure you scrape in the little brown specks.
- Expect less – The amount of butter you start out with is not the same amount you will end with. Expect to have just a bit less than 1 cup of browned butter as some of the liquid evaporates during the browning process.
How to achieve a chewy pumpkin cookie
Pumpkin cookies are SO delicious but SO tricky to get just right. Due to the amount of moisture in pumpkin, pumpkin cookies tend to be more light and fluffy rather than dense and chewy…which is how I like my cookies to be. It took quite a few tests, but here is what is needed to get a dense and chewy pumpkin cookie:
- Butter – Using melted butter is a great way to get a more dense cookie. With room temperature butter, air is whipped into the dough during the creaming process. But with melted butter, it’s nearly impossible to build up any air inside the dough.
- Flour – It’s important to strike perfect balance of butter and flour. Too much flour and the cookies won’t spread, too little and the cookies will turn oily and thin. To ensure you use the exact amount needed for these cookies, gently spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level if off with a flat edge. If you scoop directly into the flour container, it pacts it down into the cup which could leave you with 1/4 cup or more of added flour.
- Maple & Dark Brown Sugar – This is like a one two punch of these chewy cookies. These two add so much flavor to these cookies, while also building a strong and chewy texture. Dark brown sugar contains a higher amount of molasses than light brown sugar, so it builds a much more dense cookie. Paired with the maple syrup, the two help weigh down the cookie to stop it from puffing up.
Brown sugar cinnamon coating
The coating is optional, but it does add a touch of extra sweetness and texture to these cookies. It’s a simple combination of light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon.
When the dough is ready, scoop each dough ball directly into the dish of the coating. The dough will be very soft, so use a light touch to toss it in the sugar. Gently form it back into a ball and place it on the baking sheet. Sprinkle a little extra coating on the very tops and bake.
How to tell when the cookies are done baking
The key to a dense and chewy cookie is to pull it out of the oven when the center still looks a bit underdone. You know they’re ready when the edges are flat and golden but the center is pale and puffed.
The residual heat will continue to bake the cookies outside of the oven and the centers will firm up and settle as they cool. In the end you’re left with wrinkly and chewy edges with a soft and tender center.
Troubleshooting your cookies
My cookies didn’t spread in the oven – 99% of the time, this is due to how you measured the flour. Like I mentioned earlier, always spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge. Don’t ever scoop directly into the flour container or shake it down/pack it in. This will give you way too much flour, thus creating a thick dough that won’t spread properly.
My cookies spread too much – Your butter may have been too hot when you added it to the dough. Make sure the brown butter is at room temperature before using. Also make sure it’s right between 3/4 cup and 1 cup. If there’s too much or too little, it can throw off the entire cookie.
Another issue could be with the pumpkin. I find that canned pumpkin can have a lot of variability. If you can, use Libby’s canned pumpkin. Otherwise, if you have trouble with these cookies, try placing the pumpkin in a bowl lined with paper towels. This will help absorb any excess liquid before adding to the dough.
Can I freeze the dough?
Yes, but the end result will leave you with a thicker cookie. Cover the dough and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Once it’s firmed up a bit, scoop the balls into a freezer safe bag and freeze.
To bake, let the dough rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes. Then toss in the coating and bake.
How to store these cookies
Store the leftovers in an air tight container at room temperature. Make sure to stack them directly on top of each other as they tend to soften the longer they sit. If they’re arranged randomly, some of them will bend and warp in the container.
For more fall cookie recipes, check out my:
- Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Maple Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram and comment below if you make these Brown Butter Maple Pumpkin Cookies. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Watch how to make these pumpkin cookies here:
Brown Butter & Maple Chewy Pumpkin Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 11–12 large cookies 1x
Description
Soft and chewy pumpkin cookies baked with brown butter and maple.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cookies
- 1 cup (220g) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups (280g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (80g) pumpkin puree
- 2 1/4 cups (280g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Coating
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- First, brown the butter. Melt 1 cup of butter over medium heat, continuing to stir until it reaches a rich amber color. Click here for more details on how to brown butter.
