Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies (Vegan)

Thick bakery-style pumpkin cookies that practically melt in your mouth. Fall is in the air and wafting through my kitchen with these amazing vegan and gluten-free pumpkin cookies. Rolled in sparkling pumpkin pie sugar and packed full of seasonal spice yum, you’ll be baking these pillowy soft pumpkin cookies all season long.

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The Best Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

Bigger is better and these easy gluten-free pumpkin cookies are a double portion of yum. Extra big bakery-style cookies with all the yummy autumn spices and the most amazing melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Allergy-friendly and ready to be devoured in minutes, these gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, peanut-free, and vegan pumpkin cookies are a fall favorite.

Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Cookies

No chill time is needed with these magical allergy-friendly, dairy-free, and vegan pumpkin cookies. Simply mix them, roll them, bake them, and devour them! Cookies don’t get much easier than that.

Better yet, the dough freezes like an absolute dream. Mix up a double, heck, even triple batch and pop any extra straight into the freezer for those last-minute cookie needs.

Pumpkin Cookie Ingredients & Substitutions

As always this recipe is gluten-free and vegan. That said, I do test each recipe with “regular” ingredients and make notes of alternatives or swaps so that everyone can enjoy it.

Here are a few key ingredients for these cookies but make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom recipe card for the complete ingredient list.

Gluten-Free Flour: I made these cookies with XO Baking gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Note that gluten-free flour blends can vary in weight so I recommend measuring by the cup. If you are not gluten-free, swap the flour with regular all-purpose flour.

Vegan Butter: I enjoy baking with Becel plant-based bricks but any vegan/dairy-free butter substitute will work. Use regular salted butter if you are not vegan or dairy-free.

Brown Sugar: Dark brown or golden sugar gives extra moisture to these cookies. Coconut sugar, cane sugar, or even date sugar would work as well.

Pumpkin Puree: I used canned pumpkin puree but you could certainly use homemade. Note: do not use pumpkin pie filling.

Applesauce: To make this cookie vegan-friendly, I used unsweetened applesauce. Sweetened applesauce will work as well. If you are not vegan or egg-free, you can swap in 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: Most grocery stores will sell this spice year round. You can also make your own homemade blend by following this easy recipe from Liv Well Bake Often.

Cream of Tartar: This creates the thick melt-in-your-mouth pillowy texture of these cookies and I highly recommend using it. That said, it can be omitted if you do not have it on hand.

How To Ensure One-Bowl Pumpkin Cookie Success

Let’s double-check all our cookie bases to ensure we have the most incredible life-changing gluten-free and vegan pumpkin cookies.

Room temperature ingredients: For a smooth and fully incorporated cookie dough, room temperature ingredients are a must. 

Correct flour measurement: Gluten-free flour blends all vary in weight. This makes measuring by weight very tricky. If you are not using XO Baking flour blend, please measure your gluten-free flour with the listed cup measurement. And remember to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off instead of stopping it straight out of the bag/container. 

Don’t overbake the cookies: These gluten-free and vegan pumpkin cookies are gloriously soft because they are slightly underbaked when removed from the oven. The heat from the cookie pan will continue to bake these cookies after they come out so don’t worry about them being raw.

Fancy them up: Want a picture-perfect cookie? Make sure to roll them in pumpkin pie sugar; it gives a beautiful, almost sparkly, appearance and creates an added crispiness to the final texture.

Can I Freeze The Cookie Dough?

Yes! Woohoo! You can absolutely freeze this cookie dough for when that cookie craving hits. I recommend scooping each cookie dough ball, freezing them on a tray, and then placing the dough into a large Ziploc freezer bag. This will allow you to pull out however many cookies you desire to bake at any time.

Note: Do not roll them in pumpkin pie sugar before freezing or else the sugar mixture will melt. Take out the frozen cookie dough balls, allow them to come to room temperature, and then roll in the pumpkin pie spice sugar mixture.

How To Store Egg-Free Pumpkin Cookies

Store these perfectly pumpkin cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Likewise, they can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Pumpkin Cookie FAQs

Why are my cookies so crumbly?

The most common reason for a crumbly cookie is incorrect flour measurement. See the above cookie success tips for notes on how to properly measure the flour.

How do I get perfectly round cookies?

Sometimes an errant cookie edge will come out slightly wonky. Don’t sweat it. Use a butter knife or overturned glass to gently re-shape the edges as soon as they come out of the oven.

When do I know they are baked?

The edges will be a light golden and the center will appear to be slightly underbaked.

Is there gluten in pumpkin puree?

No, pumpkin puree is simply pumpkin that has been pureed until smooth. But with that said, I always suggest double and triple-checking ingredient lists for celiacs.

The Easiest Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

Massive bakery-style cookies packed full of warm comforting fall spices, these easy pumpkin cookies will become a new favorite. Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan, or totally “regular” this easy no-chill one-bowl pumpkin cookie recipe is a keeper.

I would love to know if you make this autumn pumpkin cookie recipe. If you do, tag me on social media @cakedbykatie and leave this recipe a 5-star rating and review below. I can’t wait to see it!

More Pumpkin Recipes To Try

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