Pumpkin season is upon us – aka my favorite time of year! I love fall, pumpkin, apple, and anything spiced with cinnamon for that matter! This fall, I have to keep reminding myself that it is indeed fall. We recently moved to San Diego and I feel like summer has frozen in time. Even though the weather changes here are more slight, all of my favorite fall produce is starting to come in season!
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies have always been one of my favorites. They are always temptingly available in plastic cartons in the bakery section of grocery stores this time of year. Since I can’t eat those anymore, I wanted to create a gluten-free version for my family and I to enjoy.
This recipe turned out fantastic! Like many of my other cookie recipes, nobody will ever guess they are gluten-free. As I recall, most pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are moist and cake-like. These are just that; soft, lightly sweet, spiced with cinnamon, moist, and full of chocolate chunks. My husband and little boy happily ate these with me all weekend.
As a follow up to my last post, I found out through allergy testing with my doctor and an elimination diet that the cause of all my unresolved issues is a dairy intolerance. This news actually isn’t too shocking to me, since many people with celiac disease are also dairy-intolerant. I already eat almost dairy-free, but the little bits here and there seem to be having an effect on my body. So for now I am strictly eliminating dairy! Look for more recipes in the future that are now both gluten and dairy-free 🙂
Soft, moist, grain-free, spiced pumpkin cookies full of chocolate chunks. A fall classic.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup organic palm shortening or butter (I use the brand Spectrum or Tropical Traditions)
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil, softened
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, cream together the palm shortening, coconut oil, and coconut sugar until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla and blend until smooth.
- If your coconut and almond flour and lumpy, as mine often are, sift them together before adding them to the mixture. Add all the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will look wet.
- Scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet. With wet hands, slightly flatten each cookie as they will not spread much during baking. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes. Enjoy!
These were fantastic! They had the consistency of cake in the form of a cookie. My husband and I loved your recipe. Thank you so much!! 🙂
I just found your blog the other day and I am obsessed! I have already made three of your recipes and have not been this inspired in so long. I made these cookies with my 5 year old daughter and they were a hit. I halved the sugar (I always do) and used brown sugar because that is what I had at home. I also did not have almond flour but used brown rice flour and they still turned out great! Thank you.
I’m so happy you’ve been liking the recipes! Thank you!
My husband and two young sons have gobbled these cookies up! I will definitely make these again! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Looks delicious! Can I substitute something for the shortening?
You can substitute butter!
Will coconut flour give it too much of a coconut flavor or can you replace it with with almond meal?
These don’t taste like coconut at all to me! Unfortunately, almond flour has very different properties.
Your pictures are amazing 🙂 great work I love them . I’m a dairy free girl and I don’t use palm oil . So I was wondering what I could use on place of the palm oil /butter ? Is coconut oil ok for this recipe? I will be giving it a try tomorrow and check in with you on the results
Thank you! Yes you can try coconut oil, but I would suggest refrigerating the dough for at least 20 minutes before baking them so they don’t spread too much. I hope this works for you!
This recipe is wonderful. The cookies are vey soft. I would omit the sugar or half, a bit too sweet for me.
These cookies are fabulous! I thought the 1/2c sugar consistency was perfect using Coconut Sugar. The only substitutions I made were using Young Living’s Clove, Nutmeg, and Cinnamon Essential Oils. My husband and I had a hard time not eating the whole batch at one time! These cookies are a new fall staple cookie in our house!I
I’m happy they worked out for you!
Hi, Erin! I’m wondering if you’ve ever made these and frozen them? Do you think they would freeze alright? I’d like to make a batch in advance for my moving day, long after all my cookware is packed away :). Thank you!
– Savannah
P.S. I’ve made them 3 times in the past 3 weeks and have my coworkers hooked and asking for the recipe :).
I’m so glad you and your coworkers like them! Yes I have made them and frozen them. They are actually great straight out of the freezer! Good luck with the move!
Just made these beauties and wolfed one down. Super good! I also added about 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut to add some extra nutrition and I love the texture it adds.
I’m so glad they turned out to be a yummy healthy treat for you!
Thank you for this recipe! These are my kids’ favorite cookie, year round.