Tender, lightly sweet, and all-around perfect pumpkin cookies made with almond flour and coconut flour. Made in one bowl in no time flat, they are also grain-free, oil-free, and vegan.
At last. ‘Tis the official season of PUMPKIN!
Some (e.g., my husband) might say I have a pumpkin problem. The reason? I eat it all the time, all year round. A dozen large cans of pumpkin in our pantry? Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. It’s so good in so many things that I don’t want to run low.
Fewer than a dozen cans is low :).
But at this time of year, no one will look askance at my canned pumpkin-laden shopping cart, nor will you, fair readers, be alarmed if I post pumpkin recipes without restraint in the days and weeks to come.
Allow me to begin the pumpkin madness with some irresistible Pumpkin Almond Flour Cookies!
The cookies are:
*Grain-Free
*Vegan
*Gluten-Free
*Oil-Free
*Made in One Bowl
*Super Fast & Easy to Make
*Tender, Flavor-Packed, and SO very delicious
They are more than healthy enough for breakfast or an energizing pre-workout snack, but also blissful for a late afternoon treat or after-dinner dessert.
The inspiration for thee cookies came from my 3-ingredient Almond Flour Cookies from several months back. They are a favorite at our house because they are so easy, so good, so healthy, and so versatile with the addition of different spices, zest and extracts.
Could I make them with pumpkin? Perhaps just 4 ingredients?
Several tests later, the answer was no. Were they edible? Yes. Did they look like cookies? More or less. But they weren’t right. Whereas the 3-ingredient almond flour cookies are perfect without any additional flavors, or other ingredients, for that matter, pumpkin almond flour cookies needed more, so I scrapped the notion of keeping the ingredients ultra-minimal and focused instead on making the finished cookies ultra-delicious.
Did it!
The ingredient list is longer, yes, but familiar and simple, too. The recipe was crying out for spice, so I added a full 1-1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. You could use a combination of spices (e.g., cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cloves), adding up to 1-1/2 teaspoons total, in place of the pumpkin pie spice.
Another significant addition was coconut flour. I wanted the cookies to have lots of pumpkin (for the reasons mentioned at the beginning of this post), and a tender texture, but I also did not want a mushy texture, which is what I was getting with the all almond-flour versions.
The coconut flour addition balances the almond flour, resulting in cookies with a fluffy, tender texture.
The dough comes together in minutes with nothing more than a spoon and a large bowl.
Scoop out heaping tablespoons of dough (I use a small cookie scoop, but a heaping tablespoon measure works fine, too). You can roll the dough into balls, if you want more uniform-shaped cookies.
Although it is entirely optional, I recommend sprinkling (or rolling, if shaping into balls) the dough mounds with coarse, raw sugar (also labeled turbinado sugar). The contrasting crunch is pretty stellar.
Following 16 to 20 minutes of baking at 325F, it’s pumpkin cookie time!
These cookies taste like sturdy-yet-tender, bite-size pumpkin pies. Yes, hard to resist. But you need not resist, as each cookie is packed with vitamins A & E, plus a decent dose of fiber and protein.
Here’s to pumpkin, and Happy Monday, everyone!
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 and ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅔ cup unsweetened canned pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup nondairy milk
- Optional: raw cane (turbinado) sugar for coating
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl whisk the almond flour, coconut flour, coconut sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Add the pumpkin puree and milk, stirring until completely blended. Let dough stand for 1 to 2 minutes for the coconut flour to absorb the liquid.
- Using a small cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon, drop cookies onto prepared prepared baking sheet (alternatively, shape into balls and place on cookie sheet). If desired, sprinkle with raw sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 16 to 20 minutes until firm to the touch.
- Let cookies cool on the baking sheet.Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Sugar: An equal amount of brown sugar can be used in place of the coconut sugar. I have not made these with a liquid sweetener (e.g., maple syrup or honey), so I cannot predict how they will turn out.
Almond Meal: I have not tested it, but almond meal should work as a replacement for blanched almond flour. These are moist cookies, so the added denseness of the meal (compared to blanched almond flour) will most likely be quite delicious!
Salt: Feel free to decrease the salt if your diet requires it.
I usually prefer unblanched almond flour in my baked goods to get the additional nutrients from the almond skins. Will that be a problem? I haven’t experienced problems before when one is called for but I use the other, but you’re pretty good about having reasons for which ingredients you use. Thoughts ??
Timothy, I am so sorry for the late reply! Yes, this is a recipe where I think almond meal would not only work well, but would be great! Thinks for bringing it up, and let me know if you give it a go! 🙂