- Pour the butter into a measuring glass to ensure you have the right amount, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get all of the brown bits as well. It should be a bit short of 1 cup. Place in the refrigerator to chill for about 20 minutes. Don’t let it solidify.
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and cooled brown butter. It should look like clumpy wet sand.
- Whisk in the egg yolk, maple syrup, vanilla, and pumpkin until smooth.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold into the batter.
- Off to the side, mix together the coating ingredients in a small dish.
- Use a large cookie scoop (2oz) or 1/4 measuring cup and scoop out the dough. Drop into the cinnamon sugar mixture and toss to coat. The dough will be very soft but not sticky.
- Place onto the baking sheet, spaced about 3 inches apart from each other. You should be able to bake 5-6 cookies at a time. Leave the rest of the dough out at room temperature.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are darkened and the center looks puffed and slightly underdone.
- Allow them to rest on the baking sheet for a couple minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Continue to bake the rest of the cookie dough.
- Allow the cookies to cool, then dig in!
Keywords: pumpkin cookies, brown butter, pumpkin spice, chewy pumpkin cookies
Oh my gosh – these look incredible!! I can’t wait to give them a try this weekend – it’s just the thing to officially welcome fall in. 🙂
These cookies look amazing! Can’t wait to try them. I’ve become obsessed with everything pumpkin.
Soooo good. Made them yesterday and they will definitely be a seasonal tradition. Can’t wait to bring them to everyone I know!
★★★★★
Yay!! Thanks for sharing!
These look/sound utterly amazing, and I would love to send some to my bestie away at school! Do you think they would survive the 1-2 days in the mail and still taste okay? I found that pumpkin baked goods sometimes don’t last as long as regular cookies/muffins.
I’m sure they’d be fine! They get softer as they sit, so I’d just make sure to stack them directly on top of each other so they don’t bend.
SOOOO yummy! I let them sit in the frige for a bit so they would be bit doughy and they turned out amazing! super rich and amazing!
★★★★★
So yummy. I just finished making them and they were not cakey at all, just delicious. I used Sally’s Baking Addiction’s way to make pumpkin cookies, which involves blotting them to take some moisture out. They come out perfect every time! You cannot go wrong with brown butter. Ever,
★★★★★
Making them now! They taste amazing..very complex…I added some mini chocolate chips(love chocolate and pumpkin together)..
These are my go to fall cookies!
Thank you!!
★★★★★
These are amazing!! They’re kind of like a fall version of a gingersnap, but chewy. I usually fail at browning butter, but I followed your instructions and it worked! I’ll definitely be making these again…so delicious!
★★★★★
Loved it! These have a perfect texture and complex flavour, delicious!
★★★★★
These cookies look so yummy! Also, I love these photos! Where is the wood background from?
Hi there, is there anything I can substitute the pumpkin pie spice with?? These look delicious!!!
Take out the pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon and use 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ginger 🙂
Have you tried making this GF/DF?
No I haven’t
I did mostly vegan today (still used normal butter) and GF. I used Pillsbury GF flour and a flax egg (a little less than a tblsp of flax and 3 not quite full tblsp of water, since it’s supposed to be just an egg yolk), and they were delicious! But I’ve not tried the completely normal recipe, so I’m not sure of the difference.
★★★★★
looks like you topped these with some salt, but there’s no mention of it in the recipe?
It’s completely optional and doesn’t make or break the cookies
Oh my goodness, I was obsessed even before I baked them. These are just the pumpkin cookies I’ve been looking for (not cake like)!
I made 10 big 2 oz cookies and 13 smaller (little less than an oz). I baked the smaller for about 8 minutes and that seemed perfect. Now to try not to eat them all before they finish cooling! !
Hey Jenna, just fyi if you write a cook book I’ll be your first customer.
Haha thanks so much!
These are literally the best cookies I’ve ever had in my life. My husband loved them too and he does not usually eat cookies! So so good! I can’t wait to try the dark chocolate banana bread! Your pumpkin bread is a huge hit in our home and I have shared that bread with my family and friends. It’s outstanding! So delicious! Thank you for these amazing recipes!
