Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies
Even though the heat of summer is still here, many of us are starting to wish for Fall. Pumpkin Spice is starting to come out in the food industry and Fall decorations are starting to be on clearance to make way for Christmas. I have been adding pumpkin spice creamer to my coffee already. This feeling of fall has had me search for the best gluten free pumpkin cookies.
These gluten free pumpkin cookies are soft and like a pillow. If you can image taking a scoop out of your pumpkin pie and having it not be a sticky mess trying to eat it like a cookie, then it is this cookie. It is a cute little portable pumpkin pie filling kind of snack.
One reason for my head start is that we are going to travel into the Colorado mountains. It is much cooler there than at home. We may get snow one day there while it is in the 90’s at home. It is not quite time for apple picking but those shops will open soon. The local pumpkin patch will be open by mid-September. I am looking forward to these visits. We also like to camp more in the fall as it is so much cooler! Do you have any fall traditions that you enjoy?
I am harvesting from a new garden and recently started receiving regular emails from the Old Farmer’s Almanac so I decided to look at their pumpkin cookie recipes. As I need to be gluten free for my health reasons, I enjoy converting their recipes to make the best gluten free pumpkin cookies.
Changing the Cookie to Gluten Free
It turns out only the flour needed to be changed to make this recipe gluten free. If you are celiac, please double check the ingredients that I used. My gluten free diet is to help calm inflammation and arthritis. Friends, if someone is celiac, cross contamination or the wrong ingredient can make that person sick for longer than my inflammation. Take extra care on any advice on ingredients from your friend and any changes that they would want to make in this recipe.
Gluten free flours are more accessible than they used to be. I am experimenting with mixing up my own and also the All In One flours. Recipes that use a home mixed flour or individual flour measurements also need xanthan gum added when baking. All In One flours have already added xanthan gum.
The flour I had on hand was Pamela’s Gluten Free and Vegan All-Purpose Flour. This flour is one of the mixes that you can change recipes 1-for-1 with wheat flour. That means that you can measure this flour with the same measurement of wheat flour. This is a great starting point if you are just starting to bake gluten free. As you get more experience, you can play more with flours and save some money in the longer term.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies – Ingredients
Adapted from the Old Farmer’s Almanac Pumpkin Cookie recipe.
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1-1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups pumpkin, canned or cooked – measure, not a full can
1-1/2 cups gluten free flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies – Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Cream butter and sugar.
Mix in eggs and pumpkin.
Mix dry ingredients in sifter, then sift directly into pumpkin mixture or into a bowl if using a stand mixer. For the stand mixer, add one spoonful of dry ingredients at a time.
Mix dry ingredients in well.
Add nuts.
Drop by the spoonful onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Yield:
Approximately 36 cookies, when using tablespoon. The original recipe yielded 5 dozen if you prefer a smaller cookie and use a teaspoon.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies – Hints
A small can of pumpkin will be too much pumpkin. Measure the pumpkin out before adding.
We buy our walnuts that are not chopped so we can also use them as snacks or in salads. I chop them with a large knife on a cutting board. It does not take much time at all.
Time to Eat
These cookies are soft and pillowy. They feel like fall especially when they are warm.
Oh my! The house smells like pumpkin pie! I am so ready for our trip that is coming up soon. Cookies are a great way to start baking gluten free as they just are not as picky as bread or cakes.
We took them on a road trip into Colorado where the fall weather already was peaking in. It was a nice little snack when wanting something sweet. Do you want to try these cookies?
Whatever you do, do you!
Not Crazy Nana
