Gluten-free Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (Keto Option)
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If you love pumpkin and snickerdoodles, you've come to the right place. These Healthy Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are not only gluten-free & sugar-free with AIP, vegan, and keto options, but they're super delicious too.
These Gluten-free Snickerdoodles are so good, our boys ask for whenever I'm in a baking mood. They like them better than store bought “healthy cookies” too. Win for mom and win for kids!
This 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.
And for a cookie, these are quite healthy and adaptable to almost any special diet. Not only are they gluten-free, but these fabulous cookies can also be made grain-free and low-carb.
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 these Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Balls.
Ingredients
Following are the ingredients you'll need for the recipe. For more details and amounts needed, scroll down to the recipe card.
- flour – most gluten-free blends should work well for this or make your own blend. See the Keto Version section for low-carb directions.
- pumpkin puree – make sure to not buy pumpkin pie filling for this. You want plain pumpkin puree only.
- coconut oil – butter can also be used.
- sweetener – I use a low-carb sweetener, but really any granulated sweetener should work out as long as it's a one for one substitute for sugar.
- egg or egg substitute – either one works well. I use this Powdered Egg Replacer all the time for this recipe.
- spices
Directions
- Preheat oven.
- Combine ingredients for Cinnamon Coating and set aside.
- Combine flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a medium-sized bowl.
- If coconut oil is not soft enough to mix easily, melt in pan and place in a bowl.
- Add sweetener and egg (or substitute) to the softened oil. Beat well. Add pumpkin puree and vanilla. Beat again.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
- Take a small amount of dough, roll into balls, drop in cinnamon sugar topping, and roll to coat.
- Place on a baking stone or cookie sheet, flattening a bit.
- Bake until slightly golden brown.
- Cool a bit before removing from baking sheet to completely cook on cooling rack.
Keto Version Instructions
There are other options of low-carb flours that you could try, but using almond flour is the most obvious version. As mentioned in the Recipe Notes above, here is how you can do that.
Use the same amount of almond flour as the gluten-free flour amount.
Increase the baking soda by 50% and use only 1/4 cup coconut oil.
This version is great. We actually like it even better than the regular gluten-free pumpkin snickerdoodle version.
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- 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 a grain free or paleo version, use either organic tiger nut flour, which is also AIP, or 2 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. These work out GREAT this way. I haven't tried the AIP option, but we love the keto version.
- 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.”
- Topping: You could also use my Healthy Cinnamon Sugar as a topping for these cookies.
- Soaking Option: For better digestibility, you could also soak the flours overnight, per instructions in my post on How and Why to Soak Grains. Be warned, however, that you will get quite a workout mixing a batter this thick after it soaks. Note that for some reason, the fermenting process doesn't seem to work so well with these cookies so it's up to you if you want to try it.
- Cookie Spread: These 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.
Other Healthy Fall Recipes
- Nut Butter Fruit Dip (perfect for apples, pears, whatever). Great drizzled on the cake, cookies, ice cream, or warm cereal.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – perfect for all of your pumpkin recipes.
- Paleo Shepherd's Pie – low-carb with roasted veggies
- Healthy Gourmet Caramel Apples
- Pumpkin Pecan Cookies – the perfect fall combo!
- Healthy Pumpkin Custard – like an easy crustless pumpkin pie.
Healthy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (Sugar-Free with Keto Option)
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (or healthy fat alternative like butter)
- 3/4 cup low carb sweetener
- 1 large egg (or egg substitute like this Powdered Egg Replacer)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten-free flour (whole grain preferred. Use Almond Flour for grain-free. See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon Coating
- 1/2 cup granulated sweetener (as healthy as possible–use low-carb sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- 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 :-).
Notes
- 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 a grain free or paleo version, use either organic tiger nut flour, which is also AIP, or 2 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. These work out GREAT this way. I haven't tried the AIP option, but we love the keto version.
- 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.”
- Topping: You could also use my Healthy Cinnamon Sugar as a topping for these cookies.
- Soaking Option: For better digestibility, 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 :-). Note that for some reason, the fermenting process doesn't seem to work so well with these cookies so it's up to you if you want to try it.
- Cookie Spread: These 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.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
I'd love to hear what you think about these cookies once you try them!
I just made these… DELICIOUS! I was surprised about the texture though. I made them with no replacements and my homemade pumpkin puree from last year. They came out more like pumpkin bread bites, squishy, moist, and bready. Did I do something wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. The only odd thing was how hot it was inside the house.
I am guessing it could have just been a flour issue. What kind did you use? I always have said that I am a GF baking “non purist” but maybe I need to start recording the flour types I use. 🙂 If you read the comments you’ll see how I typically do it.
I used red whole wheat flour, King Arthur brand (I’m not gluten free and I intended to share them at work with people who aren’t either. I still did share them at work, but not as “snickerdoodles”). I do LOOOOVE the flavor, so big win on that! Not a single person turned them down at work either, and some came back for seconds! Just curious what the deal was about the texture and if anyone else had the same results.
I’d like to hear from others, but when baking GF you need to increase leavening by 25%. Maybe that’s part of the issue here?
