Dairy Free Pumpkin Almond Cookies

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Not too sweet, fluffy and flakey at the same time. A great recipe using pumpkin puree. I love how the pumpkin gives moist to the cookies but doesn’t overpower the flavors.

This is a great “bake with me” recipe that you can prepare with your toddlers or older kids. Easy mix and bake procedure. Ready to preheat the oven? Let’s start.

HOW TO BAKE THE COOKIES

Add all the ingredients in a large bowl starting from the flour, baking powder, sugar, almond meal, pumpkin puree, egg and oil. Mix to obtain a sticky but compact dough.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using two spatulas (they are in silicone and the dough will not stick to them) create small balls, 1 tbsp of mix each and place them on the parchment paper, one next to the other leaving some space in between.

In a small bowl mix 2 tsp sugar with 1 tsp pumpkin spice mix and sprinkle on top of the cookies before baking.

Bake in the preheated oven to 400F for 20 minutes. If the cookies will look soft when you remove them from the oven, don’t worry, they will harden a bit after cooling down keeping a soft inside.

FRESH PUMPKIN OR CANNED ONE?

Very good question. I use both pending what’s available in my fridge/pantry/freezer. If you want to prepare homemade pumpkin or butternut squash puree, I have an easy recipe you can try. I steam the pumpkin first and then puree’ it. It’s also a great baby puree. I prepare a nice batch and freeze it for future recipes.

Pumpkin puree

Instead of steaming the pumpkin you can also roast it (400F for 40/60 min, chopped in small cubes). The roasting will caramelize the natural sugars in the pumpkin and give a deeper more intense flavor to the puree. Also, the final puree’ will be thicker than the steamed one.

If you don’t have time to prepare the pumpkin puree there are so many good brands at the grocery store. Just check the ingredients list. You want “pumpkin” to be the first and only ingredient. Nothing else added.

SUGAR SUBSTITUTIONS

I really believe that moderation is the key. Half a cup of sugar for the whole batch of cookies is not a lot and it’s fine for little ones too. 

Still, if you want to reduce the sugar amount furthermore you can substitute it with maple syrup or with dates syrup. 

You can also mix the pumpkin spice mix with unsweetened shredded coconut flakes instead of sugar.

NUT FREE?

For a nut free cookie recipe, switch almond meal with regular flour for a total of 3 cups. 

HOW TO STORE THEM?

On the countertop, no cover.

CAN I SUBSTITUTE PUMPKIN WITH SQUASH?

Yes! Butternut squash is a lovely pumpkin substitution or sweet potatoes or delicate squash. If squash is not in season, applesauce will work too!

MORE PUMPKIN RECIPES?

If you are looking for more recipes using pumpkin, check out the following playlist:

• Happy Sunshine Pumpkin & Carrot Cake, low sugar
• Pumpkin & Sage Scones – From sandwich to easy snack
• Pumpkin Coconut Rice Pudding +6M Vegan, Gluten Free
• Pumpkin Gorgonzola Bake Pasta
• Pomegranate Pumpkin Pear Puree
• Pumpkin Yogurt Brownies
• Gluten free Pumpkin bread with sugar crumble
• Pumpkin grapes and goat cheese baby puree – from 9 months
• Pumpkin puree
• Banana tapioca pumpkin pudding
• Pumpkin gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce
• Pumpkin risotto with parmesan cheese cream – Halloween
• Thanksgiving Pumpkin Lasagne