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Soft Pumpkin Cookies (Vegan with Gluten & Sugar-Free Options)

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Pumpkin cookies for any eating style! Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or sugar-free! This basic recipe works up well for any special diet.

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Rate this recipe 4.4/5 (10 Votes)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, or other healthy fat, melted
  • 1/4 cup sweetener, either granulated or liquid
  • 3 to 4 scoops stevia extract (each scoop is about 1/32 teaspoon), or approximately 4 to 8 tablespoons additional sweetener, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon orange flavoring or extract (Try Nielsen-Massey or Frontier Flavor.)
  • 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda (If you use flour with gluten, decrease to about 3/4 tsp)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (I recommend Real Salt)
  • 1/2 chopped or ground nuts, optional (We used walnuts. Almonds, macadamias, or even pumpkin or sunflower seeds would be great. Please use soaked and dried nuts if possible.)

Details

Servings 24
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 20mins
Adapted from wholenewmom.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine pumpkin, oil, sweetener, and orange flavoring in a medium bowl.

Add flour, baking soda, & seasonings. Mix until just combined. Fold in nuts if using.

Make spoonfuls or scoops with a 2 tablespoon muffin scoop. If desired, roll in a bit of granulated sweetener before baking. You get a really nice “punch” of sweetness without adding a lot of sweetener when you coat cookies rather than adding more to the batter.

Place spoonfuls or scoops on a baking sheet (the scoops result in a cookie that really resembles the Enjoy Life ones :-)).

Bake 8 -10 minutes or until lightly browned. They will harden a bit as they cool, but will still be nice and soft.

Notes:
As I always say, with sweeteners, choose the healthiest one that you can. If you aren’t on a sugar-restricted diet, use honey, sucanat, or maple syrup. If you cannot have those, use vegetable glycerin, stevia, or yacon. If you have no other alternatives, xylitol or erythritol will work, but you will need about 25% more sweetener if using erythritol.
If using a granulated sweetener, add 1T water. Oh – and 1 scoop of stevia is a teensy amount – just 1/32nd tsp (this is for the pure extract. If using pourable stevia, use 3-5 tsp, to taste.). Read What Stevia Is and How to Use it for more tips.)

Both the nut-filled and plain versions were great, but my boys and I much preferred the plain version (my husband simply loves nuts in just about anything.)

Try whatever gluten free flour blend, or individual flour, that you have on hand. Each will give the final cookies a bit of a different result, but they will be delicious! These are pretty forgiving little treats :-)!

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