Maybe that is what it is. I’ll definitely try this again and when I do, I’ll adjust the leavening down by 25% and see what happens. Either way I get delicious cookies =)
Sorry – guess I need to start being the iron chef about flours. Sigh. The coconut flour chocolate macadamia ones are really good too – and there’s no messing those up – check them out :)!
No worries… it’s not a mess up, it’s a new delicious invention! Thanks for your help!
I’m so excited to find your site! I’m new to gluten-free cooking, so I will be searching here for ideas. I’m trying to start a GF community on my website. I have started a weekly Gluten-Free Share Page on OneCreativeMommy.com. It’s brand new, but I hope it will become a great resource as it grows. I would love it if you visited and shared some of your great ideas each week. I hope to see you there.
I haven’t had snickerdoodles in forever! Thanks for sharing this healthified recipes. Brilliant
:).
I love snickerdoodles. I bet this pumpkin version is fantastic!
Wow!!! That sounds so so great!!! 😀
Well, my nutritionist is recommending I avoid or severly limit my consumption of Brown rice, as it is irritating me right now. So, can I make this w/o any rice flour?
Yes, I’ll send the recipes for my Breakfast custard pies!
Sure. I would personally try millet, buckwheat, sorghum. Sorghum will be most like wheat but I don’t use it often. It will be higher glycemic than the other flours. Some folks like bean flours, like garbanzo, but I think bean flours should be soaked prior to using them, to make digestion easier. Millet is a little heavy and buckwheat is grassy so I would go heavier on the sorghum. Amaranth could be thrown in as well. I think it’s nice to mix a number of flours together for a better result.
This looks good!
Just curious, do you have a way to recreate the Skinny Crisps crackers? They are really good, but very expensive. Since you are so good at making things economical, I thought you might be able to do this!!!!
Thanks!!!
And, please post the pumpkin chia pudding recipe!!!!
Thanks! I have never had them. Don’t feel like spending that money to try them. Maybe I’ll have to. Are they almond flour and chickpea flour? I couldn’t completely tell from the ingredient list. Thanks!! Which flavor are you interested in?? I’d hate to try to make something and have them not work out to taste the same though…
Adrienne, what is the gluten free flour blend that you use to make soft cookies?? I think the type and amts of GF flours make a big difference on the consistency. Thanx.
BTW, I am working on a written version of my awesome Breakfast Pumpkin Pies and Breakfast Pecan Custard Pie (variations for Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Grain Free). It is not egg free, but you would probably figure that out.
Hi Michele. You know, I am such a non perfectionist when it comes to GF flour blends. I pretty much use whatever I have. But typically I do a mix that is a little heavy on sweet brown rice, and then add some millet, some rice (sometimes) and some buckwheat. I don’t use sorghum often. Does that help? And are you planning on sending those recipes my way, I hope :-)?!?!
Oh, I HAVE to make these! I’ll make them Gluten free, dairy free and low sugar.
Hi Adrienne
Do you have a recipe with amounts & instructions for your whole grain flour? Do you have any mixes that you keep on hand to cut down on prep. time? Because of the change in the ingredients; egg replacer and other changes what flours work best for baking cakes, cookies & pastries? Would you use the same flour for pancakes & waffles? Do you ever use almond flour; chick pea flour? There is so much to learn so any help is greatly appreciated.
CherylAnne
Hi there. This is something I really should “refine” but I haven’t. I pretty much just grind up what I have and don’t worry about things being perfect. I do like to use quite a bit of sweet brown rice since it has a bit of a gummy texture to it. Then I add in some millet, buckwheat, and maybe some amaranth or plain rice. I don’t typically keep mixes around – if I have extra of this blend I will use that, or if I have individual flours ground up I will just mix them when baking.
The egg replacer is what I used and the cookies turned out great so that should affect anything. I am not an “iron chef” when it comes to using GF flours. Obviously, the starches work best for cookies and cakes and pastries, but I am not willing to forego using whole grains for my family’s health so I use very few to none of those. I use whole grains flours only and just deal w/ sometimes “less than perfect” results.
The only time I will use starches (tapioca, etc.) is when making something like a cake and then I try to cut whatever the recipe’s amount of starch is in half to increase nutrition.
I think pancakes are more forgiving and I use straight buckwheat flour in my buckwheat pancakes (see recipe page). Waffles are harder. You can see my teff waffles which are GREAT – just no photo yet. I do grind my own almond meal but so far use very little blanched almond flour since it’s so expensive. The meal / ground flour is a little more coarse but I like having it as a main ingredient b/c it’s easy to reproduce in my kitchen. Regarding chick pea flour, I like bean flours, but the ones in the stores are from beans that haven’t been degassed (see my post on de-gas beans). So I have dried some of my own to grind, but of course that is time consuming. Hope that helps – whew – I need to write a post on this!
Oh my goodness. Snickerdoodles are tied with pumpkin cookies as my favorite..and you just went and put the two together. Awesome! I’m going to try making these grain free (wish me luck lol) and add some chai tea to them. *doing the happy dance*
Yea! I so hope it works. I am for sure not the grain free whiz…..but I’m thinking an almond / coconut flour combo would work. Enjoy!!! 🙂