If you love pumpkin and snickerdoodles, you've come to the right place. These Healthy Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are not only delish, but they are gluten free & sugar free with AIP options as well as egg & dairy-free options. My boys ask for them all the time!
This really is one of our all-time favorite cookie recipes.
Pumpkin recipes are just one of my favorite things no matter what time of year it is. We have a few of our favorites on the blog like these Soft Pumpkin Cookies, and homemade pumpkin pie spice, and even a dairy-free pumpkin creamer, but these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are something special.
They're a gluten-free cookie and they're so good – my boys ask for them pretty much every time I tell them I feel like baking :).
Because these Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies are just that good.
And for a cookie, these are quite healthy and adaptable to almost any special diet. Not only are the gluten-free and —these fabulous cookies can now be made grain-free and low-carb.
Yes, grain-free — easily. Read on…
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles – the perfect fall healthy treat
In my “neck of the woods” the weather is cooling and the leaves are changing.
It's amazing to me how beautiful it all becomes.
Just looking out our deck window right now it's amazing how gorgeous the colors are. A real masterpiece by God on display for all of us.
The air is crisp and at least in the U.S. something makes us all think of pumpkins, apples and the like.
So in my house, we've been perfecting a recipe for Pumpkin Chia Pudding (truth is, my son asks for this daily so I am keeping the canned pumpkin industry in business :-)) and have tried a few pumpkin shakes, but these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles remain one of our favorites.
Super yummy and super adaptable to special diets, and of course, when you make your own cookies instead of buying store bought, you are most likely getting better ingredients while also saving a TON of money :-)!
Literally, every time I talk about baking cookies, my sons ask for these.
And if you're in the mood for snickerdoodles now, but don't feel like baking, try my 5-Minute Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Balls.
More On these Snickerdoodles
1. You could also use my Best Cinnamon Sugar as a topping for these cookies. I keep that in a little container in with my spices so it's readily available.
2. For better health, you could also soak the flours overnight, per instructions in my post on How and Why to Soak Grains. Be warned, however…you will get quite a workout mixing a batter this thick after it soaks :-). Also, I am not sure I like the taste of cookies after they've soaked. For some reason the fermenting process doesn't go so well with these cookies.
3. Note that the cookies don't spread out much when baking, so as much as you press them down, that is the size that the baked cookie will be.
And a note about Tiger Nuts. I'll be sharing more about them soon, but here are a few details. You can find them on Amazon here. They are NOT NUTS, but they're a fabulous treat and source of flour that is 100% gluten free, nut free, allergen free, dairy free, high in fiber, low in calories & fats, high in nutrition and they taste great.
You can also find Tiger Nut Flour here. The nuts themselves are a great snack (I LOVE them), plus the flour can pretty much be substituted 1:1 in any recipe you use.
Other Healthy Fall Recipes
– Nut Butter Fruit Dip (perfect for apples, pears, whatever :-). It's even great drizzled on cake, cookies, ice cream, or warm cereal
– Super Pumpkin Pie Spice
– Paleo Shepherd's Pie (with roasted veggies)
– Healthier Gourmet Caramel Apples
Recipe Notes and Substitutions for Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Sweetener: Although I use xylitol for a candida-friendly option, you can substitute any healthy sweetener.
- Egg Substitute: My Homemade Powdered Egg Replacer is a great homemade option for an egg substitute. A flax egg or chia egg would be great as well.
- Flour: See my Gluten-Free Baking Tips for gluten-free flour blend info. For grain free, use either organic tiger nut flour, which is also AIP, or 3 cups organic almond flour, for low carb. If using almond flour, increase the baking soda by 50% and use only 1/4 cup coconut oil. Will update the post after I try it!
- THM: For those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, this recipe is a crossover unless you use the almond flour option, which will make these snickerdoodles qualify as an “S.”
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles - gluten, dairy, & sugar free w/ vegan & grain-free options
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (or healthy fat alternative like butter)
- 3/4 cup xylitol (or other granulated sweetener)
- 1 large egg or equivalent substitute
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten-free flour (whole grain preferred. Use Almond Flour for grain-free. See Recipe Notes)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Combine ingredients for Cinnamon Coating and set aside for later use.
- Combine flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a medium-sized bowl.
- If coconut oil is not soft enough to mix easily, melt in a pan over low heat. Place in a bowl.
- Add sweetener and egg (or substitute) to the softened oil. Beat well. Add pumpkin puree and vanilla. Beat well again.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly, but do not over-mix.
