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These Gluten-Free, Healthy Pumpkin Cookies Are Everything I Want This Fall
These healthy pumpkin cookies are the soft, cozy fall treat that was missing from my pumpkin recipe collection. I’d already turned my pumpkin obsession into healthy pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and more, but somehow I still didn’t have a cookie! I wanted these to be soft and moist, with real pumpkin and warm spices, and of course, without refined sugar. Here’s why these gluten-free pumpkin cookies check all the boxes:
- All the fall flavor – With real pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg, these cookies taste like everything fall should be.
- Soft, moist texture – I wanted a soft, tender cookie with lightly golden edges, so don’t expect crisp and snappy here. These have a tender feel and vanilla frosting similar to my healthy pumpkin bars, but in cookie form.
- No refined sugar or wheat flour – I use Besti for natural sweetness and superfine almond flour for a delicate crumb. So not only are these gluten-free pumpkin cookies, they also have 4 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of fiber, and less than 1 gram of sugar each.
I love these pumpkin cookies with a glass of almond milk or a hot cup of coffee when I’m craving a cozy fall treat. Make a batch with me!
“I made these today and OMG! They are so good! I will make these all year long, not just in fall. Now I have 3 favorite cookie recipes.”
-Jeannette
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my healthy pumpkin cookies, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Pumpkin Puree – Make sure you grab plain canned pumpkin puree like this, not pumpkin pie filling, which already contains sweetener and spices. Canned is my preference for the most consistent texture, but if you want to use fresh roasted pumpkin, you can. Just puree it until completely smooth and drain off any excess moisture.
- Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour – This superfine grind is important here for your pumpkin cookies to turn out moist and tender instead of gritty or crumbly. Don’t substitute coconut flour, because it absorbs much more moisture and makes this recipe dry. Sunflower seed flour or macadamia nut flour are the closest alternatives, but the flavor and color can differ.
- Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – I use this in both the cookies and glaze. It keeps the cookies moist without refined sugar, and the powdered texture dissolves smoothly. I don’t recommend most brands of monk fruit, stevia, or erythritol here, because they’ll leave the glaze gritty, even if they’re powdered. Liquid sweeteners (like maple syrup) are too runny, so won’t work either. You can use plain confectioners’ allulose, though, but increase the amount to 1/2 cup in the cookie dough.
- Unsalted Butter – Let it soften so it creams smoothly. For a dairy-free option, my favorite is butter-flavored coconut oil.
- Egg – You only need one, so a flax egg works just fine as an alternative.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg – These give the pumpkin cookies their warm, cozy flavor. If you want ginger and clove notes or a stronger flavor, see my variation on that below.
- Heavy Cream – I mix this with powdered Besti to create a creamy, spreadable glaze. (For those of you who said the glaze was too runny, I adjusted the amounts recently to improve this!) Canned coconut cream works as a dairy-free substitute.
- Baking Powder (for lift — I like this non-GMO one!), Vanilla Extract, & Sea Salt (to balance the sweetness)
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How To Make Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Cream the butter and powdered Besti. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat them together until fluffy.
- Add the other wet ingredients. Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients. This includes almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. I stop mixing as soon as the dough is evenly orange with no dry pockets.
- Scoop and shape the cookies. Pack the dough into a medium cookie scoop, release it onto the lined baking sheet, and flatten each mound to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Bake in the oven, then cool. They’re done when the edges are light golden but the centers still look soft. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan before moving them.
- Glaze the cookies. Whisk the powdered Besti, heavy cream, and vanilla until smooth and spreadable, adjusting with a little more cream or sweetener if needed. Once your healthy pumpkin cookies are fully cooled, spread the glaze over them. I like an extra dusting of cinnamon on top!
My Recipe Tips
- Softened butter is key to creaming properly. If you forget to take it out of the fridge, don’t melt it. Instead, fill a metal bowl with boiling water to heat it up. Empty the water, dry, and place the bowl upside down over the sliced butter on a plate. The heat will soften the butter in a few minutes. Sometimes I have to repeat the process.
- This healthy pumpkin cookie dough is supposed to be very soft. This is normal! I don’t recommend adding extra flour.
