These easy vegan pumpkin cookies are quick to make, soft, and fluffy with the perfect amount of glaze. Top 8 Allergen Free option.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week.
We’ve made hundreds of dozens of the best vegan cookies, but every fall I HAVE to make a batch of these vegan pumpkin cookies.
If you love pumpkin pie, or pumpkin spiced lattes, or okay, pumpkin anything, we know you’ll love these and guess what, even if you don’t, we still think you’ll love this recipe!
Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Cookies
- Easy – This entire recipe comes together in just about 10 minutes and then you just have to wait for them to bake.
- Simple Ingredients – all the ingredients are things you typically have in your pantry, especially if you bake often
- Soft and Fluffy – These cookies are so soft and so fluffy. It’s like a comfort cookie if you will.
Jump to:
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make vegan pumpkin cookies Top 8 Allergen Free?
Whether you have a gluten allergy or dairy or another Top 8, you will be happy to know that you can make these completely free of top allergens.
For the vegan butter, we would recommend using a soy free vegan butter, like Earth Balance soy free in the red tub.
For the dairy free milk, any plant based milk can be used. We prefer oat, but use what you like best depending on your allergens.
For gluten free, we have had the best of luck with King Arthur Measure for Measure flour.
How long are vegan pumpkin cookies good for?
A good rule of thumb is that you can store most vegan cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature and they will last for approximately 5-7 days.
Can vegan pumpkin cookies be frozen?
Yes! You can either freeze the dough before cooking or freeze the cookies after. We prefer to freeze the dough before cooking.
What we have found works best is when you make the dough, form balls and then freeze the balls in either an air-tight container or ziplock style bag.
If you freeze the cookies after baking, make sure they are completely cooled. It’s best to let them freeze on a baking sheet before putting them into a bag so they don’t stick together.
Can I make these with butternut squash instead of pumpkin?
Absolutely! You just need the same amount of butternut squash as the recipes calls for pumpkin.
Why are my cookies flat?
These vegan pumpkin cookies are supposed to be round and thick. If your cookies happen to come out flat a few things could have happened.
The two most common reasons deal with the vegan butter and flour.
The vegan butter calls for softened butter. Usually, a common mistake is melting the butter or even warming it too much so that part of it melts. You want the butter to be soft. Softened butter for be pliable but still be slightly firm.
As far as flour, mismeasuring flour can completely alter the recipe. It’s best to spoon flour into the measuring cup and then scrape off excess with the a butter knife until an even layer.
Can I use a cream cheese frosting instead of the glaze?
Yes! Some people like a thicker frosting and it’s great on these pumpkin cookies.
You can use the vegan cream cheese frosting that we put inside of our vegan pumpkin rolls.
Alternatively, you could use the spiced cream cheese frosting in our vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
Can I add pumpkin pie extract to the glaze for even more pumpkin flavor?
Yes, you can add ¼ teaspoon and the rest vanilla or if you want even more pumpkin flavor, you can replace all the vanilla with pumpkin pie extract.
What other vegan cookie ideas could I make?
Whether you are doing a cookie exchange or you just want to switch up and make a new vegan cookie recipe, we have you covered.
We have over a dozen vegan cookie recipes that you can find when you click on ourbest vegan cookie recipes roundup.
We have everything from the salted caramel cookies to things like:
- vegan snickerdoodles
- vegan classic sugar cookies
- easy vegan chocolate chip cookies
- vegan peanut butter cookies
- vegan oatmeal cookies
- and more!
Just click here.
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups vegan cane sugar
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened
- 1 cup pumpkin
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons dairy free milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Lay parchment paper down on a baking sheet.
- Into a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, all spice and salt. Whisk together. Set aside.
- In a larger bowl, cream together vegan sugar and butter for 2-3 minutes. Add pumpkin, applesauce and vanilla. Beat again. Slowly beat in the flour mixture in parts just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Scoop out a tablespoon of the mixture and place on parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough. *Can do a larger size if you want a larger cookie, just make sure even size when baking
- Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove and let cool for 2-3 minutes before removing to a cookie rack to cool completely.
For the Glaze
- While cookies bake, combine powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of dairy free milk. Whisk together. Add in vanilla extract, whisk again until smooth. Add remaining tablespoon of milk if needed for consistency.
- Once cookies are completely cooled, drizzle glaze over cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make and love this recipe?
Click the 5 stars in the recipe card above or below in the comment section! This is a great way to support us so we can continue to bring great recipes!
top notch cookies🎃🧡🧡 pumpkin love
Can I chill the dough first before putting them in the oven to make rolling easier? Or will that effect the chemical reaction?
Don’t think twice about making these melt in your mouth cookies. I threw them together before work and everyone just about lost their minds. The dough is stickier than I anticipated so I couldn’t roll them into balls but I just scooped tbsp size dollops on the parchment and WOWOWOW. They are so fluffy, light, and perfectly Fall-y (is this an adjective? Not sure but I’m using it as such). AND THE GLAZE. Perfect. And my favorite part – vegan. Why make animals suffer when you can make delicious cookies without ANY dairy that tastes BETTER.
Love this! So glad you enjoyed. Thanks for taking time to leave a review, we appreciate it so much! Have a great week. (fall-y is totally a word!)