My easy keto pumpkin cookies are so soft, moist and chewy! I've topped them with a sugar free cream cheese frosting, but they taste delicious all on their own as well. Since many of you have been asking for nut free recipes, I've decided to make coconut flour pumpkin cookies.
I always get excited when October comes around because it means that pumpkin season is in full swing. I have been stocking up on canned pumpkin and have made sugar free pumpkin pie, pumpkin brownies and these healthy pumpkin bars already.
However, sometimes we want just a LITTLE sweet treat, right? That's where these sugar free pumpkin cookies come in.
With their cream cheese topping they taste a bit like mini pumpkin cheesecake bites!
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Why you'll love them
- Fabulous fall flavors. The cookies have that classic pumpkin dessert flavor we all love. There's cinnamon, vanilla and a hint of spices such as ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Your kitchen will smell incredible when they are in the oven.
- Soft texture. The crumb is soft and moist, almost like a cake. Whilst blanched almond flour is great to make crunchy cookies, coconut flour naturally lends itself to softer bakes.
- Easy recipe. The recipe is suitable even for beginner bakers. It's so easy! The cookie dough comes together with a fork. Plus, they are ready in just 22 minutes.
- Low in carbs. One cookie contains only 0.9g net carbs.
- Naturally gluten-free. Coconut flour is grain free and naturally gluten free.
Ingredients
I took my 5 ingredient coconut flour cookies as a starting point and added pureed pumpkin and spices:
- Coconut flour - If possible, measure your coconut flour with a scale instead of cups. It's a lot more precise. If you measure in cups, make sure it is levelled.
- Pumpkin puree - Use canned unsweetened pumpkin puree, not a ready-made pumpkin pie mix. You could even make your own homemade pumpkin puree.
- Sweetener - I used a granulated golden monk fruit sweetener. A white granulated erythritol, xylitol or allulose would also work well. For the frosting the sweetener must be powdered (and white) or it would taste grainy.
- Butter - Should be very soft, for both the cookie dough and the frosting. I heated my fridge cold butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Eggs - I always use large, room temperature eggs in baked low carb recipes. It helps with a better rise.
- Pumpkin spice mix - This is a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. I've given amounts of each in the recipe card if you want to make your own pumpkin pie spice mix.
- Vanilla extract - Check that it is sugar free.
- Baking powder - Test for freshness by putting some in water. If it fizzes, you're good!
- Cream cheese - For the frosting. I used Philadelphia.
Instructions
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
- Combine all ingredients for the cookie dough in a bowl with a fork. Option to also add a pinch of salt.
2. Form a large ball and cut into 8 slices. Cut each slice in half and roll 2 small balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Use a dessert spoon to flatten into a cookie shape and make hollows into the tops.
4. Bake for 12 minutes, then let cool fully.
5. For the frosting, blend very soft butter, cream cheese, powdered sweetener and vanilla extract until well-combined. Pipe or spoon onto the fully cooled cookies.
Katrin's Top Tips
Here are a few tips that will help you make perfect keto pumpkin cookies without fail.
#1 Patience! Let the cookie dough sit for a few minutes so the coconut flour can absorb the moisture.
#2 Shape them! These cookies don't rise much, so you want to shape them exactly how you want them.
#3 Don't over-bake. The cookies will be very soft and fragile when fresh out of the oven, but firm up as they cool down. Don't be tempted to over-bake!
#4 Cold cream cheese. My cream cheese was fridge cold, that's why the frosting was ready to use straight away. If your cream cheese is room temperature, you may need to cool the frosting in the fridge before it's ready to use.
Recipe Variations
- Almond flour pumpkin cookies: I would use 1 cup or 100 grams of almond flour and only one egg. (Note I have not tried this yet myself). You may also want to increase the oven time to up to 15 minutes.
- Jazz up the frosting: Add 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree for a proper pumpkin frosting!
- Sugar free icing: Can be used instead of the frosting. Simply use the icing I developed for my vanilla coconut flour cake. (If you make icing, there's no need to make hollows into the tops of the cookies.)
- Dairy free: Replace the butter with coconut oil in the cookie dough. Use dairy free cream cheese and dairy free butter in the frosting.
- Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies: Add a handful sugar free chocolate chips to the cookie dough and omit the frosting.
Storage
At room temperature: Unfrosted cookies can be stored in an airtight cookie jar for up to 1 week.
In the refrigerator: Once they are frosted, low carb pumpkin cookies should be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
In the freezer: Freeze the cookies without frosting for up to 3 months. Defrost, then add the frosting straight before serving.
FAQ
Yes, pumpkin is a keto friendly vegetable. 100 grams of pumpkin contain just 7 grams of carbohydrates.
Absolutely. Stick to the same oven time and roll in powdered sweetener while warm or add the sugar free icing mentioned in the recipe variations.
You can get canned pumpkin via Ocado, at Tesco and Waitrose as well as on Amazon. Greengrocers and health food stores stock it from mid October.
More Pumpkin Recipes
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Recipe
Keto Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ⅓ cup coconut flour 40g
- ⅓ cup butter very soft, 75g
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree 66g
- 2 eggs large
- 3 tablespoon golden monk fruit sweetener use 4 tablespoon for a sweeter cookie
- 2.5 teaspoon pumpkin spice or 2 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ginger, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon allspice, pinch of cloves
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)
- ¼ cup butter very soft, 50g
- ½ cup cream cheese 120g
- 3-4 tablespoon powdered sweetener
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F (electric) or 160C / 320F (fan assisted) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Stir together all ingredients for the cookie dough in a bowl using a fork.
- Let the cookie dough sit for a few minutes so the coconut flour can absorb the moisture. Then, roll into a ball and cut into 8 slices.
- Halve each slice and roll into two small balls. Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet. Use a dessert spoon to flatten into a cookie shape and to make hollows into the tops.
- Bake for 12 minutes. The cookies will be very soft and fragile when fresh out of the oven, but firm up as they cool down.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- With an electric mixer, blend very soft butter, cream cheese, powdered sweetener and vanilla extract until well-combined.
- Pipe or spoon onto the fully cooled cookies.
Notes
- ⅓ cup / 50g powdered sweetener
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream (or 2 tablespoons almond milk)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
teri
Is golden monk fruit necessary or just regular monk fruit with allulose ok? Thanks and sounds delicious!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Teri, regular monk fruit sweetener with allulose is also fine.
Terri
Thank you for responding! About to try them.
Taylor
Hi! My batter did not get firm enough to roll, even after sitting for 20 minutes. I didn't use anything different from the recipe. Do you have any idea why this could be?
Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
I didn’t roll the dough as I formed cookies by hand. This worked fine.
It could be that your pumpkin purée was more liquid than the one I used. It could also be that you did not use enough coconut flour. It’s always best to measure coconut flour in grams rather than with cups because it is more exact. Hope that helps, if you have more questions just ask!