- Take a small amount of dough (I use a small cookie scoop for this process), roll into balls, drop in cinnamon sugar topping, and roll to coat. (NOTE: For gluten-free cookies, the smaller the cookie the better as they will crumble more easily than those made with gluten flours.)
- Place on a baking stone or cookie sheet (I highly recommend baking stones) about 2 inches apart, flattening a bit with your hand (or the bottom of a glass).
- Bake for about 10 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.
- Cool for approximately 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet to cool on a cooling rack.
- Try not to eat them all at once :-).
Nutrition
The above nutrition facts are estimates only. Please read my Nutrition Disclaimer here.
I hope you love these as much as we do and that you and your family have time to enjoy the wonderful beauty of fall (if it is on display where you live), or whatever beauty there is around you.
What pumpkin or apple recipes do you enjoy in the fall?
I just want to let you know I make these on a regular basis and I use flex eggs and for the 2 cup flour I use 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup white rice flour and 1/2 cup tapioca or arrowroot powder. I also used buckwheat flour instead of brown rice flour. They turned out great. We have to use these because of food allergies.
Thank you and so glad you like them! They are favorites for us too! I hope to have more recipes coming up soon including another egg substitute. Stay tuned!
I’d like to bring these to our church fundraiser tomorrow but must be Keto friendly. I was going to try the suggestion you made about the almond flour with increased baking soda and decreased coconut oil. Do you try that already? If so, how did it turn out?
Hi there – we did it but made one mistake—we added too much coconut oil – they were really tasty but a bit soft so I think if we did the proportions correctly they will work. Sorry about that! Hope I’m not too late responding. These are amazing: https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/low-carb-almond-crescent-cookies/ You could do those for sure!!
These look utterly delicious! I’m craving them so bad with my coffee right now. Best thing – I can enjoy them guilt free!
Thanks, Maria! We made a triple batch this week (working out the kinks in the grain-free almond flour option) and they were gone in a (way too) short time! Hope you can make them soon!
I’m guessing I can use regular sugar ? no health issues at my house, thank the Lord.
Yes, of course!
do you have the nutritional information available for the pumpkin snickerdoodles ?
We are working on getting that up on the blog but are having tech difficulties. In the meantime please use an online calculator that you like. Keep in mind I will only be able to do it for one recipe variation :).
Loved them!
So glad – we do too!!
This looks utterly divine!! Thank you so much for the inspiration, I have added the ingredients to my shopping list… 100% making this this week!! x
Hope you like them! And thank you!
I see in your recipe notes that you are working on maybe adding some coconut flour with the almond flour. I would be interested in the results of that experiment if you have tried it and the measurements for each. Thanks
I haven’t yet – sorry! Thanks for asking!
I tried this recipe and we loved it. I used the cup4cup flour for a GF option. Next time I’m going to use the Tiger Nut flour for a grain free option. I have candida so it was so nice to have a little “something sweet” as a dessert and these fit the bill. I didn’t have any of the issues other people complained about. The cookies were moist and almost cake like which is a little different texture from traditional cookies but it was a welcome change. I have added this to my “go to” candida recipes. Even passed on the recipe to my nutritionist they were so tasty.
I made these with almond flour and the dough was very wet. When I baked them they spread out and covered the entire pan almost like a cookie cake. Any idea what I might have done wrong? On a positive note, they taste delicious!
Hi Jessica – I’m so sorry! I did them with almond flour and they were soft but didn’t spread like that. Maybe try another 1/4 batch or so?
I’m experimenting with gluten-free recipes and thought this looked really good. I tried this recipe and found the batter to be very wet. I used a combination of 1 cup tiger nut flour and 1 cup of almond flour. I added a little extra tiger nut flour for my last tray and though the consistency was better. The didn’t crumble quite as much as the others. I used ghee instead of coconut oil, so I don’t know if that made the batter more wet. I also used xylitol in the batter, but stevia for the topping because of the finer texture.
I attempted to make this with almond flour 1.75cups and coconut flour .25 cups. I found 10 minutes to be too short yet 17-20 minutes to over cook them and deteriorate the flavors. I used a full tsp of baking soda and added 1/2 tsp of xanthumn gum. The flavor is great when not over cooked.
15 min seems to the best baking time when using the mixed but flours.
I was so excited to make the pumpkin snickerdoodles, but I used coconut flour and coconut sugar and they are NOT baking! I’ve had them in the oven for lots more than ten minutes, and when I was making them into balls, they just crumbled and wouldn’t form. Suggestions? Was it the coconut flour or what?
