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Home » Recipes » Baking & Desserts

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Last updated - July 11, 2021; Published - November 8, 2019 By Rhian Williams 18 Comments

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Two gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies topped with white frosting one with a bite taken out

These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Sugar Cookies are soft and chewy, slightly fluffy, fragrantly spiced and covered in a rich, tangy "cream cheese" frosting. They're also refined sugar free and the dough doesn't require chilling. They're perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas and make excellent edible gifts!

Two gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies topped with white frosting one with a bite taken out

I decided to roll out the dough and cut out shapes because I found the texture of the cookies turned out better that way. However, you can alternatively use your hands to shape the cookie dough into little patties and bake them that way instead. This cookie dough won’t spread out as it bakes as the ingredients are different from traditional cookie dough.

How to make the cookies

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

  • Mix together the ingredients for the cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.
Raw gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl
  • Lay out a sheet of greaseproof baking paper on a counter. Sprinkle the surface of the paper and a rolling pin with a generous amount of flour and roll out the dough until about 1cm (½ inch) thick.
Raw gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookie dough rolled out on a white baking sheet with a circular cookie cutter
  • Use a circular cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the dough - you will probably have to roll the dough a few times until you use it all up.
  • Transfer the cookies onto two rectangular baking trays.

Tip: Line the baking trays with greased baking paper to make sure the cookies don't stick.

Twelve raw gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies on a baking tray
  • Bake in oven for around 10 minutes, until firmer and lightly browned.
Twelve gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies on a baking tray
  • They will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven - leave to cool completely to let them harden before applying the frosting.

How to make the frosting

  • Place the ingredients for the frosting in a food processor.
Cashew nuts in a food processor
  • Whizz until completely smooth.
Blended cashew nuts in a food processor
  • Use a knife to spread a little bit of frosting over each of the cookies.
A knife spreading white frosting onto a pumpkin cookie
  • Sprinkle over ground cinnamon to decorate, if desired.
Four gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies topped with white frosting on a marble background

How long do these Pumpkin Sugar Cookies keep for?

These Pumpkin Sugar Cookies do taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for a few days.

Substitutions you can make

  • You can replace the coconut oil with coconut butter.
  • You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
  • You can replace the gluten-free flour with rice flour.
  • If you don't need the cookies to be gluten-free, you can replace the gluten-free flour with plain flour.
  • You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
  • The ground almonds can be replaced with ground walnuts, ground pecan nuts or ground sunflower seeds.
  • The pumpkin purée can be replaced with sweet potato purée.
A stack of four gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies topped with white frosting

More gluten-free vegan cookie recipes

  • Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
  • Blueberry Breakfast Cookies
  • Oatmeal Cookies
  • Peanut Butter Cookies
  • Coconut Flour Cookies
  • Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
  • Snickerdoodles
  • Sugar Cookies
  • Chocolate Cookies
  • Carrot Cake Cookies
  • Lemon Cookies
  • Orange Cookies
  • Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Watch how to make this recipe

Two gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies topped with white frosting one with a bite taken out

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Sugar Cookies are soft and chewy, slightly fluffy, fragrantly spiced and covered in a rich, tangy "cream cheese" frosting.
4.17 from 18 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten-free pumpkin cookies, vegan pumpkin cookies, vegan thanksgiving dessert
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes minutes
Servings: 21 cookies
Calories: 139kcal
Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cookies:

  • 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil (or sub coconut butter)
  • 10 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other similar sweetener)
  • 225 g (1 cup) pumpkin purée (shop-bought or make your own)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
  • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend plus more for rolling (or sub rice flour, or plain flour if not gluten-free)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice to taste (or sub a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ground ginger)

For the frosting:

  • 100 g (⅔ cup) cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or sub any other plant-based milk)

Instructions

For the cookies:

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
  • Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
  • Add the maple syrup, pumpkin purée and vanilla and mix well.
  • Measure out the ground almonds, gluten-free flour and baking powder and mix well.
  • Add these to the other ingredients and mix well.
  • Lay out a sheet of greaseproof baking paper on a counter. Sprinkle the surface of the paper and a rolling pin with a generous amount of flour and roll out the cookie dough until about 1cm (½ inch) thick
.
  • Use a circular cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the dough - you will probably have to roll the dough a few times until you use it all up.
  • Transfer the cookies onto two baking trays/baking sheets lined with greased baking paper.
  • Bake in oven for around 10 minutes, until firmer and lightly browned.
  • They will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven - leave to cool completely to let them harden before applying the frosting.

For the frosting:

  • Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor with all the other ingredients.
  • Whizz until completely smooth, adding more milk or water if necessary.
  • Use a knife to spread a little bit of frosting over each of the cookies.
  • Sprinkle over ground cinnamon to decorate, if desired.
  • Taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Video

Notes

*You can alternatively use almond flour.
I decided to roll out the dough and cut out shapes because I found the texture of the cookies turned out better that way. However, you can alternatively use your hands to shape the cookie dough into little patties and bake them that way instead. This cookie dough won’t spread out as it bakes as the ingredients are different from traditional cookie dough.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 139 Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 2g10%
Sodium 4mg0%
Potassium 103mg3%
Carbohydrates 17g6%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 1667IU33%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 49mg5%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Sarah

    October 18, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    Can i sub the lemon juice in the frosting at all?

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      October 19, 2020 at 1:26 pm

      You can use any type of plant-based milk instead! Though it won't have a tangy flavour obviously.

  2. suzi

    November 23, 2021 at 6:04 am

    are these too soft to make into a sandwich cookie with the frosting in between? before I attempt this recipe, was curious.... thank you!!

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      November 23, 2021 at 5:23 pm

      No that should be fine!! Sounds delicious

  3. Icantbakeatall

    May 05, 2022 at 9:20 am

    I tried this recipe twice now, both batters ended up being paste-like after I doubled the flour and almond meal. I don’t know what went wrong but no amount of flour fixed it. This recipe chewed me up and spat me out. 10 tablespoons of maple syrup seems like it might be too much? AAAA pls help! This looks like a gorgeous recipe, am I doing something wrong? Are we supposed to mix it a certain way?

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      May 06, 2022 at 12:00 pm

      Hi - I'm sorry to hear that. Did you make any substitutions? What type of gluten-free flour did you use?

  4. Silvia Freitas

    October 22, 2022 at 11:31 am

    Can I substitute the maple syrup for date caramel (made with dates an water)?

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      October 22, 2022 at 3:19 pm

      Should be ok, but just make sure it's the right consistency!

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Two gluten-free vegan pumpkin sugar cookies topped with white frosting one with a bite taken out
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Hi, I’m Rhian! I make easy, undetectably vegan + gluten-free recipes, including healthy comfort food and naturally sweetened desserts using plant-based ingredients.

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