Date-Sweetened Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (Vegan, GF, Fruit-Sweetened, Nut-Free)

Jan 2
3 min read

This time around, it's a snickerdoodle cookie recipe in pumpkin that is date-sweetened! These cookies are thick, wholesome, chewy, fluffy, with a slight crinkly top and they are the perfect fall/winter cookie. Infused with real pumpkin purée, pumpkin spice, and pepita flour, they aren't deficient in pumpkin flavor. Like a PSL but better and in cookie form. They are finished with a sprinkle of pumpkin spice and date sugar, and are satisfyingly sweet, all while retaining a nice orange color. As always, they are vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar free. This time, they're also nut-free, coconut-free, and small batch. And they are very quick and easy to make. Perfect for fall, winter, and whenever you want a burst of pumpkin flavor!

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So, for those of you who know and love my Keto Matcha Snickerdoodles recipe, these Date-Sweetened Pumpkin Snickerdoodles are the long-awaited date-sweetened sequel, in pumpkin flavor instead of matcha!

These cookies are moist, soft, chewy, thick, and fluffy and are sweet, pumpkin-y, and beautifully spiced! Plus they are nutrient-dense and are made without dairy, eggs, gluten-containing flours, and refined sugar. And there are no nuts or coconut ingredients in these cookies, either!

If you're not a fan of the typical thin/snappy/crispy/chewy snickerdoodles, these cookies offer a nice, tender, wholesome, and more substantial alternative texture-wise. And the flavor is truly like biting into autumn. These cookies are the quintessential feel-good baked good, comfort-cookie style.

An added bonus? These snickerdoodles don't have cream of tartar in them, so if you don't have this unusual ingredient in your pantry, don't worry because these snickerdoodles don't need them! They're tangy and rise just fine without them. AND these cookies are small batch. Sold yet?

Substitutions in these Date-Sweetened Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Vegan butter:

try softened coconut oil instead with mixed results

Date sugar:

use maple sugar or coconut sugar instead. See my Keto Matcha Snickerdoodles recipes for low-carb snickerdoodles without any sugar

Pumpkin purée:

this is kind of the point because they're pumpkin snickerdoodles. But you can use cooked butternut squash purée, cooked sweet potato purée, OR fresh homemade pumpkin purée instead

GF oat flour:

you can try brown rice flour, additional pumpkin seed flour, OR additional tigernut flour instead with mixed results

Pumpkin seed flour:

try using additional tigernut flour OR replace it with almond flour with mixed results

Tigernut flour:

try additional pumpkin seed flour OR replace it with almond flour with mixed results

Sea salt:

use table salt instead or omit the salt

Baking soda:

this is necessary, as it's a leavener/leavening agent and can't exactly be replaced. You can add cream of tartar to boost the leavening action of the baking soda, but this isn't necessary

Vanilla extract:

use an equivalent amount of a freshly scraped vanilla bean, pure ground vanilla beans (black powder AKA the seeds, pre-scraped), vanilla powder (white powder), vanilla paste (white, sugar-scrub-like form), OR sugar-free vanilla syrup. Alternatively, you can omit the vanilla

Pumpkin spice:

make your own with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, & cardamom OR use just cinnamon instead (both for the cookies themselves and for rolling)

Pepitas/raw pumpkin seeds:

these are optional (for rolling), but try sunflower seeds instead or chopped walnuts or chopped pecans