Hi there. Coconut flour absorbs a ton of liquid so that’s it. I’m sorry! Maybe use them as crumbles? I assume the dough was really dry? I find coconut flour hard to bake with.
I used the entire can of pumpkin and added an egg. Mixed well and baked for 15 mins on 365
I just took them out of the oven and they crumbled. Very sad š
Coconut flour is great for baking IF you’re willing/able to use a ton of eggs. I make some great coconut flour blueberry muffins and a double batch takes a DOZEN eggs. Worth it though, they are super delicious and packed with fiber. Almond flour is much more of a cup to cup substitute for regular flour. Cheers š
The cookies look wonderful. I just want to send out a warning to those who don’t know and use Xylitol. It is Deadly to your dogs. Please google and don’t share your treats with Xylitol with your pets. I can’t wait to try, but will use another sweetener. I have too many canine swipers in my household.
Where do u buy xylitol
There is a link in the post – in the recipe. Hope that helps.
Good Evening, Adrienne, I tried your recipe for Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and they were soooo gooood!! I used xylitol for the sweetner in my quest to back off from refined sugar. I liked how the xylitol crystals are like sugar & so the measurements being the same.
Now my question: I accidentally got on a web page of another woman doing almost the same as you. Except she seems to feel xylitol is bad. It appears it’s made from corn products fermented. I tho’t it was made from Stevia leaves.
I didn’t particularly like whatever it was I baked using Erythritol, but it could be as you suggested to me (in an email exchange) “that I probably didn’t put enough into the recipe” (it had a “bite” taste to it). You’re probably correct as I see on the bag it is 70% as sweet as sugar, so to use it I need to try to figure how much 30% more of it in a recipe “cup of sugar” to use. Any hints on how to figure that? I didn’t use Erythritol again but I still have a partial bag of it.
The other thing is back a yr. or so ago when I first discovered your web site, you recommended NuNaturals pure Stevia Extract, but now you recommend a different brand (KAL pure Stevia). I noticed the KAL mentions it’s ingredient: “maltodextrin” which I “googled” & interpreted it is sugar. Does that make the Stevia non-pure? The NuNatural says “nothing added”.
I’m assuming you recommend the KAL brand becuz you think it’s better? So I’m curious as to what was the reason you change brands?
Sincerely, Joan
Hi Joan. Different people have different thoughts about sweeteners like xylitol and erythritol. I’m always trying to learn things and change what I think about things on occasion. I have removed some companies off of my blog due to learning things about them, for example.
As for converting for erythritol, you just multiply by 1.3. So if you need a cup of sugar, you do 1.3 cups of erythritol.
I don’t think I said that I recommend KAL now but it’s possible that I linked to it by mistake. Do you remember where you saw that? Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide that is made from starch. I personally use the NuNaturals almost all the time now but hope to try some new brands soon.
I can’t have baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, arrowroot, any kind of gum or any other starchy ingredient. What can I replace the baking soda with? Thanks!
Hi there. Baking soda isn’t a starch – are you certain that this is on your list of things to avoid?
Baking soda is made of cornstarch. I use either tapioca starch or potato starch.
Hi Amy. Thanks for reading. Perhaps you are confusing baking soda w/ baking powder. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate and is made from soda ash.
These sound yummy! I have been experimenting with Lakanto as we are dealing with candidas issues in our family and I bake A LOT! I am finding when I use use sugar substitutes (sugar alcohol based) as the only sweeter the baked goods turn out very funky. Have a very sweet and an almost artificial taste. They also have to be frozen immediately or they degrade really quickly. I wouldn’t care about the freezing part if they tasted super yummy initially. I primarily use Lakanto (which is VERY expensive). Previously I was using half Lakanto and half organic cane sugar, but I can no longer do this. Any suggestions? I have not baked much lately as I don’t want to waste such an expensive product.
I personally like blending sweeteners but have had occasional success with xylitol only on occasion. I think it depends on how much you use sometimes. I tend to do 1/2 xylitol (or another sweetener) and then 1/2 stevia extract. Yes, Lakanto is very pricey. Are you saying you can’t do 1/2 Lakanto b/c of the price?
Thanks for the reply. I can’t do the organic cane sugar anymore due to yeast overgrowth. After I get it under control if I eat even the smallest amount I become symptomatic again. I LOVE baking and have a nut allergic son so I bake a lot for him, too. So I’m this recipe if I were going to use 1/2 stevia how would I do that?
I have candida as well. I would use stevia in the proportions mentioned in this post https://wholenewmom.com/kitchen-tips/stevia-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it/
I hope that helps and that he enjoys them!