Learn how to measure by weight and boost your baking game with these bakery-style pumpkin pie spice oatmeal cookies with chocolate chunks and pecans!
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Tis’ the season for all things pumpkin and I’m throwing one more cookie your way. Plus, showing you how to get more organized and boost your confidence with baking! These bakery-style pumpkin pie spice oatmeal cookies are insanely HUGE and insanely DELISH. They’re chewy with ooey-gooey chocolate and have a slightly crunchy exterior from the oats. The pecans add a sweet nuttiness, and the pumpkin pie spice lends that nice, warm fall flavor we’re all obsessed with. Or maybe it’s just me.
It seems like every fall I put out a new pumpkin cookie recipe without even realizing it. Last year was Gluten-free pumpkin white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies and the year before, my faaav (v gluten heavy) Pumpkin brown butter white chocolate chunk cookies. Oh, also these Chewy pumpkin ginger cookies in 2016. OK, it’s just me.
How I ditched the recipe: Oatmeal cookie edition
The original recipe was for classic oatmeal raisin cookies, but I had to (pumpkin) spice things up a bit! I don’t LOVE raisins—plus, I’ve been craving the oatmeal chocolate chip pecan cookies from the Overland, where I worked in LA, so I knew I wanted to incorporate those flavors. P.S. If you ever get an oatmeal cookie from the Overland, ask them to warm it up. It’s essential.
I wasn’t initially planning to make these a fall treat (or even put them on the blog)—it was kind of a happy accident. I ran out of cinnamon while making the cookies and wanted to substitute something similar. My choices at home were clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, or pumpkin pie spice. I went for pumpkin pie spice because it includes all the other spices, plus cinnamon! Win.
Wowwww the universe knew these cookies needed some pumpkin pie spice in their life because it set them off! The combination of warm spices with melty chocolate and sweet pecans is so. freakin. fall-y.
The recipe is from one of Thomas Keller’s cookbooks. The executive chef at Love’s Oven (where I work, now)—Hope Frahm—used to work in pastry for Keller in Vegas and she let me borrow her copy of Bouchon Bakery!! It’s been such an awesome experience getting to work with and learn from her these last few months. She is a badass in the kitchen, guys. You can check out this interview to learn more about her story. It’s super inspiring!
Also I’m obsesssssed with the cookbook. I couldn’t put it down for like a week (or two) straight. Keller gives so many great tips for baking at home and he makes all the math/science stuff easy to understand. It’s also inspired me to get more organized and work cleaner in the kitchen, which I’ll explain in detail, later. I had to put it on my Amazon Storefront for you guys! If you want to check it out, just click the link and head to My Cookbooks section! I’ve also made the shortbread cookies and I drizzled them with chocolate. Umm HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Next up, I’m thinking pumpkin muffins??
Sorry, getting sidetracked. Back to the cookies.
Benefits of using a scale
A big contributor of staying more organized and working cleaner has been using a scale to weigh my ingredients, instead of measuring cups and spoons. Gasp—I know. I was the last person who thought I’d convert to weighing out ingredients. But reading Bouchon Bakery and actually working in a bakery has really shown me how beneficial it can be for your efficiency, organization, and precision in the kitchen. Specifically, with baking.
Another technique I’m trying to turn into a habit is mise en place. Mise en place is a French term for gathering and prepping all your ingredients, supplies, utensils, and equipment you’ll need before you start cooking. This keeps you organized and makes the recipe go super smoothly. Weigh all your ingredients into dishes, so you can just dump in each one as needed. If you’re used to measuring out ingredients as you go or searching for a clean pan right before they go in the oven—this will help you immensely with efficiency (and anxiety). Promise.
Ok, so going back to using a scale to weigh ingredients. After doing this at work, I decided to give it at a try at home and I’m hooked. You know that whole debate about scooping or spooning flour into a measuring cup? Yeah, throw that out the window. Measuring by weight takes all the thinking out of the equation. A cup of flour is 128g no matter which way you scoop it.
If baking kinda scares you because science, join the club. That whole flour debacle literally (ok, figuratively) kept me from baking for years. I was afraid that if I did it the wrong way, the whole recipe would be ruined. I mean, who knows what kind of chemical reaction I’d set off if I wasn’t accurate with my measurements, right?? I was so afraid of failing that I didn’t even want to try. Byeeeeee.
First off, dramatic. If you find yourself in this place with baking (or life), ditch that mentality, immediately. It’s okay if your cookies don’t turn out or your cake deflates or you look like an amateur at work. Those mistakes will show you what NOT to do in the future, so you can avoid making them again. Secondly, measuring by weight is more accurate and precise, so it should take some of that pressure off. You won’t need to worry if you packed the sugar too tightly or rounded your tablespoon a little too much.
How to make perfectly uniform oatmeal cookies
Using a scale gives you the precision to easily make cookies consistent and uniform. It’s how I was able to make all these oatmeal cookies the same size. The benefit of this, aside from aesthetics, is that they’ll cook more evenly in the oven. And it will just look super profesh when you bring perfectly uniform cookies to your neighbor’s housewarming party.
