No Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Once falls rolls around, I am a little (just a little) Pumpkin Obsessed! So our go to cookie – the Chocolate No Bake Cookie – gets a revamp with pumpkin flavors as well. Using a pumpkin spice pudding mix and pumpkin spice, these little cookies are great for an afterschool snack or bedtime treat for your family!
No Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Lisa @ Onceamonthmom.com
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups white sugar
- 0.5 cups brown sugar
- 0.75 cups butter
- 0.66 cups milk
- 1 (3.4 oz) box instant pumpkin spice pudding mix (if you can’t find sub vanilla pudding & 1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice)
- 3.5 cups quick cooking oats
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
In a saucepan, combine sugars, butter and milk. Bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the pudding mix, stirring to combine completely. Add in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and oats. Stir to combine and let stand for 5 minutes. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper, and allow to cool completely. Store in airtight container.
Freezing Directions:
Follow directions above. When completely cool, transfer to gallon sized freezer storage bag.
Servings: 36 cookies
**conversion chart image provided by Erik Spiekermann
I think you left out the butter measurement :)
Thank you Jessica! It is updated!
butter 0.75 = cup 3/4
Will be trying these tonight and linking up to my blog. These look so good! I’m on a pumpkin kick too. Thanks for sharing!!!
Gluedtomycrafts.blogspot.com
Where do I find the instant pumpkin spice pudding mix? Is there a brand?
Rebecca – It is a seasonal pudding mix – Usually I find the Jello brand – but have seen store brands too. If you don’t find it – I would sub vanilla and use some extra pumpkin pie spice!
Thanks…. I’ll keep and eye out for it. And if not will try the other suggestion :)… thank you, have a blessed day.
Hi Rebecca, I found the Pumpkin Spice Pudding mix at my local Walmart on their holiday baking display last week. Hope you find it! Of course I forgot to get quick cooking oats though, so I’ll have to wait until next week to make mine. :(
These look awesome and I would love to make them for my son for after school…do you think I could sub applesauce or honey for some of the sugar, or would that affect how they set up?
Jen – I think you could sub honey for some of the sugar and it would taste delish!
I saw this and was so hoping it had real pumpkin in it. That would make a healthy breakfast “cookie”! Maybe I’ll try it that way.
I was hoping so too! If you try it, please post results!
I am not one for making home baked cookies, however I too love pumpkin and these looked easy and delicious! I made these cookies this morning and have a few suggestions. I followed the recipe, however the cookies are overbearingly sweet! Since the instant pumpkin spice pudding mix has sugar in it, I don’t believe you need 1.5 cups of white sugar and .5 cups of brown sugar. Since I’m not sure which sugar was the issue, I suggest you begin the recipe by melting the butter and milk and then add the pudding mix. Taste the mixture and if you believe you need more sugar, then add it by taste test. Or begin with only 0.5 cups of white sugar and 1/3 to 1/4 brown sugar.
Oatmeal cookies are typically not this sweet and I feel it’s also too much sugar for children. I am a huge lover of sweets and even this was too much for me. If I make it again by switching it up a bit, I’ll be more then happy to let you know how it came out!
Thanks for the tips Melissa!
I made the cookies again without the white sugar and with much less brown sugar. Once I added the pudding mixture, the ingredients never did quite mix together. I’m not sure what the issue was, but I ended up baking them for 15 minutes.
I am going to make these but can’t use the pudding mix because it has hydrogenated oils in it and I won’t eat that or feed it to my family. To make anything a pudding, just use modified corn starch and I’ll try the real pumpkin also.
Pudding
Ingredients
Non Fat Milk, Water, Sugar, Modified Corn Starch, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: Palm Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Sunflower Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil), Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Less than 2% of: Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Artificial Flavors, Color Added. CONTAINS: MILK
I just made these using the advice of Melissa. I used 1/2 cup white and 1/4 cup brown sugar. I used sugar free cheesecake flavored pudding (what I had on hand) and extra pumpkin pie spice. They turned out great! Yum!
