Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies

Healthy-ish gluten free pumpkin spice breakfast cookies, made with dates, fall pumpkin, and plenty of spice, make a great easy breakfast or afternoon snack.

It’s always nice to have a ready-made breakfast option already on hand for busy mornings, and these little cookies are all about fall. With our DIY cardamom pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin puree, dates, and hazelnuts, we’ve packed every seasonal treat we could think of into one cookie!

Plus a little chocolate, because everything tastes better when chocolate is involved and these pumpkin breakfast cookies are no exception. We don’t mind a little chocolate in our healthy cookies around here – our ultimate breakfast cookies and lactation cookies have a bit, too.

There are a number of substitution options provided for these cookies, so make sure to check that section further down. They’re a flexible little treat and you probably have everything you need on hand already (at least with using the substitutions).

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Method
• Tips and Notes
• Substitutions
• Recipe

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

• Rolled oats
• Hazelnut meal (see substitutions)
• Oat flour
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Baking soda
• Sea salt
• Pumpkin puree (how to make your own pumpkin puree)
• Soft dates
• Hazelnut butter (see substitutions)
• Coconut oil
• Dark chocolate
• Chopped hazelnuts (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the oats, hazelnut meal, pumpkin spice, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine.

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Add the pumpkin puree, dates, hazelnut butter, and coconut oil to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and blend until smooth. You can also use a smaller blender or strong immersion blender for this step.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until you have a slightly sticky dough. Fold in the chocolate and chopped nuts. (Don’t worry about over-mixing – no gluten!)

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Use a cookie scoop or large spoon to scoop out about eight balls of dough, each about two tablespoons, onto the baking sheet. Flatten the cookies slightly with your hands.

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Bake the cookies for about ten minutes, or until the edges and tops are lightly golden. Cool them for a further ten minutes on the tray before removing to cool fully on a rack.

Tips and Notes

Since these are gluten-free and vegan, they are very slightly crumbly, they should be transported in a hard-sided container rather than a bag if you plan on moving them. They will break down if squished.

The cookies can be stored at room temperature for a couple of days, but should be refrigerated or frozen for any longer period of time due to the high fruit and moisture content. They freeze well in a sealed container for up to a month.

Some types of pumpkin puree and some types of nut butter will vary significantly in terms of moisture content. Refer to the step-by-step photos for the consistency of the cookie dough and alter yours if necessary (by adding slightly more flour or a splash of milk).

Substitutions

Hazelnut meal can be made by blending raw hazelnuts in a food processor until a fine meal forms. Alternatively, use store bought almond meal instead. For a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds – but note that they may make the insides of your cookies turn green.

Any kind of nut or seed butter can be used in place of hazelnut butter. Almond is excellent, and our recommendation, but sunflower seed butter and peanut butter work as well. Try to use something that doesn’t overwhelm the other flavours (which peanut butter tends to do).

If it doesn’t matter to keep the cookies gluten-free, use regular flour in place of the oat flour.

Coconut oil helps to solidify the cookies a bit when they cool, but other oils can be used if you prefer, like olive. We haven’t tried but butter should be fine as well.

More Pumpkin Recipes

Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Loaf with Maple Drizzle
Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
Gluten Free Pumpkin Biscuits with Cheddar and Green Onion
Cinderella Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust
Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.

This post was originally shared in October 2018. It has been updated with new photos and some improvements to the recipe and text as of September 2020.