Pumpkin oatmeal cookies sandwiched with a maple cinnamon buttercream. That screams Fall if you ask me. I realized, recently, that when I develop a cookie recipe, nine times out of ten it is a sandwich cookie. Perhaps I’m a bit obsessed with buttercream. More likely is that it is a fun way to get two cookies for the price of one! I can say that I just ate two or three of these cookies today, but in actuality, I ate six cookies! In all fairness, I make these cookies on the small side, but still…
As I said, these cookies are perfect for Fall. The pumpkin spice and extra cinnamon add warmth. The oatmeal adds texture. The maple and pumpkin are the epitome of Fall. Cozy up to a fire, grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage, and eat these cookies while watching vibrantly colored leaves blow in the wind.
A little bit about these cookies.
Sitting on a plane in August with nothing to do but read a book or think thoughts, I found my mind skipping ahead to Fall baking. Pumpkin and Oatmeal kept coming to mind. I don’t think people put these ingredients together often enough. I love the idea of an oatmeal crumble topping on a pumpkin pie. Oatmeal and pumpkin should be made into muffins and bars and cakes… What I really wanted, though, was pumpkin and oatmeal in a cookie. And, what better way to round out those Fall flavors than to add spices and maple. The vision for these cookies came about easily enough, and then it was a matter of experimenting to get it just right. The first batch was too cake like. The second batch was too sweet. I wanted the texture of the oatmeal to play a big part, but I didn’t want just an oatmeal cookie. Trial and error lead to the recipe you will find below. I hope you enjoy!
Here’s what you will need:
You probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry. You will definitely need pumpkin. I use Libby’s 100% pumpkin puree which is not the same as pumpkin pie filling. The pumpkin pie filling comes with sugar and spices already mixed in, and we just don’t need that. The other “specialty” ingredient is real maple syrup. There is a special place in my heart for Mrs. Butterworth’s, but she won’t be making an appearance in this recipe.
Pro Tips:
A cookie scoop will help form uniform dough balls. This way you won’t spend a lot of time trying to match cookies of similar size to make a nice looking sandwich. The scoop I used was about 1 Tablespoon in size. This cookie scoop from Amazon gets good reviews.
This seems like a pretty unnecessary step, and you really could skip it, but I appreciated the bit of sparkle it created, and the extra boost of flavor.
This gives the cookie a nicer sandwich shape. This dough is sticky so you will get your hands messy, but last I checked, hands were washable!
This recipe calls for pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. It also calls for old fashioned oats. Quick cooking oats could be used in a pinch, but they just don’t give the cookies the texture we are going for here.
Using a piping bag to fill the sandwich cookies reduces mess and makes for a much nicer presentation.
No worries. If you don’t have, or can’t find, pumpkin pie spice you can mix up your own. I make my own blend that is composed of 4 Tablespoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ginger powder, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. Create a blend that works for you by adding or omitting spices, and upping the volume of spices you like best.
Pumpkin Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
Pumpkin Oatmeal Sandwich cookies filled with Cinnamon Maple buttercream make for a delicious Fall treat to enjoy with a hot beverage.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16–18 sandwich cookies 1x
- Category: cookie
- Cuisine: dessert
Ingredients
For the cookies:
3/4 cup butter (12 Tablespoons) at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
For rolling:
1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blended together
For the buttercream:
1 cup butter at room temperature
2 Tablespoons real maple syrup
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment.
For the Cookies: In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, blend the butter and sugars until well incorporated and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix to combine. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Follow by adding the dry ingredients of flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and kosher salt. Stir in the oats.
Using a 1 Tablespoon scoop, portion out dough balls. Roll each dough ball in the sugar spice mix and place on baking sheet. Flatten each dough ball slightly. Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes until set and just starting to get a hint of golden brown at the edges. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minute before transferring to a cooling rack to cool fully.
For the Buttercream: Again using a stand mixer, or a hand mixer with bowl (it can be a smaller bowl for the buttercream), mix the butter, salt, cinnamon, and maple syrup to combine. Add the powdered sugar and mix until fluffy. This should take 2-3 minutes.
Once cookies have cooled, spread buttercream on half of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies to create a sandwich.
Notes
Use pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.
This recipe calls for Old Fashioned Oats. Quick cooking oats can be used in a pinch, but they won’t give the cookie the same satisfying texture.
Keywords: pumpkin, oatmeal, sandwich cookie, maple, cinnamon
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