★★★★★
Oh so happy to hear this! Thank you!
Do you think using whole wheat flour will negatively affect the outcome? Anything else I should consider changing if I do use whole wheat flour? Thanks! Can’t wait to make these 🙂
I’m not sure as I haven’t tested it, but it may be worth a try
Thanks for the reply, I will report back if I do try. I may just try using half whole wheat, half AP. Thanks!
Is there any way of making these without the pumpkin puree? I’ve been looking for a fall themed brown butter cookie with pumpkin spice flavours, but pumpkin puree is very hard to come by here in Denmark and I won’t have time to prepare my own before I need the cookies!
You will need the pumpkin, but a great substitute is sweet potato puree. Otherwise, I recommend my brown butter oatmeal cookies.
Made these last night with a friend and they are AMAZING. Browning the butter is a game changer. Saving this recipe for a regular fall favorite. Already copied the recipe into the recipe book…thats when you know its good!
★★★★★
Would it be okay if I added chopped pecans or white chocolate chips?
Sure! Add about 1 cup
hi do you know if its neccesary to use maple syrup or if there are any substitues? Hard to find where I leave.
Thanks again
You could also use molasses or honey, but it may change the flavor of the cookies.
These are the best cookies I’ve ever made, and probably ever had! THIS is exactly the kind of cookie I like, chewy w some crispy edge and lots of flavor. Holy moly, that browned butter really makes them pop. Soooo dang good. Everyone do yourselves a favor And put these in your pumpkin Arsenal for life!!!
★★★★★
Hi,
I followed the recipe exactly as written and while the cookies were tasty, they weren’t as chewy as I hoped. They had the consistency of a black & white cookie. I made sure to spoon my flour into my measuring cups so I didn’t include too much. Any idea where I might’ve gone wrong?
Thanks!
Did you use a large cookie scoop or just a regular one? If the cookies were scooped too small, the cookies would have baked too long for their size.
I used a 1/4 cup to measure the dough. Should I go bigger next time?
Made these last night; they are AMAZING. So flavorful and perfect level of chewiness. You have the best recipes, everyone in my family agrees!! Can’t wait to try more brown butter recipes 🙂
★★★★★
THESE ARE THE BEST COOKIES IVE EVER HAD!!! Like fall snickerdoodles and so easy to make! I’m obsessed I’ve made them 3 times in 2 weeks! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
★★★★★
Simply a perfect cookie. Not having to haul out the Kitchen Aid stand mixer was a bonus! I guarantee these will become a highly requested treat from my family. Sent a double batch to my niece as a house warming treat. I am heading back to your website to scout out more recipes.
★★★★★
THE BEST COOKIES I HAVE EVER MADE! They were perfectly fluffy but chewy, and everyone of my friends and family that tried then seriously thought they were some of the best cookies they’ve had.
★★★★★
OMG these demanded a fist pump when I had the first bite – they turned out PERFECTLY!! I was having oven issues and was worried that they were sitting at room temp for a good 20 minutes after shaping, also I had to reshape almost all of them a couple times even after already rolling in the coating – but they turned out so delicious, perfectly chewy, beautiful just like a bakery’s and just the right amount of sweetness. Thank you for such a fool proof recipe!!G
★★★★★
Holy s*** these are sooooooo good. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
★★★★★
Haha yay! Thanks!
Wow these cookies are delicious with a great texture, and taste like something you’d buy from a bakery. Like another review said, they taste like a chewy ginger snap, or molasses cookie, only sweeter and lightly spiced. I made the recipe verbatim, and followed the detailed instructions for browning butter (my first time), and everything came out perfectly. My cookies look almost identical to the ones pictured here. I’ll be keeping this recipe! One question: my cookies did spread just a tiny bit more than yours look in the pictures, but my butter was plenty cooled (slightly chilled but not cold), and the rest of the ingredients were room temp and I used Libby’s pumpkin, and also baked them at the full 15 mins. Should I chill the batter for a second or bake them closer to 12 mins if I want the cookies slightly more plump? Thanks.
