Say hello to the most perfect pumpkin cookies you’ll ever try! These cookies are based on my Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies but made with a seasonal twist. They’re soft, chewy, dangerously delicious! All you need is one bowl and about 30 minutes to make these simple, sweet, autumnally spiced pumpkin cookies. Even if you’re not a fan of pumpkin I really think you might enjoy these! Gluten Free + Vegan + Low Carb Option
I have made these cookies SO MANY times in the past month. I told myself it was all for the sake of ‘recipe testing’ but if I’m being honest I think I just wanted a reason to keep making them. These are, hands down, the best pumpkin cookies I’ve ever made. They’re soft and chewy without feeling cake-y and they’re super easy to make!
You only need 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree for the whole batch. While these are chocolate chip pumpkin cookies, you’re not hit over the head with pumpkin which is kind of great for sharing because a lot of people aren’t actually big pumpkin fans.
You do however still get the cozy fall flavours as these cookies are spiced with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. You can, if you like, just use pumpkin spice if you have it on hand or just leave out the spices altogether if you want.
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies Tips & Cookie F.A.Q.’s
Can You Freeze These?
Yes! Both the dough and the baked cookies can be frozen.
- To freeze the dough: roll cookie dough into balls and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Once the balls have chilled and hardened place in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready for cookies simply bake from frozen – just add an extra 2-3 minutes to the overall bake time. You may also want to write down the date frozen as well as the bake temperature and time.
- To freeze baked cookies: Once fully cooled place the cookies on a baking sheet you can fit in the freezer. Place in the freezer until solid and then transfer the cookies to a bag or Tupperware container – place a small sheet of baking parchment in between each cookie to prevent cookies from freezing together. Cookies will keep up to 3 months in the freezer. You can enjoy frozen cookies straight out of the freezer or allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight.
What’s the difference between almond meal and almond flour?
Though almond flour and almond meal are made from essentially the same thing (ground almond) there are a couple of key differenced between the two.
- Almond flour is typically made with blanched (skinless) almonds into a more fine flour.
Almond meal is usually made with un blanched (skin on) almond into a more coarse flour.
Can I use almond meal instead of almond flour?
Yes! In many cases you cannot swap out almond meal/almond flour interchangeably but with these cookies you can.
Can I use a different type of flour altogether?
No. I tested this recipe multiple times using almond flour/meal. I can’t guarantee the same results if you use any other types of flours.
If you’re interested in pumpkin cookies that don’t use almond flour you might be interested in these instead:
- GF Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (uses GF all purpose flour)
- Paleo Pumpkin Cookies with Molasses (uses coconut & tapioca flour)
- Chai Spiced Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (uses GF all purpose flour)
- Frosted Vegan Pumpkin Cookies (uses GF all purpose flour)
Can I use coconut sugar?
Yes! If you wanted to make these with all coconut sugar your cookies will be more crispy and less chewy but it will still work. I prefer using a blend of brown and white sugar for the soft/chewy texture but you can swap those out of you’d prefer!
can I make these with coconut Oil?
Probably but with varied results. I haven’t yet tested these with coconut oil but I think they could work. If you do try these with coconut oil I can almost guarantee that you’ll need chill the dough first for at least 20 minutes to prevent them from spreading too much.
Can I make these low carb?
Yes! Almond flour is naturally low carb so you’ll just need to play around with your sweeteners. Make sure to use a granulated low carb sugar in place of the white and brown sugar here. You will also probably only need about 2/3 -3/4 cup sweetener instead of the full 1 cup here. This will vary slightly depending on what type of sweetener you use here. Since the dough is egg free you can always taste the dough and add more if needed.
You’ll also need to either omit the chocolate chips or use low carb chocolate chips like Lily’s.
More Almond flour Cookie Recipes
You might enjoy checking out some of my other almond flour cookie recipes like the ones listed here:
- Almond Flour Sugar Cookies
- Almond Flour Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Rosemary Lemon Christmas Tree Cookies
- Almond Flour Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Almond Flour Snickerdoodles
Enjoy!
Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
One bowl, gluten free chocolate chip pumpkin cookies made with almond flour | These cookies are super easy to make with basic prep in under 30 minutes! You can easily make these vegan by using vegan butter!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (150 g) melted butter, I used vegan butter for the ones pictured here
- 1/2 cup (100 g) white sugar
- 1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (55 g) pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups (264 g) almond flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (125 g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C. Line a couple of large cookie sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl: mix together the melted butter and sugars until combined. Stir in the vanilla extract and pumpkin.
- Add the almond flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda and salt to the bowl and mix well to combine until a thick, slightly wet feeling dough forms.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop out large clumps of dough, about 2 tablespoons, and roll in balls. Place on your prepared baking sheets. Leave at least 2 1/2 inches in between each ball to leave room for spreading.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes until the edges have goldened slightly. If you want crispier edges bake 12 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely on the tray before moving them to a wire cooling rack. Because there is no egg binding anything together these cookies will be delicate until they have set fully. (I like to add a few extra chocolate chips to the tops of the cookies right as they get out of the oven.)
- Keep these stored at room temperature or in an airtight container in the fridge. The cookies will keep at least 5 days.
Notes
Store the cookies in an airtight container and store for up to 5 days.
- To freeze the dough: roll cookie dough into balls and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Once the balls have chilled and hardened place in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you're ready for cookies simply bake from frozen - just add an extra 2-3 minutes to the overall bake time. You may also want to write down the date frozen as well as the bake temperature and time.
- To freeze baked cookies: Once fully cooled place the cookies on a baking sheet you can fit in the freezer. Place in the freezer until solid and then transfer the cookies to a bag or Tupperware container - place a small sheet of baking parchment in between each cookie to prevent cookies from freezing together. Cookies will keep up to 3 months in the freezer. You can enjoy frozen cookies straight out of the freezer or allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight.
- If you wanted to make these with all coconut sugar your cookies will be more crispy and less chewy but it will still work. I prefer using a blend of brown and white sugar for the soft/chewy texture but you can swap those out of you'd prefer!
- You can use almond meal instead of almond flour
- You can use a granulated sugar substitute like monk fruit sugar or erythritol (I've used swerve & monk fruit) in place of the white and brown sugar here for a low carb twist. The cookies won't spread as much though so make sure you flatten them out before baking.
- Use 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg combo.
Ann says
I love this recipe! I made these using a monk fruit/ erythritol blend for the white sugar and erythritol brown for the brown sugar. Other than that, I followed the recipe, doubling it to get more cookies. I did weigh the almond flour since it packs so easily, I didn’t want to get too much. They worked great, but next time I think I’ll cut down on the sweeteners a bit.
Sarah Nevins says
So glad to hear you enjoyed the cookies! It’s also super helpful to hear about the monk fruit/erythritol blend as I often get questions on sugar substitutes so thank you so much for coming back to share that!
Nilay says
I’m afraid an egg or two has to go into these… Wanted an eggless recipe, but no way they hold together. I made three batches with almond meal, coconut flour and thick old-fashioned oatmeal. They all fell apart but I used too much coconut oil. Also used only coconut sugar. I fridges before, but they’ll never hold together. I think egg and less oil will fix them. The flavor was great, the hold and texture weren’t this time.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Nilay! When you said you tried these with almond meal, coconut flour and oatmeal do you mean you used a combo of those in every batch or did you try different batches with different flours? I haven’t tested this recipe using coconut flour or oatmeal so I’m not too surprised that they didn’t turn out right with those additions.
I would understand if you were a bit hesitant trying another recipe, but if you’re still looking for an eggless pumpkin cookie you might have better luck with these pumpkin oatmeal cookies: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/healthier-pumpkin-oatmeal-cookies-gf-vegan/ They are made with almond flour and oats as the main flours. I use 1/3 cup butter/vegan butter in that recipe. If you were wanting to try those with coconut oil I recommend using 1/4 cup. It’s important to note though that the oatmeal cookies like these ones need to cool on the baking tray completely before moving. The cookies are super soft out of the oven but firm up as they cool.
