Gluten-free, naturally sweetened Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies are a lovely way to start the day, and also make for a healthful snack. With three options for cookie add-ins you’ll never get bored of these beauties!
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Hey-o! Who’s up for a little choose-your-own-adventure cookie situation?
Insert arm-raised emoji here!
While homemade cookies are always plenty exciting for me, I’ve been known to toss in a few thrills to change things up a bit. So that’s what we have here today – a nutritious breakfast cookie (or snack) that can be made a myriad of ways.
I’ve given you three fresh and funky ideas for making these cookies fun and flavorful, but per usual with my recipes, you’re always welcome to let your hair down and explore other options.
With the holidays rapidly approaching, I’ve been thinking about healthy breakfast and dessert recipes for sharing or gifting to friends, family, co-workers, etc.
My family is big on having food available at all times on Thanksgiving, as we all assemble at my mom’s house in the morning and spend the whole day together, into the evening.
I remember making these Coconut Sweet Potato Breakfast Cookies ages ago and put them on repeat during the holiday months.
Perfect for a light breakfast, mid-morning or afternoon snack, or even a healthy dessert, these pumpkin breakfast cookies are nice and warmly spiced and full of all sorts of crunchy-good treats.
Using Bob’s Red Mill’s Coconut Flour and Gluten-Free Rolled Oats, these cookies turn out crispy yet soft, kind of like muffin tops.
I used pure maple syrup to sweeten the cookies, and added in some walnuts, shredded coconut, cacao nibs, and lots of cinnamon to make them nice and flavorful and also blasted with texture.
The ingredients yield a breakfast cookie that is high in fiber, contains a decent amount of protein, is gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, and perfectly suitable for your first meal of the day (or snack).
Full disclosure: these cookies are not very sweet, so for a sweeter version, consider adding a few tablespoons of coconut sugar or cane sugar.
You can also drizzle them with honey and serve them like you would a muffin (butter optional, but encouraged)!
When choosing your add-ins, you can get ultra creative! I made these cookies in three different ways by infusing them with the following goodies
- Goji berries & pumpkin seeds,
- Crystallized ginger
- Golden raisins
My favorite?
The crystallized ginger. It lends additional sweetness as well as a nice spicy zing.
Just note that crystallized ginger does contain cane sugar, so if you’re cane sugar-free, you’ll want to skip this version.
So here’s how you can go about making the recipe: You can make the “base recipe” without any add-ins and end up with a tasty treat, or choose which add-ins you’d like to include.
Simply make the base cookie dough, and toss any desired add-ins from there!
You can add more nuts (in addition to the walnuts), chocolate chips, dried blueberries or any dried fruit for that matter, and/or toss in some orange or lemon zest for some citrusy flair.
Also feel free to split the cookie dough in half or thirds and do a few different flavors.
Just note if you take this approach, you’ll want to then decrease the measurement on the add-in by one half or a third accordingly.
Basically, what I’m getting at is these cookies are definitely a choose your own adventure situation, where you can make them a staple in your home during the pumpkin season months (and beyond).
Happy cookie-ing!
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
Base Recipe:
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree I used canned
- 1/3 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 1/3 cups gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup raw cacao nibs optional
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly spray a large baking sheet.
- Whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, coconut milk, pure maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl (wet ingredients). Stir in the coconut flour, oats, shredded coconut, cacao nibs, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt (dry ingredients), and mix until a thick dough forms.
- Stir in any add-ins (i.e. crystallized ginger, golden raisins, or goji berries and pumpkin seeds).
- Form a ball out of about 1/4 cup of cookie dough, then press into a disc (note: the cookies do not expand, so they will stay the same size and shape through the baking process). Repeat for remaining cookie dough. Bake for 20 minutes.
Notes
- ⅔ cup goji berries + 3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
- ⅔ cup crystallized ginger, chopped
- ⅔ cup golden raisins or dried cranberries
I can’t figure out if maybe 20 minutes wasn’t enough time for the cookies to bake, or if they’re supposed to be quite moist inside. I doubled the recipe, was that a mistake?
These were delicious! I masa a double batch. 62%cacao chips in one, pepitoes and dried cranberries in another. What is the best way to store them and have you tried freezing them?
Erin
Wahoo!!! I’m so happy you like them! I haven’t tried freezing them yet…my guess is they would freeze well, although the texture may be a bit soft when they’re thawed. As long as you’re okay with that, I’d say go for it! – you can store them in a zip lock bag in either the freezer or the refrigerator 🙂 xo
Oh how I love a good breakfast cookie!! And this seasonal spin is just too fun! Now if only you could ship me one right now for snacking….
Do you think quinoa flakes would substitute for the oatmeal?
Thanks
Hi Patricia,
That’s a great question! Having no experience with quinoa flakes, I’m honestly not sure if it would work. I would say if you’ve had success replacing oats with quinoa flakes in the past, it should work out. I’ll keep you updated if I end up testing the recipe with the replacement. In the meantime, let me know if you try it!
These cookies sound perfect to me! I love a good wholesome cookie that’s not too sweet, and the more mix-in’s the better! The crystallized ginger is making my mouth water. 🙂 These look so wholesome and are the perfect thing to use with my coconut flour!
I’m all for cookies for breakfast! Although, let’s be real, I’d be eating them all day long. 🙂
I’m still so intimidated by coconut flour but you have mastered the art, my dear. I love how nutritious and satisfying these look!