Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies
Published
These gluten-free almond flour pumpkin cookies are soft, cakey, and full of cozy pumpkin spice flavor. They’re easy to make with almond flour, real pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and a touch of maple syrup, then finished with the most delicious brown butter cream cheese frosting. The cookies come together in about 10 minutes and bake up in just 12-15 minutes, making them an easy fall treat to have with a cup of coffee or share with friends.
How Almond Flour and Coconut Flour Work Together in This Dough
Almond flour alone makes a soft dough, but I found it’s also loose and a little greasy. That’s because almond flour brings a lot of fat and almost no structure. I tested this recipe with all almond flour and no coconut flour, just to see what would happen. The cookies spread thin and baked up oily around the edges. They never really set in the middle, and I could tell right away something needed to change. Adding a quarter cup of coconut flour fixed it. Coconut flour absorbs liquid aggressively, so a small amount is enough to tighten the dough. It gives the cookies the soft, cakey structure I was after, instead of a puddle. That’s also why I reach for coconut flour when I want a recipe to hold together on its own. These coconut flour chocolate chip cookies use it as the only flour, since a little goes such a long way.
That’s also why I always let the dough rest a few minutes before I scoop it. The coconut flour needs that time to actually pull in moisture from the pumpkin and butter. I’ve skipped the rest before, and the dough felt noticeably wetter and stickier every time. Give it five or ten minutes, and I promise it firms up on its own.
I learned quickly that this dough doesn’t spread on its own the way a wheat flour dough does. That means I flatten each cookie by hand before it bakes. Skip that step, leave a scoop round and unflattened, and it bakes into a dense, dome-shaped cookie. I’ve had the center stay underdone while the outside was already set, so now I never skip it.
brown the butter for the frosting
Regular melted or softened butter makes a fine cream cheese frosting. Browning it first adds a nutty, toasted flavor that plays perfectly against the pumpkin spice in the cookie. I tested this frosting both ways side by side. The browned butter version tasted noticeably deeper and less one-note sweet, even with the same amount of powdered sugar.
The part to watch is the browned butter’s temperature before it goes into the mixing bowl. It needs to be room temperature and mostly solid again, not liquid and not fridge-cold. Warm browned butter will turn the frosting greasy and thin, no matter how long you beat it. Butter that’s re-solidified whips up light and spreadable, just like a standard buttercream.
Gluten-Free Baking Tips
- Let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes before scooping. I tested skipping this step, and the dough was noticeably wetter and harder to scoop into neat rounds. That short rest gives the coconut flour time to absorb moisture from the pumpkin and butter, so the dough firms up enough to hold its shape once it’s flattened and baked.
- Flatten every cookie to about ½“ thick. This dough doesn’t spread in the oven the way a traditional cookie dough does. If you leave the scoops rounded, you’ll end up with a dense, underbaked center under a fully set exterior. Flattening with the palm of your hand solves this in about two seconds per cookie.
- Cool the cookies completely before frosting. Cream cheese frosting starts to melt and slide the moment it touches a warm cookie. I’ve frosted cookies too early more than once, and it always ends the same way: a thin, greasy puddle instead of a generous swirl on top. Give them a full 20-30 minutes on a cooling rack first.
- Let the browned butter cool and resolidify before making the frosting. Warm browned butter, even just slightly, turns this frosting thin and greasy no matter how long you beat it. Once it’s browned, let it sit at room temperature until it’s soft but mostly solid again, the same texture as softened butter straight out of the fridge, before it goes anywhere near the mixing bowl.
Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1¼ cups (120 g) fine almond flour, packed
- ¼ cup (32 g) coconut flour
- ¼ tsp (1 g) baking soda
- 1 tsp (2.5 g) cinnamon
- ½ tsp (1 g) nutmeg
- ½ tsp (1 g) ginger
- ¼ tsp (0.5 g) cloves
- ¼ tsp (1.5 g) fine sea salt
- ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, melted and room temperature
- ½ cup (113 g) pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup (53 g) brown sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) maple syrup
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1½ tsp (7 ml) vanilla extract
For the Frosting
- 5 tbsp (71 g) unsalted butter, browned and room temp, until mostly solid
- 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups (226 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
- ⅛ tsp (0.75 g) salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and sea salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted and cooled butter, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
- Stir the almond flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until well combined. Let the cookie dough sit while lining two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- With a 1½ tbsp scoop, scoop the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten the cookies with the palm of your hand, about ½” thick.
