A seasonal twist on my most popular recipe, Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies. Chewy, cake-like, and addictively delicious, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are gluten-free, low in sugar, and full of wholesome ingredients.
If pumpkin and chocolate sound like a match made in heaven, check out my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread. It's gluten-free and oh-so tasty. For more pumpkin season cookies, these Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies have you covered.
Perfect for the fall season, you're going to love the satisfying chewy texture of these almond flour pumpkin cookies, packed with delicious dark chocolate chips and crunchy walnuts.
Pumpkin and chocolate are my favorite fall baking buddies, the combination has appeared on the blog before in the form of pumpkin chocolate chip bread and I promise there are many more pumpkin chocolate recipes to come! Pumpkin chocolate chip cake has been my preferred birthday cake for as long as I can remember (I just had several slices last weekend! Happy Birthday to me!)
These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with walnuts are gluten-free, low in sugar, and high in deliciousness!
#AKPumpkinWeek2020 – This is our final recipe for Pumpkin Week this year! I cannot wait for you to try all of the pumpkin deliciousness. Here is the pumpkin recap:
Day 1: Pumpkin Cookie Protein Smoothie
Day 2: Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto
Day 3: Pumpkin Spice Scones
Day 4: Pumpkin Garlic Vinaigrette – Fall Harvest Salad
And today…. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Let's give 'em pumpkin to talk about and Let's Get Baking!
Ingredients Needed
See the full recipe card below for ingredient quantities.
- Almond flour – Almond “meal” will work but almond flour works better. My preferred brand is Bob's Red Mill
- Pumpkin Puree – Not pumpkin pie filling, you can make homemade using this recipe or buy canned.
- Coconut Sugar – AKA Coconut Palm Sugar. Brown sugar will also work- I prefer the taste and healthier profile of these over refined white sugar.
- Butter – I use salted butter, unsalted will also work or for a vegan/ dairy-free substitute use coconut oil.
- Large Eggs – You can sub the equivalent of two flax or chia eggs for a non-egg/ vegan version.
- Vanilla – Good Madagascar vanilla is my first choice but any pure vanilla extract will work.
- Salt – Do not skip this ingredient!
- Chocolate Chips – Dark chocolate chips are my preference.
- Walnuts – I adore the combination of pumpkin, chocolate, and walnuts but you can eliminate them if you prefer cookies sans nuts.
Tools You'll Need
- Mixing Bowls
- Cookie Scoop
- Baking Sheet
- Silpat Baking Mats
- Parchment paper
How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
You are going to love how easy this is!
- Step One – Combine all dry ingredients.
- Step Two – Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl. Yes, you will need to use an electric mixer or a stand mixer to cream together butter and sugar first, then add egg, pumpkin, vanilla
- Step Three – Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine using a wooden spoon, do not over-mix
- Step Four – Chill in the fridge and set your oven temperature to 325°
- Step Five – Bake
- Step Six – Rest and cool cookies
- Step Seven – Enjoy the best chocolate chip pumpkin cookies you've ever had. Sorry…not a humble brag. Really though, I hope you love these as much as I do.
Helpful Tips
- Drain your Pumpkin! – This step is key for optimum pumpkin flavor. Pumpkin is a watery ingredient, draining out some of the excess water will produce a better cookie texture and increase pumpkin flavor. Place pumpkin in a paper towel over a small bowl. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes and then measure out 1/2 cup. The paper towels will not absorb all of the liquid but will absorb enough to make a difference. I've found that organic canned pumpkin tends to be more watery, there is also a lot of variation between different brands. Trader Joe's organic pumpkin is very watery, Thrive Market organic pumpkin is super dense and does not require draining. If you open your can of pumpkin and there is a very small layer of liquid on top – drain it!
- Chill the dough – The dough will be soft, chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or a quick stop in the freezer for 30 minutes)
- Take your cookies out of the oven before they seem done! – I am not a fan of dry hard cookies, I always prefer soft cookies with a crispy edge. Most cookies (IMHO) are overbaked. These chewy cookies are done when the bottoms are slightly brown and the tops of the cookies still seem quite soft. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, they will firm up a bit.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, almond flour is its own thing. It is denser than white flour and requires a different ratio of wet ingredients.