- How to deal with sticky dough: Sometimes this dough works perfectly for me and other times it can stick to the scoop. If this happens, I find it helps to spray the scoop with oil (I love this glass spray bottle!). If that doesn’t help enough, you can chill the dough for 15-30 minutes in the fridge and try again. Wet or lightly oiled hands also help when flattening.
- Pumpkin cookie dough doesn’t spread much, so I flatten the scoops before baking. That gives you control over the final thickness.
- Don’t move them while they’re warm. These gluten-free pumpkin cookies are fragile coming out of the oven and can fall apart. They’ll firm up as they cool. Plus, the texture of the crumb inside will set in the process.
- You may need to adjust the amount of powdered Besti in the glaze to get it thick. It depends on how the powder settles, so a runny glaze just means you need more Besti. If you want it totally firm, I recommend refrigerating the cookies to help it set.
Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
By
My gluten-free, healthy pumpkin cookies have real pumpkin, fall spices, and creamy vanilla glaze. 4 grams of protein and no refined sugar!
Ingredients
[ See substitutions ]Tap underlined ingredients to see the ones I use.
Pumpkin Cookies:
Vanilla Glaze:
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a large deep bowl, beat together the butter and Besti, until fluffy.
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Beat in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla.
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Beat in the almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and sea salt, until a uniform cookie dough forms.
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Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough and pack the dough into it. Release onto the lined baking sheet, 2 inches (5.08 cm) apart. Use your palm, or the bottom of a glass with a twisting motion, to flatten cookies to about 1/4 inch (.64 cm) thick.
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Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden on the edges. Cool completely to firm up before moving from the pan.
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Meanwhile, make the glaze/frosting, if using. In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth: heavy cream, powdered Besti, and vanilla. If it's too thick, add more cream, a teaspoon at a time, until it's a spreadable consistency. If it's too thin, add more powdered Besti to thicken.
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Spread a teaspoon of glaze on top of each pumpkin cookie (or simply sprinkle with powdered Besti instead).
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 healthy pumpkin cookie (2″ diameter)
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you deal with the dough if it’s sticky, get the right consistency, prevent the cookies from falling apart, and more.
- Storage: Keep these healthy pumpkin cookies in an airtight container for up to 5-7 days. I refrigerate them if I add the cream glaze.
- Freeze: Freeze completely cooled cookies in a single layer, or between sheets of parchment paper, for up to 2-3 months. You can freeze them with or without the glaze, or even freeze the raw cookie dough. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
Recipe Variations
I like these healthy pumpkin cookies just the way they are, but I’ve also experimented with a few different spins on them. Try these if you want to add a little something or change the texture:
- Extra pumpkin spice – These cookies have a subtle spice thing going, not dramatic. For a bolder pumpkin spice flavor, replace the cinnamon and nutmeg with 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice plus another 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Add-ins – Fold 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (I like these sugar-free ones for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies) or chopped nuts (like walnuts or pecans) into the cookie dough.
- Chewier – These gluten-free pumpkin cookies are naturally soft and tender. If you like a chewy bite, sprinkle 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum into the dough. The best time to add it is together with the almond flour and spices.
- Swap the glaze – I highly recommend something on top because these cookies are only lightly sweet on their own! If you don’t want the vanilla cream glaze, you can use my tangy cream cheese frosting, drizzle or dip in melted chocolate, or just dust the pumpkin cookies with powdered Besti.
86 Comments
Whitney
0Does it have to be powdered sweetener or can it be granular?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Whitney, Yes, you can use granulated sweetener in the cookies, but be sure to use powdered for the glaze, or it will be gritty.
Tara
0Yes maya FYI that for the cookie dough it DOES say powdered. Not sure if people will see this comment so wanted to let you know.
Can’t wait to make these now that fall is just about here!!
Rachel
0I made these this past weekend for a pumpkin carving party we were invited to. They were a hit! Nobody even realized they were KETO except for those who knew I was and said “Can you have these???” They are crispy around the edges with just the right amount of soft center. And the glaze!!?? So yummy! I might experiment with the suggestions of the others (maple extract in the glaze, adding a little ginger, etc.) just for fun, but know that I will make these again very soon!
