Vegan pumpkin cookies is this Halloween special! Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones....it's everything pumpkins in October and November!
A couple of years ago when my eldest was in pre-school I made these vegan pumpkin cookies for his class snack. A rotation system for bringing snacks to school was in place then and each student had to provide snacks to the class for 2 days once in few months.
The first day I made him these vegan brownie cupcakes which was a huge hit with the kids and the teachers and I was told that they were eagerly waiting for the next snack I was going to bring.
It was almost close to Halloween and I had some canned pumpkin puree left and wanted to make a recipe using it. That was also the time when I had bought The Taste of Home Baking Book. Found this pumpkin recipe in that book and the original recipe by itself was vegan, so I didn't have to worry about egg substitution. The only change I made was I used Earth Balance vegan butter alternative instead of the shortening used.
The eggless pumpkin cookies came out very well. If you like your cookies to be soft and chewy, you should try this recipe. The recipe also had instructions for frosting, since I was baking them for kids I omitted it. I didn't want them to become hyper-active in the class later.
You can simply add chocolate chips to this recipe instead of raisins or bake these vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe or try this easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
If you tried this Vegan Pumpkin Cookies recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Cookies:
- ½ Cup Shortening (I Used Crisco All)
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (Not Pumpkin Pie Filling Simply Canned Pumpkin Puree Or You May Also Choose To Buy Fresh Pumpkin And Cook It)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract (I Use Trader Joes Pure Vanilla Flavor Alcohol Free)
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon (I Made It ½ Teaspoon)
- A Dash Salt
- 1 Cup Raisins
Ingredients For Frosting:
- 2 Tablespoons Butter (Vegans Can Use Earth Balance Or Any Other Soy Products)
- 1 And ½ Cups Confectioner's Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Milk (For Vegan Version Use Soy Milk Instead)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Procedure for cookies:
- Preheat the oven at 350F for 15 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add pumpkin and vanilla.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix well.
- Fold in raisins.
- Drop by teaspoonfuls (I used ½ tablespoon measurement to scoop the dough) 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Mine took exactly 14 minutes for the batch which I baked in an aluminum baking sheet. The dark non stick baking sheet batch began to brown at 12 minutes itself. So watch closely.
- Remove to wire racks to cool.
Procedure for frosting:
- Melt butter in a small saucepan.
- Stir in the sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.
- Frost cooled cookies.
My Notes
- Since this was my first experience with shortening, when I began to cream it with sugar, I was sure that the cookies would not bake properly because it did not cream like softened butter and sugar. Shortening is more solid than butter, even at room temperature, so even after creaming it with a hand-held electric mixer for more than 7-8 minutes, it was sort of in a semi-solid state. Or maybe that's what is light and fluffy; I do not know. I proceeded with the recipe, but the cookies did not bake well enough.
- I think using freshly prepared pumpkin puree or adding more liquid (like milk/soymilk), or using canned pumpkin, would make the cookies even lighter and crispy. I used the canned puree, which is solid packed, so it does not have enough moisture. Already, the creamed mixture did not release any moisture, and the pumpkin puree was also solid, so the cookie dough was stiff. I was literally praying that the cookies should come out properly or I would have to run out to the store at 9 in the night to get something for the kids next day. Fortunately it came out well. Since I have not tasted pumpkin cookies before, I don't have anything to compare with. But we liked it very much. As I have mentioned earlier, the cookies were chewy and not crispy.
kumudha says
Vegan pumpkin cookies look so tasty! Thanks for sharing so many great eggless recipes.
PG says
such wonderful cookies! yum yum yum! I'm doing my eggless replacement flax seed experiment today, wish me luck! 🙂
Lakshmi Venkatesh says
Looks delicious. Pumpkin in cookies is new to me. Like to try it.
Kalai says
Gorgeous cookies, Madhu! I'd probably throw in some ginger powder just for fun. These look superb! 🙂
kamala says
The cookies look so colorful Madhu..
Uma says
wow, the cookies look so colorful and delicious Madhu! I also posted a pumpkin recipe today. BTW, got a treat for you! Check it out here:
http://teluguruchi.blogspot.com/2008/10/pumpkin-gel-pie.html
sangeeth says
I knew you would do something like this with pumpkin...god I am getting to know you better 🙂 so how was the diwali lecture in your kids school? had fun?took any pics? Being with your mom during Diwali is so cool madhu...wish I cud stay near your home so that I would have had a chance to eat great food prepared my your mom 🙂
Mattie says
Those look scruptastic! It's great that the recipe allowed you to cram so much pumpkin pure in there. Lots of the recipes I come up with don't allow for much pumpkin because it adds too much moisture to the recipe. I wish I could take a bite out of my screen!
DK says
They look so fluffy and yummy! Good one Madhu 🙂
I am sure U were a hit mommy at ur son's school and you might be having lots of kiddy fans and mommy enemies! hehehehe cos they wud be J of you..what do u say?
Priya says
Cookies looks scrumptious Madhu..lovely colour..
Sonu says
nice cookies...Madhuram. 🙂
Anjali Damerla says
Hey Madhuram,
Thanks for the mention. I am so glad that you liked my coconut burfi recipe.
TBC says
You've certainly been keeping yourself busy! 😀
Happy Diwali to you and your family, Madhuram!
Mansi says
The cookies do look pretty Madhu! but I agree, shortening can be hard for baking; I generally add milk to such recipes, and as you said, using fresh pumpkin puree would be a better idea too!
I'm sure the kids enjoyed all the goodies! 🙂
Anu Sriram says
That looks lovely... nice one to try!
Cilantro says
Hope you and your family had a wonderful Deepavali. I love the nice color of the cookies.
DivyA Vikram says
They look really delicious Madhu.And for the maida biscuits my mom cals them as diamond cuts..
Sweatha says
Love the cookies.From the pic,there seems to be no hint of pumpkin,they look like normal cookies with raisin.I know you had a wonderful Diwali,Wishing you again a prosperous New Year.
Usha says
Looks delicious...have never thought to try adding pumpkin in cookies yet...great idea 🙂
jayasree says
Lovely color. Recipe sounds interesting. Will keep in mind the points mentioned in notes section.