Ready to take your love for pumpkin to a whole new level? Then these low sugar Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies are just for you! Perfect for a grab and go healthy breakfast or snack, they’ll satisfy both toddlers and adults alike!
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Why you need to make these Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Mr. CEO, my certified eating officer and hubby, is OBSESSED with pumpkin.
Like, so much so, he’ll Google when Trader Joe’s pumpkin products release and let me know rather than the other way around!
I love his enthusiasm for the season so decided to play on it and create these portable Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies that both he and my toddler could enjoy.
I swear, while healthy and low in sugar, they are still DAMN DELICIOUS!
What you need to make this Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
Ingredient Tips
- Peanut Butter: Choose a creamy, natural peanut butter that is added sugar and salt free (if you can!) There are enough add-ins here to create exciting texture
- Gluten free: These Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies are naturally gluten free! To be extra cautious, double check your labels and make sure the oats and chocolate you use are GF certified!
- Pumpkin puree (as mentioned in my Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins recipe, but it bears repeating!): While purchasing unsweetened canned pumpkin is a great quick option for these muffins, if you’re opting to make your own pumpkin puree (don’t forget to save those seeds for a tasty snack!), check out my Sweet Potato Muffins as the procedure will be the same! You can mash your pumpkin or pop it in the food processor to make it super smooth!
- Side note here to be VERY CAREFUL when cutting your pumpkin; se a very sharp knife and give yourself plenty of time!
- Pumpkin pie spice: You can use a store bought mix or make some yourself with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
- Pumpkin seeds: As much as the pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin are delicious for a snack, they are nut hulled! I recommend saving those for a separate occasion and going with store bought pepitas for your mix in!
Ingredient Swaps
- Peanut butter: Swap any nut or seed butter in place of peanut butter, especially for allergies. Sunflower seed butter works great!
- Chocolate chips: This recipe was developed with the white chocolate and cranberries as the winning combo, but sub in your favorite chocolate, milk, semisweet, or dark, as you wish!
- Added sugars: If you’d like to keep these free of added sugar, swap in raisins for cranberries (or be sure to use unsweetened dried cranberries) and omit the chocolate.
- Vegan: Swap in a flax egg and make sure your chocolate chips are vegan!
How to make these Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
(1 + 2) Preheat oven. Combine the pumpkin, peanut butter, and egg with the spices.
(3) Stir in the oats.
(4) Fold in the cranberries, chocolate, and pumpkin seeds.
(5) Scoop onto a greased baking sheet.
(6 + 7) Using the back of a cup that’s lightly sprayed with cooking spray, gently press down on the dough so it forms a circle. Then, bake!
Viola! They should be perfect like these beauties when finished!
The inside is hearty and filled with texture in these Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies, just take a peak below!
Recipe Notes + Expert Tips
- If you’d like to jazz these cookies up with an easy drizzle, melt 1/4 white chocolate with 1/2 tsp coconut oil and drizzle over your cookies! Alternatively, for an additional flavor element, mix up 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
- These cookies have no leavening agent so they will not spread very much during baking. Keep this in mind and note you can leave as little as a half inch space between cookies.
- Now, serve these up with a cool glass of your favorite milk or warm cup of coffee or tea. The possibilities are endless!
FAQs for these Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Let’s break it down, looking at the major ingredients! Firstly, the star of the show: pumpkin! While I have mentioned a bit on pumpkin here, in short, pumpkin is high in nutrients while being low in calories, making it a great starchy veg to keep in your rotation (not to mention, it’s delicious!)
Next up, natural peanut butter is high mono- and polyunsaturated fats and protein, adding their nutty flavor and satiating powers to these cookies!
Onto the rolled oats which are a superfood that doesn’t get nearly as much fanfare as it should! Looking at the starches in oats, most are slowly digested, reducing the spike in blood sugar that can accompany other high carbohydrate foods. Further, the resistant starches in oats are prebiotic, acting as food to nurture gut bacteria! On that note, oats provide a significant amount of fiber, mostly soluble, which acts to slow digestion, increase satiety, bulk up digestive products, and assist with lowering cholesterol!
All-in-all, these cookies are a one stop shop for a filling and satisfying breakfast, full of wholesome ingredients you can feel great about!
Firstly, keep in mind that to store these cookies, place them in an airtight container on the counter for 5 days, refrigerate for 10 days, or freeze for up to 3 months for best quality.
For transportation, I’d recommend either firstly, freezing the cookies overnight and then taking on the road. They should be thawed out nicely within a couple hours! Alternatively, if they were just made and are cooled, place them in a freezable lunch bag or in a lunch box with ice packs, especially if it’s warm outside! While they will structurally hold up, the texture will be much nicer if kept at room temperature or below!
Other Pumpkin Recipes You May Enjoy
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Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. To a large bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, egg, peanut butter, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together.
- Mix in the oats, then fold in the cranberries, white chocolate and pumpkin seeds.
- Portion the dough using a 1-ounce scoop onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the bottom of a circular jar with cooking spray, then gently press the dough so it forms a circle.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until tops are golden. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes before enjoying.
- Store in an airtight container on the counter for 5 days, refrigerate for 10 days, or freeze for up to 3 months for best quality.
Notes
- If you’d like to jazz these cookies up with an easy drizzle, melt 1/4 white chocolate with 1/2 tsp coconut oil and drizzle over your cookies! Alternatively, for an additional flavor element, mix up 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
- These cookies have no leavening agent so they will not spread very much during baking. Keep this in mind and note you can leave as little as a half inch space between cookies.
- Peanut Butter: Choose a creamy, natural peanut butter that is added sugar and salt free (if you can!) There are enough add-ins here to create exciting texture.
- Swap any nut or seed butter in place of peanut butter, especially for allergies. Sunflower seed butter works great!
- Gluten free: These Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies are naturally gluten free! To be extra cautious, double check your labels and make sure the oats and chocolate you use are GF certified!
- Pumpkin puree (as mentioned in my Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins recipe, but it bears repeating!): While purchasing unsweetened canned pumpkin is a great quick option for these muffins, if you’re opting to make your own pumpkin puree (don’t forget to save those seeds for a tasty snack!), check out my Sweet Potato Muffins as the procedure will be the same! You can mash your pumpkin or pop it in the food processor to make it super smooth!
- Side note here to be VERY CAREFUL when cutting your pumpkin; se a very sharp knife and give yourself plenty of time!
- Chocolate chips: This recipe was developed with the white chocolate and cranberries as the winning combo, but sub in your favorite chocolate, milk, semisweet, or dark, as you wish!
- Added sugars: If you’d like to keep these free of added sugar, swap in raisins for cranberries (or be sure to use unsweetened dried cranberries) and omit the chocolate.
- Vegan: Swap in a flax egg and make sure your chocolate chips are vegan
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Jennie says
Would these work without the pumpkin seeds? Would love to try these but don’t have those on hand.
Elizabeth Shaw says
Yes, they would!