Ollie says
I’ve made these a couple times now and I can’t quite seem to get them right. The first time, I made them exactly as directed, and the dough was very sticky. The end result was very loose and hard to pick up at first until it cold, but it spread out a lot.
The second time I replace half the sugar with maple syrup, as I’m trying to use less sugars or find an alternative for my toddler. These also spread out when baked, and we’re literally falling apart when touched.
How do I get them to stay formed and have the volume that yours do?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Ollie!
The dough should be a bit sticky when rolling, but if it feels too sticky it sounds like the wet to dry ingredient balance is a bit off. If you use measuring cups to measure out ingredients rather than weighing with a kitchen scale then this can happen pretty easily. I find this to be especially true in gluten free recipes.
A few things you could try:
1. Add more almond flour: try 3 cups almond flour OR tightly pack the measuring cups.
2. Reduce the amount of butter: Instead of 2/3 cup (150 grams) try this with 9 tablespoons (about 125g).
3. Chill the dough before baking: I recommend you roll the dough then chill for 30-60 minutes. This way the dough doesn’t warm back up in your hands before going in the oven. This should help reduce the amount of spread in the oven as they bake.
If you want to make them more toddler friendly less sweet, I recommend you reduce the amount of white sugar to 1/3 cup or 1/2 cup. Maple and honey will provide even less structure after baking compared the white or brown sugar so I don’t recommend them here. Since there’s no egg or typical binder in this recipe the cookies will be soft at first, but after they cool on the baking sheet completely they should be more sturdy.
I hope this helps!
Kim R says
These turned out so good! My whole family loves them. I accidentally forgot the salt in my first batch, but they still tasted good. Will definitely keep this one on hand. Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks Kim! So happy to hear you guys enjoyed them 🙂
Yesenia says
I don’t know what I did wrong because mine stay as a ball they didn’t flatten so I had to push them with a spatula, what I change is the sugar since I can’t have I put monk fruit but the quantity was two teaspoons vs the whole cap that yours have do you have any recommendations
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Yesenia! I’m fairly certain the sugar to monk fruit swap was the problem here. In my limited experience with sugar free substitutes I’ve found that baked goods like cookies don’t really spread much in general. Using only 2 teaspoons of monk fruit instead of a full cup of sugar is also quite a big change. Sugar helps sweeten baked goods, but it also does quite a lot more. It helps retain moisture, adds bulk and provides additional structure.
If you were to try making this again with a low sugar option, I recommend looking for a sugar substitute that can be used in a cup for cup swap.
Tana says
Can you use more than 1/4 cup pumpkin and how much pumpkin pie spice could you use to substitute for the spices in the recipe?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Tana! I don’t recommend adding more pumpkin as the cookies will likely start to get too mushy and fall apart with all the extra moisture. As for the pumpkin pie spice, I would just add 1 1/2 teaspoons in place of the separate spices. Hope that helps!
Cindy says
Hi Sara,
I am Cindy.
Can I use homemade pumpkin puree instead of pumpkin puree in can?
This recipe looks delicious.
Thanks!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Cindy – homemade pumpkin puree will work with these cookies! Hope you love them!
Valerie says
How would I make these into a cookie cutter consistency? Love the flavour combo.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Valerie! So glad you enjoyed them! I’m afraid I don’t know without doing a lot of testing first – I think there would have to be quite a few changes made and I wouldn’t feel confident in giving any recommendations without trying things out myself first. You’ve given me a good recipe idea to work on though!
Sona P says
Can you sub agave syrup for cane sugar?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Sona! I’m afraid I’m not sure. I think it would be possible, but you’d probably have to change a few other things in the recipe to get it right since you’d be replacing a dry ingredient with a wet one. Agave also has a different sweetness level than cane sugar so I’m not sure how much you would need. I wish I could be more help here but I don’t want to steer you wrong. If you do try it out could you let me know how it goes?