Treats can be gluten-free and taste good! These Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies were a huge hit at the tasting party for Boo’s 2nd grade class healthy food unit. Boo’s teacher thought the party would be a great opportunity to tell the class about Celiac disease, and I agreed. All the kids loved them, and they all agreed that they tasted just like the cookies they were used to.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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This is a great recipe to make with your kiddos. I planned to make it with my two youngest, and somehow ended up with half the neighborhood in my kitchen! They were so cute. They each donned an apron, washed their hands, and took turns adding ingredients. I didn’t know baking cookies would attract such a crowd!
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Ready for the recipe? I adapted mine from this recipe by Chef Tess Bakeresse.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 T molasses
- 1 can (15 oz solid pack) pumpkin
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 6 cups Pamela’s Gluten-Free Bread Mix & Flour Blend
- 1T baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp xanthum gum
- 1 T Saigon cinnamon *Costco’s corporate office confirmed that Kirkland brand Siagon Cinnamon is gluten free.
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 3 cups Nestle Toll House Mini Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter, applesauce, sugars, and molasses. Add the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla. Mix well (about 2 minutes). Add the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir well and add chocolate chips. Drop by rounded Tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. (I used rounded teaspoons to make mini cookies for the tasting party.) Bake 10-12 minutes for mini cookies or 14 min for larger cookies. Remove from baking sheet to a cooling rack. Yields about 8 dozen mini pumpkin cookies.
Resist the temptation to open the oven and peek to see if the cookies are done. They won’t puff up as well if you keep peeking!
I stored some cookies in the fridge, and some in the freezer. The cookies in the freezer have a much better texture. After a day or two, the cookies in the fridge got a little doughy in texture, but still tasted the same. I suggest the freezer.
(I know . . . you’re wondering how I got away with cookies at a healthy food party. These cookies contain pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, dark chocolate and unsweetened applesauce. That’s a fruit, a vegetable, and lots of antioxidants. I think it can certainly be argued they are more healthy than a regular cookie!)
These are the mini cookies I made for school. Be careful if you make mini. You won’t be able to stop eating them! Mini means you can have all you want, right?
So, go ahead. Put them to the test. Do your kids notice the difference? My kids (and my helpers from the neighborhood) gave them a big thumbs up!
I found that a full recipe makes quite a few cookies! If your will power can’t handle that many, make half a recipe and use the pumpkin for some other goodies like these:
Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes (Gluten Free)
Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes
A note about flour blends. I’ve made these cookies with three different flour blends, and each had a different result. The best–by far–was Pamela’s Bread Mix. The bean-based flour I tried was the worst. My gluten-free flour blend was right in the middle. The taste was perfect, but the texture was slightly more grainy than with Pamela’s mix. If you can’t afford to use Pamela’s mix (it is not cheap), let your dough rest as long as you can stand it. (Even overnight–if you can wait that long!) This gives the rice flour a chance to soften up, and your cookies will have a better texture.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope to see you again soon.
Here are some more fun ideas for Fall! (Images below are linked.)
Click here to see all the fantastic sites I like to link up with each week.
Hi Heidi, Thanks for the invite. I’ve shared my Pumpkin-Date Blondies recipe. Love pumpkin treats! :)
this is GENIUS! i am new to Gluten Free and excited to check out your link ups — thanks to @linkyhere for sharing your party with me on twitter!
Thanks, Heidi, for inviting me over! :) I’ve shared my Grain-Free Peanut Bread (my super-picky 5-year-old’s favorite), Grain-Free Chocolate Muffins made with golden flaxseed meal, and my new favorite dessert, Pumpkin Pie Pudding!
Hi Heidi! Thank you for the invite! I shared my Roasted Butternut Squash & Carrot Soup and I ca’t wait to have a look at the other recipes linked here!
Have a lovely week!
Hey, Heidi. Thanks for the visit to my blog and the invite. I added you to my reading list, put your link on my Gluten-Free page, and linked that page up here as per your request. :) Hope it can be a real help to others. Look forward to participating again next week! :) Take care.
Hi Heidi, thanks for inviting me to share here. I’ve posted my recipe for GF Ravioli dough made with beets, and some suggestions for using patty pan squash, with a recipe for steamed squash and sweet butter :)
Hi Heidi, thanks for inviting me to GF Mondays! I shared my GF version of Mandel Bread (also called Strudel) which is fun to make with kids because they can help roll out the dough and then add lots of yummy fillings. Then it’s even more fun to eat.