★★★★★
Hi! This is great to hear! First, if you’re baking them on a silpat, I’d recommend using parchment paper next time as I find cookies spread more on silpats. If you aren’t using that, then try chilling the dough for about 30 minutes before baking. Hope this helps!
I didn’t use a silpat or parchment last time- baked them right on the nonstick pan surface. I made them again tonight and this time I used parchment, and they totally came out like yours and didn’t spread too much. Guessing the parchment interrupts the conduction of heat juuust enough to slow the spread of the cookies! Thanks!
Jenna. I’m currently in middle of baking these ridiculously suer yummy cookies. If course I’ve already taste tested. So Delicious
Thankyou so much for sharing your beautiful recipe
Sue
I have to say, it’s rare to come across a really new and original cookie recipe, and I’ve been dying to try it but worried about family pickiness [‘pumpkin!’, ‘cinnamon!’ etc – forgive them, we are in the UK] but I finally went ahead and just woke my sleepy son up with a cookie before he had time to ask what it was and I hear a very loud ‘YUM’ from his room with which I can only concur, for they are absolutely yum. And so easy. Now I just have to manage to avoid their finding the leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge and putting two and two together… I shall call them Thanksgiving Cookies!
Perfectly crispy but gooey! Amazing!
★★★★★
These cookies are amazing. Such as easy recipe, and they came out perfectly. Crispy on the edges and so soft in the middle. I was worried I underbaked them, but they are just right. SO GOOD!
★★★★★
I just made these! They’re like the snickerdoodle’s dirty cousin. 😀 They’re sweet, spicy and nutty!
I can’t get good brown sugar here in the south, so I went with light from back home. It worked out well. I used a medium OXO cookie scoop; baked 12 mins and cool on tray 2.
Thank you very much for sharing!
★★★★★
Love that! Thanks for sharing!
Ohhh myyy gawddddd (Janice from Friends)! These cookies are absolutely incredible. I made them for Thanksgiving – my family kept raving about them. I’ve never had luck making a chewy pumpkin cookie until this recipe. It’s like a pumpkin snickerdoodle. They are big cookies, but so worth it!
★★★★★
Haha yay!! Thanks for sharing!
I just made a batch of these cookies. I used pumpkin puree that I had actually made from Halloween pumpkins. I used the puree to make dog treats, but was not sure how they would turnout in cookies. Well, they are amazing. I must say I did not understand the value of browned butter until I used it in this recipe. It really tastes great in this. The brown sugar also provided an amazing grainy, caramelized crunch that I love. Chewy in the center. It’s a keeper!
★★★★★
Ah yay! So happy to hear this!
I tried these with star anise instead of pumpkin spice and they turned out great! Will defenitely make them again! Eline from Norway ❤
Amazing! I was actually looking for a molasses cookie recipe, but stumbled across these. I’m so happy I did! They were soooooo delicious. The perfect mix of cozy and chewy. Everyone loved them and I can’t wait to make them again. Thank you for sharing this recipe and I’m excited to try your other ones 🙂
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks for sharing!
Stop what you’re doing and make these cookies! They are absolutely incredible. I have made them at least 5 times over the past few months and they’re a hit each time. My new favorite cookie!!
★★★★★
Aw yay! So happy to hear this!
This is one of my favorite recipes! I have made it numerous times and I do not get tired of eating the cookies! I freeze them in pre-measured balls so all I have to do it put them in the oven when I eat dinner and I have fresh hot cookies as a treat after!
This past time that I made the cookies, for some reason they didn’t fluff when I cooked them. They flattened out and had weird ripples around the end and were crunchy. Could this be because of the butter??
★★★★★
If you baked from frozen, it could just be that the centers weren’t thawed enough before baking. This would cause the edges to melt rapidly, causing those rippled and crispy edges. But I’m glad you enjoy the recipe!
This recipe is perfection. Mailed a batch to my bestie while recovering from surgery and to kick-off pumpkin season
★★★★★
Aw yay! I hope she’s doing well!
This looks so good! I love all the cozy, fall flavors packed into one!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?