Yes, almond flour is considered a keto-friendly, low-carb flour. For comparison, 1/4 cup of almond flour has 3 grams of carbohydrates, whereas 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour contains nearly 24 grams of carbohydrates.
It is more expensive than white flour after all, it is ground almonds, however, I find recipes made with almond flour are more satisfying (most likely due to the protein, fiber, and fat that almonds provide). I've actually come to prefer almond flour-based cookies to those made with white flour in conventional recipes.
Almond flour tends to be more finely ground than almond meal. I find in most recipes they are interchangeable but in this recipe, I prefer the texture of almond flour to almond meal.
I used Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Almond Flour for this recipe. I tested the cookies with 4 different brands of almond flour and found Bob's Red Mill to be the superior choice, hands down.
Dietary Modifications
This DELISH recipe for almond flour pumpkin chocolate chip cookies is gluten-free and vegetarian, see below for additional dietary modifications.
- Vegan cookies – Substitute coconut oil for butter and flax or chia eggs (the equivalent of 2 eggs) for the eggs.
- Low Fodmap – Technically this recipe is low fodmap if you eat one cookie. This is wholly dependent on how well you tolerate coconut palm sugar and butter.
- Paleo – Substitute coconut oil for butter, although some paleo-leaning theories allow for grass-fed butter.
- Keto – You can make these cookies keto-friendly by replacing the coconut palm sugar with a non-nutritive sweetener.
Storage Tips
After some trial and error, I think the best way to store almond flour based cookies is under a glass dome. This allows some air to circulate but not so much that it causes them to quickly go stale and dry. Unfortunately, an airtight container and plastic wrap trap too much humidity causing the cookies to get a little too soggy. If you don't have a glass dome and need to use a Tupperware-type container, don't fully seal the top. Just allow it to sit atop the base so that a little bit of air can reach the cookies. If using plastic wrap, add a layer of paper towels around the cookies, then loosely wrap the plastic film over the paper towels.
I can’t wait for you to try this Almond Flour Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe! When you make it, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @abrapappa or use the hashtag #abraskitchen so I can feature your photo!
If you’ve tried this recipe, don’t forget to rate and leave a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Wet Ingredients
- 1/4 cup salted butter melted
- 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to combine, set aside.
- In a large bowl cream together melted butter and coconut palm sugar using an electric mixer. Beat for 1-2 minutes until slightly frothy. Add egg yolk, full egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla, mix until well combined.
- Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Stir well using a wooden spoon. Add chocolate chips and stir well to combine.
- Dough will be quite soft. Cover dough with wax paper and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
- Preheat oven temperature to 325°
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Using a tablespoon or small cookie scoop drop batter onto onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Alternatively, form the dough into 1/2 inch balls.
- Press the dough down gently with your fingers to flatten the balls slightly. Do not flatten all the way.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes.
- Remove from oven (the cookies will appear soft) and place tray on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. They will firm up as they rest and cool.
Notes
- You can use softened butter rather than melted butter in this recipe. The dough will still be quite soft and the recipe will perform better if you chill the dough
- Melted butter results in a slightly crispier edge on the cookie, whereas softened butter makes more soft and chewy cookies.
Nutrition
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Kayla says
Before refrigerating the dough is it very dry and soft? Moldable when squished together but very dry looking?
Abra Pappa, MS, CNS, LDN says
No my dough wasn’t very dry?
Mary says
The recipe doesn’t say when to add the walnuts, but I’m assuming they are meant to be added with the chocolate chips?
Abra Pappa, MS, CNS, LDN says
Yes, exactly and thanks for the catch I’ll update the recipe now.
Dana Suss says
And I thought there wasn’t a way to make those cookies any better!!! Wow — these cookies are amazingly delicious and I loveeee the chewly, cake-like consistency.