Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies

This Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookie recipe is a deliciously delightful way to welcome fall🍂 These pumpkin cookies are healthier than most other recipes out there with less sugar, no cream cheese, no icing and MORE canned pumpkin. These pumpkin cookies are moist and soft - each bite is packed with fresh pumpkin and a hint of sweetness from the dark chocolate chips.

Gluten free pumpkin cookies are calling your name!

What better way to welcome fall then with pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin🎃

Pumpkin everything! Pumpkin candles, pumpkin decor and pumpkin cookies.

In my quest for a soft, chewy and moist yet healthier pumpkin cookie than most other recipes out there, I had many failed attempts to get it right.

But finally, I got the ratio of pumpkin to flour where it needed to be

and bam!

These gluten-free pumpkin cookies are now here😄

If you're looking for a pumpkin cookie that doesn't have icing or cream cheese BUT you still want a cookie - aka a sweet, delicious pumpkin cookie - then this recipe is for you.

Pumpkin lovers unite with this recipe for. Gluten Free Pumpkin Loaf and these Healthy Gluten-Free Pumpkin "Scones".

If you love baking with pumpkin and want to try a few other healthier-than-most recipes, check them out too.

Jump to:

• 📝Ingredients for gluten-free pumpkin cookies
• 🔪Instructions
• 🔄Substitutions
• 🥣Equipment
• 🥶Storage and Freezing
• 📹Top Two Tips
• ❓What are pumpkin cookies made of?
• 🤷‍♀️Should pumpkin cookie dough be refrigerated before baking?
• 🎃Can I use pumpkin pie filling for cookies instead of canned pumpkin?
• ✅What makes these pumpkin cookies healthy pumpkin cookies?
• 📖 Recipe

📝Ingredients for gluten-free pumpkin cookies

Making these cookies is pretty straight-forward to make = yay.

You just need a few simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry and fridge.

• Butter - unsalted
• Sugar - I use regular white sugar for the recipe testing for this recipe. I would love to try this with dark brown sugar or even maple syrup. Until then, if you try it with a different sugar, be sure to comment and let me know how they turn out
• Eggs
• Canned pure pumpkin - do NOT, I repeat, do not use pumpkin PIE filing in place of the pure canned pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices in it
• Vanilla
• Gluten-free flour blend - I've used both Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour and Robin Hood's 1:1 Baking Flour, both successful for this recipe
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Pumpkin spice - this is a spice mix that's a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger
• Dark chocolate chips - because, well, cookies and they bring some more texture and obviously sweetness

See recipe card for quantities and below for more tips.

🔪Instructions

It's pretty easy to make these pumpkin cookies. They're fool-proof with no complicated steps because that's just annoying🚫

🔄Substitutions

Listen, I don't want you making a bunch of swaps and then the recipe ends up not turning out (eek) so take these as possible but untested variations:

• Butter-free - if you're looking for cookies with no butter you can try a vegan butter substitute
• Egg-free - you can use a flax egg in place of the egg in this recipe
• Dairy-free - you can buy vegan chocolate chips at most bulk food stores or just try using chopped walnuts for some texture without the dairy

🥣Equipment

For this recipe, you'll just need a couple mixing bowls, a spoon and spatula, a hand-held electric mixer (or stand up mixer), a cookie sheet and some parchment paper.

For most cookie recipes, using a cookie scoop helps to get a uniform and non-wonky looking cookie.

Of you have one, bust it out and use it here. If not, no worries because I don’t use one either. You don't have to press this cookies down; they'll spread out when baked but not a lot.

🥶Storage and Freezing

These pumpkin cookies stay fresh on the counter in an air-tight container for 4 day.

Like soft and fresh😋

You can also freeze these pumpkin cookies.

Let the cookies cool down a bit after baking. Then wrap them in parchment paper and place them in an airtight container.

Freeze for up to 3 months.

Take the out of the freezer the night before you want to eat 'them.

📹Top Two Tips

You know I'm keeping as simple as possible over here and these are very easy to make cookies. But as always, here are two tips to make sure these cookies turn out as delicious as possible:

First tip: DO use room temperature butter. This will help make sure the cookie dough is as uniform as possible, especially after mixing it.

Second tip: don’t over-bake these pumpkin cookies. These cookies are moist and soft and melt-in-your-mouth delicious but if you over-bake them, they won’t be so keep an eye on that baking time!

❓What are pumpkin cookies made of?

Pumpkin cookies, like a lot of cookie recipes out there, typically have that classic base of butter, sugar and eggs. They also have pumpkin in them. Like actual real, canned flesh-of-a-jack-o-latern pumpkin. Which is pretty cool.

Pure canned pumpkin doesn't have much taste-if you’ve never had it, think of a mild squash - pumpkin is like that. But that’s why pumpkin cookies often have the spices that go so well with pumpkin like nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice, and ginger.

For these pumpkin cookies, I bought a spice mix called - what else - “pumpkin spice”, which is a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and all spice. Adding that spice mix to pumpkin cookies is a great way to really compliment the actual pumpkin in the cookies.

🤷‍♀️Should pumpkin cookie dough be refrigerated before baking?

I don’t refrigerate this dough before baking these pumpkin cookies. Now, I developed this recipe as an easy recipe for healthy pumpkin cookies so the cookie dough is ok NOT to be refrigerated. Other recipes for pumpkin cookies do need the dough refrigerated to ensure the cookie stays together when baking.

🎃Can I use pumpkin pie filling for cookies instead of canned pumpkin?

No, nada, nope🙋‍♀️ You should definitely not use pumpkin pie filling instead of canned pumpkin for these pumpkin cookies. Here's why: pumpkin pie filling has added sugar, spices and even oils. All of this will mess with the taste and texture of the end result. For best results, use pure canned pumpkin for these cookies.

✅What makes these pumpkin cookies healthy pumpkin cookies?

Ok well, this is a cookie recipe so you know, these are meant as a treat or dessert to enjoy at the end of a meal. But! I did develop this recipe to make them healthier than most other cookies out there.

• These cookies are packed with the pure pumpkin, boosting the vitamin C and magnesium
• They have no icing
• No cream cheese
• And less sugar than most

BUT they do have dark chocolate chips and taste sweet and delicious with a soft, pillowy bite🍪

It's my best crack at healthy(er), gluten-free pumpkin cookies.

I hope you love them!

If you make these pumpkin cookies, please rate and comment below.

April

📖 Recipe