If you’re a fan of classic oatmeal cream pies and can’t get enough of pumpkin spice, these pumpkin oatmeal cream pies are your next must-try bake! Start by baking a batch of soft pumpkin oatmeal cookies—no dough chilling needed. Then, sandwich them together with a tangy, spiced cream cheese filling to create irresistible oatmeal cream pies bursting with cozy fall flavors.
While there is so much to love about fall—cooler temps, colorful leaves, Halloween fun—obviously the best part about this time of year is the BAKING.
Today’s pumpkin sandwich cookie recipe is a new one to add to your list of must-try fall recipes. I know that list is probably quite long… but trust me, this one is worthy of a place on it!
Why You’ll Love These Fall Sandwich Cookies
A Few Notes About the Ingredients:
Pumpkin Puree: You want the pure stuff, not the can labeled “pumpkin pie filling.” You won’t use the entire can in this recipe, so here is a list of recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree.
Oats: Finer-cut quick oats may dry out the dough, so I recommend whole oats here.
Spices: Pumpkin on its own doesn’t have a lot of flavor. You need cinnamon + pumpkin pie spice to give it a boost.
Sugar: You need a mix of both white granulated and brown sugar—brown sugar to keep the cookies moist and chewy, white granulated to help with spreading.
Egg Yolk: Eggs + pumpkin can create a cake-like cookie, but here I want a soft and chewy cookie. So, skip the egg white and use just the yolk.
5 Success Tips for Making the Best Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies
We tested a few versions of the recipe below, and learned some key success tips along the way. Happy to share:
1. Blot the pumpkin. Pumpkin puree is a considerably wet ingredient (it’s 90% water), which is a good thing for adding moisture to cakes, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin bread. But it poses a problem when we’re trying to make dense, chewy oatmeal cookies. More moisture = cakier cookies.
To prevent overly cakey cookies, blot some moisture out of the pumpkin using paper towels. You’ll start with 1 cup of pumpkin puree (about 225–240g); after blotting, you should end up with about 3/4 cup (170g).
2. Use only an egg yolk. Pumpkin acts kind of like an egg in cookie dough, which I learned when testing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies back in 2013 (that is an egg-free recipe). Testing pumpkin oatmeal cookies, however, proved that an egg—or at least part of an egg—is necessary. The cookies were a little dry and crumbly without it because of the oats in the dough. Use just 1 large egg yolk here, because that little extra bit of fat makes a difference.
3. Use a cookie scoop. I strongly recommend using a medium cookie scoop. Why? First, because the cookies need to all be roughly equal in size (about a scant 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons) to sandwich together. And second, because this dough is very sticky and would be much too difficult to roll with your hands. A cookie scoop scrapes the dough out cleanly and drops a perfectly sized lump of dough onto the baking sheet every time.
If you do not have a cookie scoop, drop a heaping Tablespoon (about 25–30g) of dough for each cookie onto the lined baking sheet.
You should get about 36–40 cookies out of this dough, so you’ll end up with 18–20 sandwiches.
4. Flatten out the cookies slightly before baking. You can use the back of a spoon for this. These cookies don’t expand much in the oven, and pressing them down first encourages spreading. The result? Chewier, flatter cookies just right for sandwiching together to make a pumpkin oatmeal cream pie.
5. Spoon the edges. If your cookies are spreading too much or unevenly, remove them from the oven and use a spoon to lightly push any wonky edges back in towards the center, to reshape into circles. (I do this with chocolate chip cookies.) Return to the oven to continue baking. You can repeat this trick again, if needed, after baking.
Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Filling
Make the filling while you wait for the cookies to cool. You need cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar, plus a few ingredients that you used for the cookie dough, too: butter, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
The filling required a bit of testing. I kept reducing the sugar, to really help the pumpkin spice and cream cheese flavors stand out. However, the more confectioners’ sugar you reduce, the thinner the filling becomes. What you see here is an ideal consistency, with just enough sweetness.
Assembling Oatmeal Cream Pies
You can use a pastry bag + tip and pipe the filling, or simply spread it on with a knife or icing spatula. If you want to pipe it and do not have a piping tip and pastry bag, use a regular zip-top plastic bag and snip off 1 corner. Pipe or spread the frosting onto the bottoms of half the cookies, then sandwich with the remaining cookies. I used Wilton 2A tip to pipe.
Variation: Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches
These soft and chewy pumpkin oatmeal cookies would also make wonderful ice cream cookie sandwiches! Simply swap the cream cheese filling for vanilla or pumpkin ice cream, and follow the instructions for sandwiching the cookies with softened ice cream, wrapping, and freezing from my cookie ice cream sandwich recipe.
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Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
Author: Sally
Prep Time:1 hour
Cook Time:15 minutes
Total Time:2 hours, 15 minutes (includes cooling)
Yield:18-20 sandwiches
Category:Cookies
Method:Baking
Cuisine:American
Description
Soft and chewy pumpkin oatmeal cookies are sandwiched with tangy-sweet and spiced cream cheese filling. To ensure the best results, review my success tips above before beginning.
Instructions
Blot the pumpkin: Line a medium bowl with 2 paper towels. Place the pumpkin puree in the bowl. Using another paper towel, press down to blot excess moisture out of the pumpkin. After blotting, make sure you have about 3/4 cup (170g) of pumpkin. Discard paper towels and set blotted pumpkin aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together.
In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined. Add the blotted pumpkin, and beat on high speed until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until incorporated, then increase to medium speed and beat until combined. Dough will be creamy, soft, and sticky.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough (about a scant 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (25–30g) of dough each) and drop on the cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. With the back of a spoon, press down to slightly flatten the balls, as the cookies won’t spread much unless you help out first.
Bake for 14–16 minutes or until lightly browned and set on the edges. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. (Success Tip: If your cookies are spreading unevenly, remove them from the oven and use a spoon to lightly push any wonky edges back in towards the center, to reshape into circles. You can repeat this trick again, if needed, when you take them out of the oven after baking.)
Make the filling: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed until confectioners’ sugar is incorporated, then increase to high speed and beat until smooth and creamy. Pipe or spread some of the filling on the bottom side of half of the cooled cookies; top with remaining cookies, right side up. I used Wilton 2A tip to pipe.
Cover and store leftover cookies at room temperature for up to 1 day. After that, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week to keep the creamy filling fresh.
Notes
Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and store it, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before continuing with step 6. Baked cookies, cooled but not filled/sandwiched, freeze well for up to 3 months. (For best taste and texture, filling should be fresh.) Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before continuing with step 6. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding a minute or two to the baking time. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Food Scale | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack | Small Icing Spatula (for filling) | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) and Wilton 2A (for filling)
Why Am I Blotting Moisture Out of Pumpkin Puree? Pumpkin puree is a really wet ingredient (it’s 90% water), which is a good thing for adding moisture to cakes, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin bread. But it poses a problem when we’re trying to make dense, chewy oatmeal cookies. Start with 1 cup of pumpkin (about 225–240g) and blot out enough moisture and liquid to yield 3/4 cup (170g) of denser, thicker puree.
Use Whole Oats: Finer-cut quick oats may dry out the dough, so I recommend whole oats here.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, for the cookies: use 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and an extra 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Do not leave out the 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon that is also called for in this recipe. For the filling: Use a pinch each of the same spices (you may want to avoid ground cloves in the filling, or make it an extra small pinch—it’s quite strong).
Use Only the Egg Yolk: Pumpkin acts kind of like an egg in cookie dough, so you don’t need an entire egg here. Use only the yolk, to help give the cookies structure and provide moisture and richness.
Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
