These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Sugar Cookies are soft and chewy, slightly fluffy, fragrantly spiced and covered in a rich, tangy "cream cheese" frosting.
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.
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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.