I made these and they were very good. I used 1 cup of white sugar vs. the full amount and will probably use a little less next time. I was just curious if I did something wrong because they were soft and not did not harden at all hardly. Are they supposed to be that soft and mushy? Taste was good but the texture surprised me. Thanks for your insight.
I think the consistency has something to do with the sugars because I had the same issue the second go around (when I cut out all that sugar). I baked the second batch to harden them.
On the standard no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, you can get the hardening just the way you want it if you want to do the soft or hard ball test. Put a drop of the boiling ingredients in cold water and keep testing until it is hard ball. Brown sugar makes it softer than white. Sometimes I will make them softer but it is harder to execute.
I tend to want the pumpkin in there too, will have to work on that…
I saw one of the other posters said that they were a little too sweet for them… I’m a beginning no-baker, so this might be a stupid question, but do you think you could eliminate some of the sugar and substitute some flour instead?
I am not sure how the sub of flour would make the consistency of the cookie turn out. If you experiment with it – please let us know your results!
Hi Lisa!
I was super excited to find your recipes as I love no bakes but my kids are allergic to peanut butter. I was thrilled to see this recipe did not require any type of nut butter. I made these today and they are a wonderful fall treat. would you mind if I shared this on my blog as long as I posted a link back to this link?
Blessings,
Amber Mullins
Amber -
Of course – feel free to share and link back to OAMM! So glad that your kids enjoyed them!
Thanks so much!
After reading the comments about the trials and tribulations regarding the sugar, I tried this recipe last night with honey to see if I could have any luck.
I completely left out the 1.5 cups of white sugar and just boiled the butter, brown sugar, & milk (I used vanilla flavored almond milk for more natural sweetness & flavor)
After adding the pudding mix (I used french vanilla pudding mix with 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice), I added about 2 tablespoons of honey. I mixed that well together before adding in the oats and everything hardened & held together perfectly!!
The cookies are to die for – just the right amount of sweetness and a little healthier than using white sugar. I will definitely be making many more of these with honey!
I tried making these, following the directions exactly, and mine never hardened. They are just a bowl of mush??? Are you suppose to prepare the pudding mix?? I just dumped the package in. Just wondering what I could have possibly done wrong??
Jessica-
No – you don’t make the pudding per the package directions. The cookie should harden after you have placed them on the waxed paper and let them cool.
I made these and though they are a bit sweeter than my family likes, we still loved them! We would eat just one and then wait awhile before we ate another! So maybe that is a good thing! Now that I want to make more, I can’t find the pudding. Problem with living in a small town is not being able to find all the ingredients you want, or once found, may never find them agaiin! LOL!
If you use the pumpkin spice pudding mix do you also add the 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice or can this be omitted?
Becky – yes – you still use the 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.
Lauren, when you substituted with honey, how much did you use? Still the 1.5 cup in lieu of white sugar?
I only used about 2-3 tablespoons of honey because it’s much more concentrated than white sugar. Just that little bit helped hold everything together nicely in lieu of the sugar, I had no trouble with the cookies hardening.
[...] or treat and it will be ready for you when you get home! These No Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies by Once a Month Mom are perfect to prepare and sit aside while you take the kids trick or treating and it will be done [...]
Made tonight and used Lauren’s substitution of honey! Hubby said really good! Planning on giving them to my sister-in-law when they stop by with our niece. I like to give them something besides only candy. Thank you for sharing!
Is there a way to substitute real pumpkin instead of the pudding mix? I am a beginner baker, but would love to make these with what I have on hand without going back to the grocery.
Brandi – I am not sure how substituting real pumpkin instead of the pudding mix will turn out. IF you do try it – we would love to hear how it works!
I made these tonight and they are very good! I used honey instead of the sugar and they turned out delicious.
{Also, jello brand pumpkin spice pudding mix does not contain milk or any hydro oils so you may have been looking at a different brand}
I don’t think boiling for only 2 minutes is enough. I had to toss an entire batch because they didnt set. When I have made no bakes in the past, I have always boiled for 3 minutes. Maybe shoot for a longet boil if I make them again.