Edible Pumpkin Cookie Dough
Edible pumpkin cookie dough is the ultimate no-bake snack or dessert! Thick, creamy and full of fall flavors, this creamy pumpkin cookie dough is made with simple ingredients that you likely have on hand already! This healthier dessert recipe is vegan, gluten free and dairy free!
Why you will love this recipe
- It’s edible cookie dough! If you grew up eating the last bit of cookie dough or stealing some from the fridge, this recipe is for you! Since this recipe is egg free and uses almond flour and oat flour, there are not any ingredients that can make you sick eating the dough raw. Did you know that regular flour should not be eaten raw, as there is a danger of e-coli?
- Easy to make – this recipe is so simple; all you need is a mixing bowl and a spatula or spoon. No hand mixers or stand mixers required. This would be a great recipe to have small kids help you with or for a beginner chef/baker to make.
- Made with simple ingredients – you likely have all the ingredients you need to make this edible pumpkin cookie dough if you usually bake gluten free treats! You can even make your own oat flour if you don’t have any on hand!
- You can freeze extra for later or even bake extra into cookies! Edible pumpkin cookie dough can be stored in the fridge for a few days or stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can easily bake this into gluten free pumpkin cookies too!
Ingredients
- Pumpkin puree – canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) or homemade pumpkin puree is needed for this recipe. Be sure that the only ingredient in the can is pumpkin, as pumpkin pie mix can have added spices and sweeteners.
- Coconut sugar (or brown sugar) – coconut sugar sweetens the cookie dough and has a similar taste as brown sugar. Coconut sugar is made from the sap of the coconut palm tree and is full of vitamins and minerals (potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron and B Vitamins).
- Almond butter – this is used to help make the pumpkin cookie dough thick and creamy. You could also use cashew butter or tahini or sunbutter if you need this to be nut free.
- Almond flour – almond flour is packed with healthy fats, fiber, and some protein. It’s made by grinding up peeled almonds. To make this nut free, you could also use sunflower seed meal (which is made by grinding up sunflower seeds).
- Oat flour – oat flour is made by grinding up oats. If you need this recipe to be gluten free, be sure to use a gluten free oat flour or gluten free oats to make your own oat flour.
- Spices: Pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, pinch of salt – these really make this edible cookie dough have those fall flavors that we all associate with pumpkin! If you don’ have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can use 2 parts cinnamon, ¾ part nutmeg and ¼ part ground ginger in a pinch.
- Vanilla extract – vanilla extract really gives this edible pumpkin cookie dough the cookie vibe. This is optional but really helps to add to the flavor of the dough.
- Chocolate chips – I love using mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life Brand is my go to for this) as it allows you to get a little bit of chocolate chip in every bite of pumpkin cookie dough.
How to make pumpkin cookie dough
In a medium sized bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, almond butter, coconut sugar and vanilla extract. Stir well.
Add the almond flour, oat flour, spices and vanilla extract to the bowl with the pumpkin puree. Stir well.
Add chocolate chips (and any other mix-ins) and stir well. Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Top tips
- Be sure to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling in this recipe. Pumpkin pie filling has added spices and sugar included in it.
- You can make your own oat flour using a high-speed blender. Simply add oats to the blender and blend until it resembles flour. You may have to run it a few times to get it all broken down.
- Make it nut free – replace the almond flour with sunbutter or tahini and replace the almond flour with sunflower seed flour. You can make your own sunflower seed flour or buy it online.
Other mix-in ingredients
- White chocolate chips (Enjoy Life and Pasha Brand both make a dairy free version)
- Dried fruit: Dried cranberries, raisins, dried ginger, dried apples, dried cherries
- Nuts and seeds: Chopped pecans, walnuts, sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
- Crunch: Add flaky salt to the top after mixing.
How to enjoy edible pumpkin cookie dough
Eat it with a spoon right out of the bowl (it is edible cookie dough after all)
Serve it with graham crackers, cookies, pretzels, sliced bananas, sliced apples
On bagels, pancakes or waffles to take them to the next level
Common questions
Can you cookie dough without cooking the flour?
Because of the potential of bacteria or e-coli, it’s usually not advised to eat cookie dough without baking it first. This is because wheat flour is not cooked before it’s processed, so it’s technically raw and can be contaminated easily.