- Bake 12-15 minutes, until the cookies look set. Cool completely before frosting.
- In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the browned butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until well combined.
- Generously spread or pipe the frosting onto the cookies and serve.
Notes
- The frosting alone brings a lot of sugar to this recipe, so frost only the cookies you plan to serve that day and leave the rest of the batch unfrosted in the freezer until you need them.
- Canned pumpkin puree varies in moisture between brands. If your batter looks noticeably wetter than a thick, glossy paste, add a tablespoon of extra coconut flour to bring it back in line.
- Use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling already contains added sugar and spices, which will throw off both the sweetness and the spice balance of the recipe. Use plain canned pumpkin puree.
- Ovens run hot or cool at the edges, so rotate the pan halfway through baking if you notice the back row browning faster than the front.
- Cut the ground cloves in half if you’re serving these to anyone sensitive to strong spice, since cloves are the most potent flavor in the mix and easy to overdo.
- For a lower-sugar version, skip the frosting and dust the cooled cookies with cinnamon sugar instead; the cookies hold up fine on their own without it.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to Make Gluten-Free Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies
Gather all the ingredients together.
Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1¼ cups almond flour (120g), ¼ cup coconut flour (32g), ¼ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp cloves, and ¼ tsp fine sea salt until evenly combined.
Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the ¼ cup melted and cooled butter (57g), ½ cup pumpkin puree (113g), ¼ cup brown sugar (53g), 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 room-temperature egg, and 1½ tsp vanilla extract until smooth and fully combined. It should look like a thick, glossy pumpkin batter with no streaks of butter left.
Combine and rest the dough: Stir the almond flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until no dry streaks remain. Let the dough sit for 5-10 minutes while you line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. It’ll firm up slightly as it rests, going from wet and loose to soft and scoopable.
Scoop and flatten: Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Using a 1½ tbsp scoop, portion the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Flatten each one with the palm of your hand to about ½” thick. The dough won’t spread much on its own, so this step matters.
Bake the cookies: Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies look set and are just barely golden at the edges. The centers should look slightly soft when they come out. They’ll finish setting as they cool. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan or a wire rack before frosting.
Make the frosting: In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the 5 tbsp browned butter (71 g, room temperature and mostly solid) and 4 oz. cream cheese (113g) together until smooth, with no lumps of either ingredient visible. Add the 2 cups powdered sugar (226g), 1 tsp vanilla, and ⅛ tsp salt, and beat until the frosting is light, fluffy, and holds a soft peak.
Frost and serve: Once the cookies are completely cool, generously spread or pipe the frosting on top. Serve right away, or refrigerate until you’re ready.
Storage & Freezing Instructions
Because of the cream cheese frosting, store frosted cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let them sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before eating so the frosting softens back up.
Freezer
Unfrosted cookies freeze beautifully. Cool them completely, then freeze in a single layer until solid before transferring to a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Frost only after thawing. You can also freeze the frosting on its own in an airtight container for up to a month; thaw it in the fridge overnight, then re-whip briefly before using.
Reheating
These are best served at room temperature rather than reheated. If cookies come straight from the fridge, give them 10-15 minutes on the counter before serving so the frosting isn’t stiff, and the cookie itself softens back up.
Round Out a Fall Dessert Spread
I usually serve these the classic way, piled on a plate next to a hot cup of coffee, which cuts through the sweetness of the frosting nicely. For a fall brunch spread, I’ll set these out alongside a batch of almond flour pumpkin bread, since the two share the same warm spice profile but give guests a cookie option and a sliceable option side by side. If you’re putting together a fall dessert table, glutexn-free pumpkin bars are another cream-cheese-frosted option that pairs naturally with these, without being a repeat of the same recipe. For a lighter breakfast pairing, gluten-free pumpkin waffles let you get the pumpkin spice flavor earlier in the day if you’re saving the cookies for dessert.
More Almond Flour Baking to Try
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Bread: The same almond flour base and warm spice blend in a sliceable loaf, great for the mornings when a cookie feels like too much sugar to start the day.
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins: A grab-and-go format with the same almond flour and pumpkin combination, perfect for lunchboxes or a quick breakfast.
- Almond Flour Brownies: Another almond flour dessert built for a rich, fudgy texture, if you want something chocolatey to round out a dessert tray next to these cookies.
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies: If you love the texture of this almond flour dough, this is the classic, year-round version to bake once pumpkin season winds down.