To do this, you’ll need the total weight of your dough before you start portioning into balls. To get the weight, place an empty bowl on the scale and press the tare button. This will zero out the scale, so the weight of the bowl isn’t included in the total. Add your dough to the bowl and then divide that weight by however many cookies you want. Then portion each dough ball to that amount. EASY.
For example, my total weight for these pumpkin pie spice oatmeal cookies was 1,745 grams (I made a double batch). I wanted 12 large cookies, so I divided the weight by 12 and got approximately 145, which means that each cookie should weigh 145g. I then portioned out 145g of dough and rolled it into a ball before placing on a baking sheet.
If jumbo cookies aren’t your thing, you can make a smaller version by dividing the weight of the dough by a larger number. Let’s say I want to make 96 cookies (I’m hungry). I would take the total weight of the dough (1,745g) and divide it by 96 to get approximately 18g per cookie. Portion out the dough using the scale, roll it in a ball, and place on a baking sheet. The only thing you will need to adjust is the baking time. Smaller cookies bake faster, so keep your peepers on them!
If you don’t have a scale at home, there are a ton of affordable options out there. I got mine for less than $15 off Amazon and it can be converted into grams, pounds, ounces, and milliliters. Check it out in My Kitchen on my Amazon Storefront, if you’re curious about getting one!
How to convert ingredients to grams
I know a lot of recipes provide measurements in cups and spoons, so if you don’t feel like converting each ingredient to grams, I get it. But if you do, all you need to do is Google it! For example, let’s say your recipe calls for 1 cup of butter. Simply Google “1 cup butter to grams” and a conversion chart should pop up.
Keep in mind that 1 cup of butter does NOT equal 1 cup of flour, in grams. The density of your ingredients will play a factor in their weight. Here’s a really great conversion chart that includes a lot of common ingredients found in baking. If a liquid ingredient calls for milliliters (ml), you can change your scale to milliliters (if that’s an option) or simply keep it on grams, as 1 milliliter = 1 gram.
Now, I’m not saying you should use a scale and weigh your ingredients every time you bake—I’m not throwing out my measuring cups and spoons quite yet—but if you’re interested in improving your baking and getting more organized in the kitchen, I suggest testing it out to see what you think!
I also suggest testing out these cookies ASAP because they’re, like, so addicting. Great for sharing. Or not. Oh, and I also included measurements in cups and spoons in case you watch to ditch this whole idea.
Enjoy.
Pumpkin Pie Spice Oatmeal Cookie + Chocolate Chunks and Pecans
Ingredients
- 144 g or 1 cup + 1 tsp all-purpose flour
- 7.7 g or 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 7.4 g or 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3.6 g or 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 140 g or 1/2 cup + 3 1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 69 g or 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 155 g or 5.5 oz unsalted butter room temp
- 62 g or 1/4 cup eggs (approx 1-2) whisked and strained
- 7.7 g or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 155 g or 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 90 g or 1/2 cup chocolate chunks + extra for topping
- 65 g or 1/2 cup pecans halves or pieces
Instructions
Before you start
- Take butter out of fridge and let come to room temp. You'll want it to be very soft for this recipe, so at least a few hours ahead.
- For maximum efficiency—weigh out all ingredients into bowls before you start the recipe, so you can easily incorporate them as needed. For the eggs, whisk to combine, then strain before weighing. If you have a little bit leftover, save it to add to your breakfast the next day.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and position racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Mixing oatmeal cookies
- Sift flour, pumpkin pie spice, and baking soda into a medium sized bowl. Add salt and whisk to combine. In another mixing bowl, whisk together both sugars making sure to break up lumps.
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream on medium speed til it looks like the consistency of mayo. It should hold a small peak when the paddle is lifted. Add the sugars and mix 3-4 mins until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl and add eggs and vanilla. Mix on low to just incorporate eggs for 15-30 seconds. You don't want to over whip the eggs because it will cause them to expand and deflate in the oven.
- Add half dry ingredients and mix on low 15-30 seconds until just combined, then add remaining half and repeat.Scrape bowl and add oats. Mix on low about 10 turns to combine. Fold in chocolate chunks and pecans with a wooden spoon
Portioning and baking oatmeal cookies
- Divide dough into 6 or 48 dough balls, depending on the size of cookie you want. You can either eyeball this using a cookie scoop or use a scale.
- To make 6 large cookies—get the total weight of your dough and divide it by six. Then portion out each dough ball to that size in grams and place on prepared baking sheets (3 per tray). Please see notes for an example.
- To make 48 small cookies—get the total weight of your dough and divide it by 48. Then portion out each dough ball to that size in grams. Please see notes for an example. Place on prepared baking sheets (12-24 per tray). You will need to bake these in two rounds if you have small sheet pans.
- If dough is loose from being handled, place in fridge for 10 mins. Before baking, press extra chunks of chocolate and pecans into the dough balls.
- Bake large cookies for 18-24 mins or small cookies for 8-12 minutes, reversing pans halfway through. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5-10 mins before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Oatmeal cookies can be stored in a covered container for up to 3 days.
Notes
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