Luci Sosnowski
0Mmmmmmm!!! Best cookie I’ve had since doing keto.
I chopped up about a quarter cup of a 100% dark chocolate bar & added to the cookie dough. I also added a drop of maple extract to the glaze.
Lori M.
0Recipe is great, I used swerve….needed more nutmeg & cinnamon, but that can be an acquired taste lol…also added ginger…cut back on cream for frosting, made it thicker, orherwise its running…next time Ill add coconut….Also, did 15 mins on 4 level rack….20 mins and 3rd level rack made bottoms of cookie too dark…but everyones oven are different…Id like to know if anyone has frozen these cookies???
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Lori, Yes, these cookies freeze well.
Tania
0Vers tasty! I added ground clove and it is delish.
Charlotte
0Hi! Love all your recipes!! I made this and the cookie is delicious. However, I couldn’t get a good consistency for the frosting. I made the recipe as directed with powder swerve. Any suggestions for next time? Thanks!
Melissa Olvera
1Same, my frosting was so runny. Maybe scale back to 1/8 cup heavy cream instead of 1/4. I will try that next time!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Charlotte, What was the frosting like? If it’s too thin, you can always add a little softened cream cheese to help thicken it up.
Julie McCormick
0What is the best substitute for erythritol? I like using the besti monk fruit allulose blend, but my stomach will NOT do erythritol! Please help!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Julie, This recipe used to be made with a monk fruit erythritol blend, but now I changed it to (and recommend) Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – it makes for soft, moist cookies!
Tyra
0I followed this exactly as printed I chilled overnight cut and baked in my convection for 9 min. These are the absolute best cookies I’ve ever had that were keto
Sandra
0Will return with a rating after making these. They look scrumptious in the picture. Now that it’s fall, it’s the perfect time to bake these.
Sandra W.
patty
0The cookies are amazing, moist and yummy.
Virtue Asuzu
0I just tried this now, so awesome. Very chewy.
Elana
0Would shredded coconut work in place of xanatham gum for the added chewiness? If so how much? Thanks
Yevonne
0I did not see xanatham gum in the recipe?
Can’t wait to try these! DH can’t eat chocolate but he loves pumpkin cookies!
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Yevonne, Xanthan Gum is mentioned in the post. If you want chewy cookies, then 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum will give these cookies a chewier texture.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Elana, I’m sorry, that won’t work in this recipe.
Kaycee
0I tried your pumpkin muffin recipe and it was delicious! But for these cookies, I don’t do dairy, so is it possible to sub coconut oil for the butter?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Kaycee, Yes, feel free to sub coconut oil in place of butter.
Tricia
0I was wondering why you use Erythritol in your recipes instead of swerve confectioners, brown, or granular. Do you think the taste is better? I’ve heard swerve is less bitter but I’m new to this way of eating.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Tricia, I actually have my own line of sweeteners called Besti, found at WholesomeYumFoods.com. I developed them because I wanted better taste and quality than other options out there, including Swerve and others. In my opinion Swerve has a slight aftertaste, whereas my monk fruit allulose blend, pure erythritol and pure allulose do not. Everyone’s taste buds are a bit different though, so I hope you’ll give them a try and let me know which one you like best!
Carol
0These are good, but missing some flavour. Adding all the pumpkin spices makes it better – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Otherwise they are remarkably easy to make. I also didnt quite have enough almond flour so I quickly ground up some sunflower seeds into flour and used that too and it was really tasty.
Ellen
0Definitely add in the xantham gum as suggested in the post. It makes a big difference!
Della Hall
0Can I use pumpkin spice instead of just nutmeg?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Della, Sure, you can do that if you like!
DJ
0These actually taste very good! I may not have reached the right consistency – mine were fall apart soft even after refrigeration for the night – but I had also eyeball “halved” some ingredients because I realized I only had a cup-ish worth of almond flour. Still tasted good! Curious to see if they hold up better when I have the right amount of flower.
Deanne A Walker
0I added sugar free chocolate chips. This is a great recipe.
Whitney
0Oh my goodness thank you! I’m so happy I can savor some perfect pumpkin deliciousness in a healthier way!