I grew up baking in my mother’s kitchen. One of my favourite memories from my childhood was returning home from school to the smell of freshly baked cookies. To this day, Mom bakes her version of these classic soft and chewy, cake-textured pumpkin spice cookies. Earlier this year I tried and tested a gluten-free take on her original, and I’m delighted to share it with you now: a you-wouldn’t-know-it’s-good-for-you version that mimics Mom’s original recipe.
A quick note about flour: These days my general preference is to avoid grains which means baking primarily with almond and coconut flour. But it’s hard to get baked goods to taste as close to the original when using these substitutes. So, in this recipe I’ve used a combination of buckwheat, millet, sorghum and potato flour.
And finally, I’m commonly asked if I really eat cookies or if I just bake and serve them. YES, of course I eat cookies. Just not everyday. Enjoy these spiced goodies as a treat and be careful not to eat more than a few in a go (you’ll be tempted!).
Pumpkin Spice Cookies Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 2/3 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/3 cup millet flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- tsp Scant xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup pureed fresh pumpkin or canned pumpkin
- 3/4 cup butter or coconut oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
Add Ins:
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- Whole pecans for topping
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Whisk dry ingredients. Separately, beat wet ingredients and add to dry ingredients.
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Roll cookies into small bite size balls and place on greased cookie sheet.
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Press one whole pecan on top of each cookie.
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bake for 10-20 minutes or until cookies set. The absolute KEY to success is not to over bake these of they will be dry.
Recipe Notes
Feel free to omit the pecans and cranberries-I sometimes omit both.
You can add slightly more or less maple syrup to adjust to your desired sweetness.
