Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies
These Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies are soft pumpkin cookies made with browned butter, pumpkin purée, brown sugar, warm pumpkin spice, and a cinnamon sugar coating. They are easy to mix, roll, and bake, making them a nice cookie recipe for fall.
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It is a great choice for fall baking, Thanksgiving gatherings, weekend baking, and sharing with family and friends. They also work well for holiday cookie trays.
And if you love pumpkin, these Soft Pumpkin S’mores Cookies and Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies are perfect to add on your list.
How to Make Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients you’ll need for this recipe
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Add the butter to a stainless steel pan and brown it over medium heat until it foams and crackles. Stir occasionally to keep it from burning.
3. Once the butter smells nutty and has browned, remove it from the heat. Transfer the brown butter to a glass bowl and chill it in the refrigerator until cooled.
4. Place the pumpkin purée on a stack of paper towels. Use fresh paper towels as needed to absorb the extra liquid until the pumpkin has a soft, playdough-like consistency.
5. Once the butter has cooled, whisk in the brown sugar until the mixture looks like wet sand.
6. Whisk in the egg yolk, vanilla, and pumpkin purée.
7. Add the flour, pumpkin spice, salt, and baking soda. Mix just until combined. Add 1–2 tablespoons of milk if the dough seems too dry. Refrigerate the dough for 10–15 minutes.
8. Scoop the dough using a heaping 2-tablespoon cookie scoop. Roll each dough ball in the cinnamon sugar.
9. Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2–3 inches between each cookie. Bake for 10–12 minutes.
10. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Enjoy them warm or completely cooled.
Serve & Enjoy!
Important Recipe Notes
- Make sure to brown the butter carefully and stir it often so it does not burn.
- Let the brown butter cool before mixing it with the other ingredients.
- Remove excess moisture from the pumpkin purée with paper towels. This helps keep the cookie dough from becoming too wet.
- If the dough feels dry after mixing, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until it comes together.
- Chilling the dough for 10–15 minutes makes it easier to scoop and roll. Leave 2–3 inches of space between the cookies since they will spread as they bake.
- Do not overbake the cookies. They should be set around the edges but still soft in the center.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
Brown Butter Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 5 tbsp pumpkin purée
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 130 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ cup cinnamon sugar for rolling
- 1–2 tbsp milk optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add the butter to a stainless steel pan and brown it over medium heat until it foams and crackles. Stir occasionally to keep it from burning.
- Once the butter smells nutty and has browned, remove it from the heat. Transfer the brown butter to a glass bowl and chill it in the refrigerator until cooled.
- Place the pumpkin purée on a stack of paper towels. Use fresh paper towels as needed to absorb the extra liquid until the pumpkin has a soft, playdough-like consistency.
- Once the butter has cooled, whisk in the brown sugar until the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Whisk in the egg yolk, vanilla, and pumpkin purée.
- Add the flour, pumpkin spice, salt, and baking soda. Mix just until combined. Add 1–2 tablespoons of milk if the dough seems too dry. Refrigerate the dough for 10–15 minutes.
- Scoop the dough using a heaping 2-tablespoon cookie scoop. Roll each dough ball in the cinnamon sugar.
- Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2–3 inches between each cookie. Bake for 10–12 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Enjoy them warm or completely cooled.
