Soft and chewy Healthy Pumpkin cookies made with browned butter that have a surprise butterscotch twist! No one would know that they are whole wheat!
PIN Healthy Pumpkin cookies
Just going to put this out there.
This healthy pumpkin cookies recipe is the BEST EVER.
They’re not like the paleo pumpkin cookies or low carb pumpkin cookies where they were more on the cakey cookies side. These are DENSE, chewy and NOT CAKEY AT ALL.
Which, in my opinion, makes them pretty darn EPIC because chewy cookies > cakey cookies ALL THE WAY
Healthy Pumpkin Cookies Ingredients
The ingredients list for these healthy pumpkin cookies that don’t taste healthy (I promise) is simple and has all the usual suspects for baking cookies:
- Butter
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- Cornstarch
- Salt/Baking powder
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Sugars
- Egg
- Vanilla
- Canned pumpkin puree
- Butterscotch chips (or chocolate chips if you want to make healthy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies)
How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
Brown The Butter
Melt the butter on medium heat in a small saucepan. Once melted, stir it constantly until the butter foams and then turns golden brown. Add it into a large bowl.
Mix
Add in the sugars, egg, vanilla and pumpkin puree and whisk until well combined. Additionally, whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate large bowl
Combine
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir in the butterscotch chips.
Chill
Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Bake
Scoop onto a cookie sheet and flatten the cookies to about ½ inch thick and baking them for 12-13 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Cool
Let the cookies cool on the pan completely and then EAT!
Healthy Swaps
Flour – like the avocado chocolate chip cookies and sugar free angel food cake, we’re using my favorite whole wheat pastry flour to give these cookies a little extra whole grain goodness without compromising taste!
Sugar – A mix of coconut sugar and raw organic cane sugar takes away a little bit of the refined sugar to make these cookies a little bit more feel-good-for-your-body
Pumpkin puree – Of course, the pumpkin add some delicious flavor to these healthy pumpkin cookies, but it also allows them to have a LITTLE less butter because pumpkin is adding a little bit of moisture!
Healthy Pumpkin Cookies Storage
These cookies will stay soft in an air-tight container on the countertop for about 2-3 days. But, after that, cookies are best kept fresh by freezing them and then taking one out of the freezer when you want to mow down!
Freezing
The best way to freeze cookies is to follow these steps:
- Place the cookies individually on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and place into the freezer
- Freeze until the cookies are hardened – about 2 to 3 hours.
- Once frozen, place the cookies into an airtight container, label the date of freezing, and freeze them for up to 3 months!
Freezing them individually first will help eliminate the risk of all the cookies freezing together into a big blob! No one wants that!
Golden brown butter? CHECK. Sweet, melty butterscotch chips in every bite? YES PLEASE. Chewy, thick and basically perfect?
These cookies were made for you.
Other Healthy Pumpkin Desserts
Pumpkin Spice Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Paleo Magic Cookie Bars

Ingredients
- 9 Tbsp Unsalted butter melted
- 1 1/2 Cups Whole wheat pastry flour (210g)
- 1 1/2 tsp Cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- 6 Tbsp Packed coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 6 Tbsps Raw organic cane sugar (or granulated sugar)
- 1 large Egg
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 6 Tbsp Pumpkin puree
- 1/2 Cup Butterscotch chips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, melt the butter, over medium heat. Swirl it around ever once in a while to make sure that it is melting evenly. The butter will eventually begin to foam and turn a bright yellow, then begin to turn brown. Once it has started to brown and smells nutty, pour it into a medium bowl. If you have burned bits on the bottom, pour it through a strainer.
- In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat pastry flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
- Stir the brown and white sugar into the browned butter, until no brown sugar lumps are left. (since the butter is melted, you don't need to use an electric mixer)
- Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree into the butter mixture until well combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form a dough. Your dough will be very soft and sticky. Then, stir in the butterscotch chips.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
- Once the cookies have chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Drop the cookies into 1 1/2 sized balls (I use a cookie scoop) and flatten to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes. You will think the cookies are under done, but they continue baking on the pan.
- Let them cool completely on the pan
- DEVOUR!
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
FOR THIS RECIPE, I RECOMMEND:
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PER SERVING: FREESTYLE POINTS: 10 POINTS+: 6. OLD POINTS: 5
(per 1 cookie based off the recipe making 21)
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colleen says
These are soooo yummy! Love the pumpkin and brown butter combo!!
Tate says
So glad you liked them!
Melanie @ carmelmoments.com says
These sounds healthy and delish! Hoping I get a chance to try them!
Tate says
They are! Let me know if you get a chance to try!:)
Dina says
they look yummy!
Tate says
Thank you! 🙂
Tiina @ Tina's Chic Corner says
Yes, I want 1 or 5! I love how you added butterscotch flavors with the pumpkin. These look simply irresistable!
Tate says
Thank you! These are definitely not a cookie you can only eat 1 of!
Jen @ Savory Simple says
I love the sound of these!
Tate says
Thank you! 🙂
Julia says
Can I make these with the same amount of all purpose flour?
Tate says
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure but, generally speaking, all purpose flour subs great for whole wheat pastry flour! I think it would work just fine! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Charlotte Moore says
How much whole wheat flour?? It says 1 1/2 1/2 cups.
Taylor Kiser says
Thanks for catching that typo! Just 1 1/2 cups!