However, you can eat almond flour without cooking it in advance. Almond flour can be eaten raw since it’s made from almonds.
Oat flour is made from grinding up rolled oats. To make rolled oats, the oats are first steamed to remove the hard outer shell of the oats, then they are pressed to flatten them. Because of this process, oat flour is not a raw product, so it’s safe to eat in cookie dough.
Note: If you substitute the oat flour with any kind of gluten free flour substitute, you may want to bake the flour in a 350F oven for 5-7 minutes until the flour reaches 160F. Then you will need to allow the flour to cool before using in the recipe.
Can you bake this pumpkin cookie dough into cookies?
Yes! You can make this edible pumpkin cookie dough into gluten free vegan pumpkin cookies.
The cookie dough does not have any baking powder, so you will need to add 1 teaspoon baking powder to ensure the cookies rise when baking.
Bake the cookies at 350F for 12 minutes.
Can you make oat flour at home?
Yes, it’s easy to make oat flour at home with just a high-speed blender or food processor. Put rolled oats or quick cooking oats to the blender or food processor. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes, stopping as needed to check the consistency.
Optional: Sift the oat flour through a fine mesh sieve or strainer if you want to ensure it’s all broken down before using the flour.
Store leftover oat flour in the pantry for up to 3 months.
How to make sunflower seed flour?
You can make your own sunflower seed flour by blending raw sunflower seeds in a food processor until it resembles flour. Don’t allow the sunflower seeds to go too far, or you will make sunbutter.
To ensure that the sunflower seed flour doesn’t have any large pieces of sunflower left in it, run the sunflower seed flour through a fine mesh sieve or strainer.
Can you freeze edible pumpkin cookie dough?
Yes, you can freeze this pumpkin cookie dough for up to 3 months. I would recommend freezing it in 1 tablespoon portions so that you can pop one or two servings out at a time. To do this easily, you can use Soupercubes 2 tablespoon portions or a silicone ice tray.
Once frozen, move them into a freezer safe bag and be sure to put the name, date and use by date on the bag.
Storing leftover cookie dough
Fridge: Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Store in the freezer for up to 3 months in a freezer safe bag or container.
Substitutions
- Pumpkin puree: you could also use butternut squash puree or sweet potato puree in place of the pumpkin puree. If you don’t want the pumpkin flavor, you could also use mashed bananas.
- Coconut sugar: You could use maple sugar, date sugar or regular brown sugar in place of the coconut sugar.
- Almond butter: Use cashew butter, tahini or sunflower seed butter (sunbutter).
- Almond flour: Use almond meal (in a pinch, it will create a grittier texture), cashew flour (or cashew meal), or sunflower seed flour (you can make this at home or buy it).
- Oat flour: If you want this recipe to be 100% paleo and oat free, you can simply omit the oat flour. The texture will be a little less creamy but still very good. If you don’t have oat flour, you can make your own with oats and a high speed blender or food processor (see above for instructions).
- Spices: If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, combine ¾ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger. If you don’t have cinnamon, you can just use extra pumpkin pie spice.
- Vanilla extract: this is optional, so if you don’t have it, simply omit it.
- Chocolate chips: you could also use white chocolate chips, dried fruit or chopped nuts/seeds.
If you love this recipe, you should try
Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats (No Bake)
Edible Pumpkin Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 2 tbsp. oat flour
- 1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, almond butter and vanilla extract. Stir well.
- Add the almond flour, oat flour, pumpkin spice, cinnamon and pinch of salt to the bowl with the pumpkin. Stir well.
- Add chocolate chips to the cookie dough and stir well. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 5 days.
Notes
- Be sure to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling in this recipe. The pumpkin pie filling has added spices and sugar already included in it, so it’s not a swap for pure pumpkin puree.
- You can make your own oat flour using a high-speed blender. Simply add oats to the blender and blend until it resembles flour. You may have to run it a few times to get it all broken down.
- Make it nut free – replace the almond flour with sunbutter or tahini and replace the almond flour with sunflower seed meal (or sunflower seed flour). You can make your own sunflower seed flour using a high speed blender or food processor or buy it online.
