These chewy pumpkin spice molasses cookies are perfectly spiced and so delicious! Enjoy these with your cup of coffee or tea this fall.
Is there a dessert or treat that you realllly missed when you went gluten free?
For me, that treat was a molasses cookie from Starbucks. Those cookies were perfectly chewy and spicy, and I loved them.
Well, I’ve come up with a delicious substitution for those Starbucks treats – these gluten free pumpkin spice molasses cookies.
These cookies are my new favorite fall treat. They are soft, chewy, and so perfect with tea or hot cider.
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten Free Flour – These cookies work really well with many brands of gluten free flour. This time, I made them with the Namaste Perfect Flour blend, and the recipe yielded very chewy, soft cookies that my kids loved.
- Vegan Buttery Spread – I use Earth Balance Soy Free Vegan Buttery Spread for baking. These cookies should work well with any brand of buttery spread that works for you. If you don’t need to be dairy free, go ahead and use regular butter.
- Pumpkin Puree – You will want to use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which has extra ingredients like sugar.
Step by Step Instructions
- Mix your ingredients.
- Roll the dough into balls, and roll those in a bowl of granulated sugar.
- Place the sugar-coated balls on a baking sheet. Flatten slightly with your hand.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool before eating.
FAQs
Different gluten free flours absorb more or less liquid than others. If you follow this recipe and the dough seems unusually wet or dry, you can add a little more pumpkin puree, or more flour if the dough is too wet.
If your gluten free baked goods are turning out hard or tough, you may be over-mixing the dough. Just mix until combined so the dough doesn’t get tough.
Yes, you can freeze this cookie dough. Scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet, and freeze for one hour, then store the cookie dough balls in a freezer bag. You can store the frozen cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Storage
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
See the video below for how to make these gluten free vegan cookies!
Disclosure: This post contains paid affiliate links.
Recipe
Chewy Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies (Gluten Free, Vegan).
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten free flour blend Namaste Perfect Flour Blend works well
- ½ cup vegan buttery spread
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ⅛ cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1 ¾ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream the vegan buttery spread and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the molasses, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree and mix until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time while mixing together on low speed.
- Pour a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Form balls of dough about one inch in diameter and roll in the sugar. Place the balls on the lined cookie sheets and flatten them slightly.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 24 cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in October 2015. It has been updated with new photos and text.
Roxie
Amazing cookies!! I unsure about it but made it and they were fluffy and perfect. I am in love with molasses cookies. 💜 Wish I could show everyone a picture.
Kelly Roenicke
So glad you enjoyed them! :)
Danielle
Beautiful cookies and delicious!
Marli
How do these cookies stay together? I can’t imagine them having much binding power without an egg. Please enlighten me :)
Kelly Roenicke
Pumpkin! It really works. :)
Karen Dixon
Hi can you use oil in place of the butter?
Kelly Roenicke
If you can’t do butter or buttery spread, I would recommend palm shortening.
kathy
Hi Kelli….I just made your no-bake sunbutter granola bars from your cookbook and after the 2 hours of letting set before cutting, they are still soft. Yours in the picture of your cookbook, look hard like granola bars. Should they be?
Kelly Roenicke
Can you try refrigerating them before cutting them? That will help them set.