I won’t be cooking over the holidays. I love cooking with family when we get together, but unfortunately we won’t be doing that this year. We’ll be staying put in the city doing the “Friendsgiving” thing. I will, however, be doing some baking. I love the aroma of baked goods in the oven, especially over the holidays. It gives me the warm fuzzies.
These grain-free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies will definitely be one of the goodies that will be baking in the oven come Thanksgiving. I’m so crazy about these cookies. I’ve been making these a couple of times a week. Good thing that these are gluten-free, dairy-free, no added granulated sugar, AND paleo. You are probably thinking, “how can something so ‘-free’ taste good?” Trust me. They are amazing. They are so soft. It’s like biting into a marshmallow-y cloud. It’s also super easy to make. No mixer required. Not even elbow-grease. You’ll have to stir a little, but very little expenditure of energy is required. 😉
Grain-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Makes about 24 cookies
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 TB finely-ground flax seeds
3 TB water
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (tightly packed)
2 TB coconut oil/butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Stir together ground flax seeds and water. Set aside until the mixture achieves a egg-like consistency.
- Whisk together all of the dry ingredients: almond flour, baking soda, sea salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Beat together all of the wet ingredients: maple syrup, pumpkin puree, coconut butter (room temperature), vanilla extract, and mixture from step 1. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix with a spatula until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and mix.
- Scoop a heaping TB of the cookie dough and form into a ball. Place it on the prepared pan and flatten gently using your fingers or palm.* Repeat with rest of the dough. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool on a cooling rack.
Cook’s Note*
I finally made the commitment and ordered myself a 5-lb bag of Honeyville almond flour. It’s a world of difference in quality! It’s more finely ground than the one I was using before. So it absorbs more moisture; and it doesn’t feel/look grainy when baked.
Make sure that the pumpkin purée you are using (whether homemade or canned) consists only of pumpkin.
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, just add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. You don’t have to have all four. But make sure you add at least 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, and about 1/4 tsp of one or more of the other spices. If you just have cinnamon. That’s fine. Just add a generous 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. It will be delicious regardless.
Make sure to lightly flatten out the dough when baking. These cookies won’t spread on their own.
These cookies will be soft and moist. If you want them really soft and marshmallow-y in texture, make them fatter (don’t flatten as much) like the ones pictured above. The bottom will be crisp, but the cookies will still be unbelievably moist and soft.
If you aren’t vegan or just like the taste of eggs in baked goods, omit the flax seed + water mixture and replace it with one large egg.
I’ve made this with kabocha purée. It’s so damn good! Try it if you can get your hands on some kabochas.
these look so delish! on the hunt for almond flour now. all your fault. =)
Thanks Jasi! I think you’ll become a fan of almond flour once you start baking with it. Just make sure you buy a brand that finely grinds their almonds (like Honeyville). Happy Saturday!!:)
Isn’t that Honeyville almond flour great? We order it online too, in the 5-lb quantity. Which is a lot! We store it in the freezer because it takes awhile to get through it, and don’t want to risk it getting rancid. Anyway, really terrific cookies! Love the combo of pumpkin and chocolate chips – inspired! Good stuff – thanks.
I’ve been reluctant to get it due to the volume, but I’m so glad I did. It’s worth the surface area it takes up in our tiny kitchen! You were one of the factors that convinced me when you mentioned that Mrs KR swears by it. 😀 These cookies turned out so delicious. Even the non-GF people LOVED these. Thanks John!
So sorry that you won’t be cooking with family this year. 🙁 I feel the same as you about how much fun it is. Well, at least you get to do some baking and this cookies are a great start. It’s hard to believe that they are grain free. Your description has got my mouth-watering. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I’m disappointed, but on a bright note, I’m glad I don’t have to travel on the busiest travel day. It’s never a pleasant experience.:) I’m looking forward to some peaceful time and baking. Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving! Thanks MJ!
I used be suspicious on -free food and thought it would never taste as good as the comparable with “real” ingredients. That belief changed after I had some really delicious vegan scones recently. These grain free pumpkin cookies look like something that’ll blow me away! Thanks for sharing and Happy Thansgiving (I am celebrating with friends in the city as well!)
Thanks Yi! I haven’t had conventional baked goods in ages. And I don’t miss them at all! These are really yummy. I hope you give them a try. Have fun with your friends on Thanksgiving!
I made these for my office and everyone LOVED them! They kept saying how fluffy and soft they were. They even asked for the recipe. I will definitely make these again! I don’t bake much at all and these were super easy for me.
Yay! So glad to hear that you and your co-workers enjoyed them. Your comment reminds me I need to bake these again soon.:) I foresee some midnight baking in my future! Thanks so much for letting us know how they turned out!
How do you store the cookies? I put them in a tupper ware they weren’t crunchy
on the bottom anymore . Should you store in fridge?
Hi Megan~ These cookies are inherently very moist due to the ingredients. The bottoms get crunchy right out of the oven before you store them; but once you store them, the moisture will build up and will no longer be crunchy. I actually like them moist. When I want them crunchy on the bottom, however, I throw them in the oven for a few minutes until they are crunchy again. I hope this helps. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
I am planning on making these this weekend. You have coconut butter/oil listed. Can you use either one? I am having a hard time finding coconut butter, but have the oil on hand.
Yes. I usually use coconut oil. Hope you enjoy the cookies.
Hi! I’m planning on making these but I only have gluten free all purpose flour. Do I still use the same amount or should I use less?
Thanks!
Hi Kayla,
It would be a different recipe if you use gluten-free all purpose flour, because almond flour has a higher fat content and different absorbancy for liquids. I will try post a new recipe with gf all purpose flour soon.