Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies (Paleo)

Vegan pumpkin cookies piled on a plate, some with chocolate chips, some with a chocolate or caramel drizzle, some plain.

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Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies (Paleo)

These Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies are a great fall treat! They're soft and chewy, with real pumpkin and warm, cozy spices. Add chocolate chips or the chocolate or caramel glaze I include below.

Plus they're gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, egg-free, vegan and Paleo.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

chilling time1

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 83kcal

Author: Don Baiocchi

Ingredients

¾ cup pumpkin puree from a can (not pumpkin pie filling)
⅓ cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon coconut oil melted and cooled
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups superfine blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
⅓ cup chocolate chips (optional) dairy-free/Paleo if necessary
chocolate or caramel glaze, optional see notes below

Instructions

In a large bowl, add the pumpkin, coconut sugar, melted and cooled coconut oil, and vanilla. Whisk until combined.
Add the almond flour (sifting it through a sieve, if it's clumpy), cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir with a spatula until blended. Dough will be thick but soft, like play dough.
Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour so it can firm up.
Heat the oven to 350°.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a small ice cream/cookie scoop, portion out 2 tablespoon-sized balls of dough, rolling them between your palms to create a smooth, round shape. Place the cookies on the lined baking sheet, about 2" apart (the cookies will not spread as they bake). Use the palm of your hand to gently flatten them to about 1/4" thickness (get your palm just a bit damp with water if the cookies stick).
Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. This is longer than most cookies but these are very moist and need the extra time to bake all the way through. This will give you soft, chewy cookies. If you want a bit of a crispy edge, bake them for 30 minutes.
Let cool completely on the baking sheet. Drizzle with the chocolate or caramel glaze, if using, then enjoy!

Notes

For the chocolate glaze: Melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in a medium bowl in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each round until melted and smooth (about 60-90 seconds total). Use a spoon to drizzle over the cooled cookies. You may not need all of the glaze.

For the caramel glaze: To a blender, add 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1 tablespoon water and 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract. Blend until smooth, about 3-4 minutes, depending on your blender (you may need to stop the blender and scrape down the sides of the jar a few times). Use a spoon to drizzle over the cooled cookies. You may not need all of the glaze.

Nutrition note: The nutritional info does not include the chocolate chips or either glaze.

Substitutions

To make these nut-free, you could possibly use ground sunflower seed flour in place of the almond flour. I have not tried this myself so if you try it, please let me know in the comments how they turn out.
You can use melted and cooled ghee in place of the coconut oil
You can play around with the spices, adding more or less as you see fit.
You can add 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom with the other spices.

Storage

These cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Freezer info

Once the cookies have cooled, keep them on the parchment-lined baking sheet and place the whole baking sheet in the freezer. Once the cookies are frozen (about 1-2 hours), transfer them to a freezer-safe container or baggie.

They can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Thaw overnight in the fridge.

Nutrition