Frosted Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
These vegan pumpkin cookies are soft, perfectly sweet with just the right amount of pumpkin. Not to mention they’re vegan, gluten free, surprisingly healthy and will get your house smelling like pumpkin pie!
These vegan pumpkin cookies took about 7 tries to get right, lead to a whole lot of frustration, retests and sugar comas, but ohmygosh was it worth it!
They are incredibly soft (just the way cookies should be!), easy to make, and can easily be made refined sugar free. They have an almost muffin like texture that I absolutely love, similar to my gingerbread cookies.
I may or may not have eaten 5 of these in one day and finally reached my maximum on the pumpkin for this season. Pumpkin pasta, pumpkin oatmeal, now vegan pumpkin cookies.
I opted to make a cream cheese frosting for these cookies, but you can also add chocolate chips or just leave them plain if you prefer! Try my chocolate chip pumpkin cookies next!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Soft & chewy
- Gluten Free
- Vegan
- Fresh pumpkin flavor
Key Ingredients
These vegan pumpkin cookies are made with a simple blend of oat flour and fine almond flour plus pumpkin puree (of course), coconut oil, and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
This recipe does not call for traditional pumpkin spice, but instead uses the spices that pumpkin spice is comprised of- cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
All pumpkin spices vary in their amounts of each spice, so I wanted to keep it consistent and just use the spices on their own.
They’re sweetened with brown or coconut sugar and a hint of maple syrup which makes them refined sugar free (without the additional frosting on top).
They have an almost cake like texture, especially if you don’t flatten them too much before baking so they stay nice and thick. Long story short: these soft, healthy vegan pumpkin cookies are a dream.
How to make pumpkin cookies
MIX WET. n a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, coconut oil (not melted), maple syrup, and vanilla.
Use an electric mixer to beat until everything is well mixed and the coconut oil is completely broken up.
MIX DRY. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and whisk together. While the electric mixer is on, slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet, beating the whole time.
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Mix just until the dry ingredients are well incorporated, but careful not to over mix.
SCOOP. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to measure the dough into 1.5 inch balls. Use your hands to form into a cookie shape (see above photo).
BAKE. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-18 minutes. 15 minutes will yield a perfectly soft cookie, but all ovens are different so be sure to keep an eye out!
They will continue to harden as they cool, so it’s best to take them out of the oven when they’re still pretty soft.
FROST. Beat together all ingredients for the frosting until smooth. Start with 2 cups of powdered sugar and add an extra 1/2 cup if you’d like to make it thicker.
Do they keep?
Once prepared, these vegan pumpkin cookies will last for about 3-5 days. They keep best on an uncovered plate, or just lightly covered with foil.
They tend to get a bit mushy if kept in an air tight container (this speaks to the fresh ingredients!), so if you keep them in a container, just keep the lid slightly ajar for best results.
You can also freeze these cookies before frosting! Just let them cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag or container for up to 1 month. Reheat in the oven at 300 Fahrenheit until arm through the center, then frost as desired.
Why didn’t they spread?
These cookies will not spread considerably while baking, so be sure to flatten them out before baking so they get all crackly and delicious on top.
I suggest using a medium cookie scoop to measure the dough, roll into a smooth ball, and place on parchment paper.
Take a second piece of parchment paper and put it on top of the ball and use the bottom of a flat cup to flatten into about 1/2 inch disks.
You can also just use your hand, but the dough will be sticky so it helps to very lighten dampen your fingertips first.
Try these next!
- Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie
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Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 ½ cups oat flour
- 1 ½ cups fine blanched almond flour
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¾ cup light brown sugar can sub for coconut
- ⅔ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
Frosting
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 4 ounce vegan cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl (or bowl for a standing electric mixer), combine the pumpkin puree, coconut oil, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Be sure to spoon and level the flours into the dry measuring cup, don’t scoop right from the bag.
- Combine the wet with the dry and beat just until the dry ingredients are well combined, but careful not to over mix. Use a wooden spoon to finish mixing and make sure all of the flour is well incorporated.
- Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to scoop about 1.5 inch balls.
- Flatten slightly into a cookie shape, about 1/2 inch thick. They will spread, but not a ton, while baking.
- Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-18 minutes. 15 is ideal in my oven, and keep in mind they will continue to harden as they cool.
- Let cool completely.
- Beat together all ingredients for the frosting until smooth. Start with 2 cups of powdered sugar and add an extra 1/2 cup if you’d like to make it thicker.
Notes
Comments
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I’d like to make these for thanksgiving, but we’re not vegan, so is vegan butter needed?
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No! You can use regular butter!
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Hello! I was missing my grandma so much and you brought her back to me your ginger cookie recipe. Thank you!! I have cancer and do better without coconut sugar. So I need to substitute the coconut sugar for either honey or more maple syrup. Do you know how I could go about this adjustment? Thank you so much for your cookie recipes🤗
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I would probably try 1/2 cup of honey and see how that works! The cookies may spread a bit differently.
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Can these be frozen? Also if I wanted to add chocolate chips instead of doing the frosting how much should I add to each dozen? Thanks 🙂
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Yes! If adding chocolate chips, I’d add about 1 cup. You can freeze after baking, just let cool completely and freeze in a freezer safe bag for up to 2 months.
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These cookies are amazing! Perfect for fall
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I am baking these right now. I added 3 cups of oat flour because my
DIL is GF and also can’t have almond flour. I added one egg. The batter was very thick. Tasted good! But I am getting more than a dozen cookies. Lets see how they turn out. I put some large crystal sugar on top. Next time I will try the frosting.-
Let us know how they turn out!
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This recipe sounds great and I’m excited to try it! Can someone confirm how many cookies I should get out of 1 batch?
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12 cookies!
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Hi Clarity,
In one of the photos, it looks like you drizzled icing on the cookies. If I wanted to opt for that instead of frosting, how much powdered sugar, etc. would I use to make the icing? Thanks!
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If you just want a drizzle of icing, I would whisk about 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of milk, a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth, then drizzle on top!
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I can’t wait to try this recipe. They sound great. I think you meant you opted for cream cheese frosting, not cram free frosting.
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Oops, yes!
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Can I sub the oat flour for a rice flour instead ?
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You can try but I have not tested that myself and cannot guarantee the result.
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These look so good, but almond flour isn’t really available around here, how would they do with only oat flour?
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That should be fine!
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LOVE these Cookies. My husband can’t wait for Fall so that I can make these weekly ha-ha! He does have an issue with eating Fat, is there any substitution that I can make to help with that?
Thank you!
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I don’t really recommend any swaps here, unfortunately!
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I reduce the brown sugar a tad and I replace the maple syrup with molasses . It’s not my favorite , good taste but too doughy. I should have baked them longer . I will not make them again .
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They will definitely be doughy and not taste as great if you use molasses. I wouldn’t recommend that!
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Fantastic! We loved them so much! Addicting! I’m making them again for our son/daughter-in-law’s upcoming wedding. Her family has a tradition of offering a cookie table at the reception. We were looking for a GF/vegan option. This is it!!
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Oh gosh so happy to hear that! Hope they’re a hit at the wedding 🙂
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