Your pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe looks amazing, by the way! Can’t wait to try it out on my pumpkin loving family.
Glad we linked up!
-Dana
It’s always good to have a gluten-free option. Thanks for this!
Thank you for stopping by my site and inviting me to you link up party! I’ve linked up my Red chile sauce. Enjoy! Thanks for hosting and I love those pumpkin cookies! Perfect treat for the fall!
Mmm, those cookies look fabulous! Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!
With so many people finding they are allergic to gluten, its’ wonderful to find so much inspiration here on your blog with ideas to still eat ‘fun’! Thanks for sharing at tip toe thru tuesday!
LOVE LOVE LOVE that these are gfree! Can’t wait to try them! :)
xo
Candie
http://www.craftbaby.com
Heidi – these cookies look very tasty!:)
I am going to tell my friend who has two GF kiddos about this- what a great resource! I host the Photo Friday Blog Hop and welcome you to join up with this or any other post you think readers would enjoy. Hope to see you there. Cheers!
wonderful list of G free yummies. thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things hop. Sorry I’m a bit slow getting here xo
Great recipe!! Thanks for sharing at the Pomp Party! Hope to see you back next week!
These cookies look wonderful. Thanks for sharing on Tout It Tuesday! Hope to see you tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing these yummy gluten free cookies at Gettin’ Krafty!
Those look so yummy! Thanks for sharing at the Pomp Party! Hope to see you back next week!
Guess what?? Your tasty post is being featured in our Feature Friday post today! We are in love with your sweet treat and have added you to the Top 10 Super Sweet Halloween Treats.
We will pin you to Pinterest and you will be featured on our Facebook page.
Stop on in and see your feature: http://bowdabrablog.com/2012/10/12/feature-friday-bowdabra-top-crafty-showcase-picks-18/
Don’t forget that the new linky opens at midnight Friday night! We can’t wait to see what else you share!
Susie at Bowdabra
Oh, how yummy!! My daughter would love these. Thank you so much for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Hi Heidi,
These look so good. I am going to have to make them soon. Thank you so much for sharing with Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party last week. This weeks Link Party is opened at
http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/10/almond-sugar-body-scrub-and-wednesdays.html
from Wednesday until Sunday.
Hope to see you there.
Debi Bolocofsky
Adorned From Above
http://www.adornedfromabove.com
Yum, if they are kid-approved they must be good! Thanks for joining Snacktime Saturday :)
The Crock-Pot Duo is perfect for entertaining
and having the two slow cookers that adjust independently of each other.
Take this 5 minutes to go ahead and clean up the slow cooker.
Move any flammable objects away from the slow cooker.
Heidi, this recipe looks delicious and nutritious! Thanks for sharing…this would be great for after school snacks & in lunch boxes! :D
Look at your little helpers! So sweet! I love when my boys are in the kitchen w/me. Great recipe!
I’ve never tried pumpkin cookies but these look fabulous!
Fabulous recipe. I would be honored if you would stop by and share this recipe at Foodie Fridays (Thursday 9 pm EST) this week. Have a wonderful rest of your week and I hope to see you there!
Blessings,
Shari
I can’t wait to try these for a friend. Pumpkin and chocolate are so great together.
These pumpkin cookies look amazing. I am really glad you shared on Gluten Free & DIY Tuesdays. I can’t wait to try them :-)
http://www.fearlessdining.com/2014/09/15/gluten-free-diy-tuesdays/
I love these cookies…..delicious and gluten-free. You can’t get any better than that.
Heidi those cookies look so yummy! I love Pumpkin and Chocolate together! So cute that your daughters are helping you too. Love it :D
So glad you came up with a gluten free version of this recipe. I can’t make my regular recipe anymore for me.
I love your pictures with this recipe and its always great to have some gluten free recipes in my box.
I love this combo! Pumpkin + chocolate = yum! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :) I can’t wait to see what you share this week! Its LIVE!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
These cookies look so delicious….I LOVE your helpers too!
These cookies look fabulous! I don’t think I have ever seen a good gluten-free recipe for cookies with pumpkin and chocolate chips before.I am going to love them!
Enjoy, Wanda. They’re super yummy. I found that they definitely taste best with Pamela’s flour, though.