Oats and almond flour create the perfect base for an incredibly fluffy, warmly spiced Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookie! These are easy to whip up and even easier to love. You won't believe their cloud-like texture! Let's make the most of pumpkin season!
Pumpkin season! Are you over it? Into it? Waiting for the perfect recipe to make you a believer? I am ALL ABOUT all things pumpkin. Seriously, I cannot get enough! I love Pumpkin Oatmeal, Pumpkin Seeds, and even Pumpkin Pasta! This year I made my own vegan Pumpkin Milk, and when heated up, it's a dairy-free Pumpkin Spice Latte. Oh. My. Goodness. Pumpkin heaven! Anyways, I have to fit in as many recipes as possible while pumpkin season is still going strong. When I made Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies, my whole family loved them so much that I knew I needed a dessert Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookie. And here it is! I think you're going to fall in love. The best word to describe these cookies is FLUFFY! They have the most incredible, cloud-like texture that is such a treat. It's unlike any other cookie I've ever made!
Ingredients: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies
- Oats - I always use quick-cooking oats for baking projects! We'll be turning it into oat flour, which is SO easy to do and uses a blender. Double check that your oats are certified gluten-free if desired.
- Almond Flour - Look for super fine, blanched almond flour. The combination of oat and almond flour creates the most delicious, subtly-flavored base for many of my gluten-free baking recipes!
- Maple Sugar (or coconut sugar) - I use pure maple syrup as an all-natural sweetener, and maple sugar is that exact same ingredient boiled down a bit more and beaten until it forms granules! It's an awesome, refined sugar-free sweetener.
- Arrowroot Powder - This is a thickening agent that helps add structure. It's what helps them cook into perfectly fluffy cookies! It's grain-free and corn-free, which is why I prefer it over corn starch.
- Pumpkin pie spice - Aah, the flavor of the season! Pumpkin pie spice is a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and ginger, so you can make your own if you have those individual ingredients.
- Baking soda - This is going to work with the arrowroot powder to make fluffy, Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies. Yum!
- Salt - Just a pinch to bring out all the delicious flavors! Don't skip it.
- Pumpkin Puree - I LOVE using my pressure cooker to make my own pumpkin puree. You can use canned pumpkin puree too, just make sure that pumpkin is the only ingredient!
- Maple Syrup - My favorite sweetener! I'm super sensitive to refined sugar, so I use this as an all-natural alternative. It adds the perfect sweetness without triggering migraines or sugar crashes!
- Coconut Oil - This should be in runny, liquid form (room temperature or warmer). Vegan butter also works! I love Miyokos brand for vegan butter.
- Vanilla Extract - A necessity in any good cookie recipe!
How to Make Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies
This is a really quick cookie recipe! You'll blend the oats into oat flour, and after that it's just whisking dry ingredients, folding in the wet ones, and scooping the dough onto a lined baking sheet. I use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, which produces 14-15 cookies. At this point you can press a few vegan chocolate chips into the top of each cookie if you want to, but I love them plain! 12 minutes is the perfect amount of baking time for perfect, golden pumpkin cookies. Serve with a side of Easy Pumpkin Milk or a Vegan Chai Latte to be warmed from the inside out.
All About Pumpkin and Homemade Pumpkin Puree
During the fall and winter months I pretty much always have Homemade Pumpkin Puree in my refrigerator! I really think you can taste the difference between canned and homemade. Grab a sugar or pie pumpkin next time you're at the grocery store and give it a try! Pumpkin is a super nutritious ingredient in addition to being delicious. It's filled with disease-fighting nutrients and overall health benefits. Pumpkins are packed with antioxidants known as carotenoids that can protect cells from free radical damage. They also offer fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, copper, folate, potassium and vitamins A, C, E and K.
All About Oats
I love using oats as a base in so many recipes! They're thick and hearty, they bind really well, and they provide some great nutrition. What's not to love?! Oats are full of soluble fiber, and they’re higher in protein and healthful fats than most other whole grains. They give you an energy boost and help you feel full, which is awesome for mornings or snacking on a busy day!
Vanilla Iced Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
I used my Easy Vanilla Blender Icing to add a delicious drizzle on top of each cookie! This is totally optional, but it made the cookies feel a little extra special...and the addition of frosting always makes my kids EXTAR excited to be recipe samplers! This easy vegan icing has a cashew base and it's sweetened with pure maple, so just like these cookies, it's vegan and refined sugar-free! You could even add a dash of cinnamon to the icing for more pumpkin spice flavor.
More Vegan + Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes
- Classic Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Cranberry & Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
- Freezer-Friendly Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Hanukkah Gelt Cookies
- Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft & Chewy Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies: Vegan & Paleo
- Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
Best Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies (refined sugar-free)
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 14 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Oats and almond flour create the perfect base for an incredibly fluffy, warmly spiced Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookie!
Ingredients
- 1 cup quick cooking oats (gluten-free if desired)
- 1 cup super fine blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup maple sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil (or vegan butter), melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- optional: vegan vanilla cashew icing or vegan vanilla frosting for drizzle
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a half sheet baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a completely dry high speed blender, add the oats and blend on the highest speed for 30 seconds until a fine flour forms. You should have just less than 1 cup of oat flour.
- In a large mixing bowl add the oat flour, almond flour, maple sugar, arrowroot powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Whisk well to combine until no clumps remain.
- Add the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, melted coconut oil (or butter) and vanilla extract. Stir well until fully combined. Use a hand mixer if desired to get it extra smooth and well distributed.
- Use a 1.5 tablespoon retractable cookie scoop to portion out the dough into 14-15 cookies. Place the dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 10-15 minutes before using a metal spatula to gently move the cookies to a wire cooling rack to fully cool to room temperature.
- Once fully cooled, you can ice them with vegan vanilla cashew icing or vegan vanilla frosting. I like to drizzle icing in a zig zag pattern.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
Keywords: best vegan pumpkin cookies
Cindy says
Hi This recipe sounds wonderful and I would love to try it. I’m gluten free due to Celiac Disease and don’t tolerate oats at all. Is there another gluten free flour or option for substituting the oats? Thanks in advance, and Happy New Year
Cindy
Elaine Gordon says
Cindy: Unfortunately for this recipe you cannot substitute another flour for the oats. I wish I had a better answer for you but oat flour has a really unique absorption level and also unique texture and flavor. It just won't come out the same if you use a different flour here. I do have paleo recipes on my blog that are gluten-free and grain free as well. If you go to the recipe section you can filter by paleo. Please let me know if you have any follow up questions and best of luck! Elaine