Soft, chewy, and made with cozy pumpkin pie spices, these Vegan Pumpkin Cookies feature a tangy white frosting that tastes just like cream cheese (no vegan cream cheese needed!). An easy 1-bowl fall dessert.
Want even more easy vegan pumpkin cookies? Try my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Vegan Pumpkin Snickerdoodles next.
I was looking for the perfect vegan pumpkin cookie recipe for YEARS, long before I started this blog and before I tested the first batch of these Vegan Pumpkin Cookies.
All I wanted were bakery-style and melt-in-your-mouth delicious cookies. They had to be generously frosted, soft and tender, and full of pumpkin pie spices. Basically, as far away from a healthy breakfast cookie recipe as possible.
I never found them. Instead, I created these best-ever pumpkin cookies! Soft, chewy, warmly spiced, and decorated with a sweet and tangy frosting, they’re perfect for bringing to holiday parties and get-togethers of all kinds. Your family and friends will never even guess they’re vegan!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This is my GO-TO for vegan pumpkin cookies. They always turn out insanely soft, chewy, and delicious!” – Shannon
Why you’ll love these pumpkin spice cookies
- Bakery-style cookies – I’ve actually never found a bakery with vegan-friendly pumpkin cookies as good as these! They’re super soft, chewy, puffy, and have the best pumpkin spice flavors.
- Tangy and sweet frosting – The pumpkin cookie frosting is incredible. It’s sweet and a little tangy, and tastes a lot like my Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting without needing any cream cheese.
- An easy 1-bowl fall treat – Just mix the 10-ish fall baking staples together in a bowl, shape the cookies, and bake!
If you have extra pumpkin puree to use up, why not make my popular Vegan Pumpkin Pie or these Pumpkin Stuffed Shells?
How to make vegan pumpkin cookies
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Cream the vegan butter and both sugars together in a large bowl. Next, add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices to the bowl. Gently stir until the flour is absorbed.
Scoop heaping tablespoons of the pumpkin cookie dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Flatten each cookie slightly with your palm.
Gently press the cookie dough balls
These cookies don’t spread much in the oven, so I recommend pressing them down slightly before baking. Remember to wet your hands lightly with water before pressing to prevent the dough from sticking.
Bake the pumpkin cookies until they’re puffy and the tops are no longer shiny. Set them aside to cool while you make the frosting.
To make the white frosting, beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy. Next, mix in the powdered sugar, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla.
Frost the cooled cookies generously and sprinkle a little cinnamon or nutmeg on top. Serve and enjoy!
For a frosting flavor boost…
If you want to take the cozy flavors in the frosting up a notch, mix in a drizzle of maple syrup, 1 to 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice, or 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree.
Frequently asked questions
To make gluten-free pumpkin cookies, swap the all-purpose flour with a quality all-purpose gluten-free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1. Almond flour or coconut flour will not work.
I haven’t tried this, but I’m sure it will work! Press the cookie dough into a parchment-lined 8- or 9-inch square pan and bake at 350ºF for 15 to 25 minutes or until it looks puffy and set. Spread the frosting on top once cool, then slice into bars.
These cookies are honestly SO good with or without the frosting. Some of my readers omitted the frosting and gently pushed chocolate chips or chopped pecans into the tops of the cookie dough balls before they went into the oven.
The baked and frosted cookies will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge, stored on a platter loosely covered in plastic wrap. You can also store them at room temperature, but they’ll only last for 1 or 2 days.
Heads up: the frosting doesn’t harden all that much after it sets on the cookies, so try not to pile the cookies on top of each other.
Personally, I find that this recipe makes enough frosting for all of the cookies. If you have leftover frosting, freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw the frosting in the fridge overnight and then spread it onto these Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls or on top of a cooled loaf of Vegan Pumpkin Bread the next day.
Sure, as long as they aren’t frosted. The unfrosted cookies should freeze well for about 2 months.
The Best Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cookies
- 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) vegan butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) vegan butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter with both the white and brown sugars. You can use a hand mixer or even a large wooden spoon if needed. Next, mix in 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin (you won't use quite the whole can!) and vanilla, until well combined and smooth.
- Now add the flour to the bowl, and sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt on top of the flour. Stir until just combined and a dough is formed. The dough will be wetter than most cookies, but do not worry, that is correct.
- Place heaping tablespoons (about 1 1/2-2 tablespoons) on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the cookie somewhat, as they will not spread much during baking. The dough will be sticky, so wet your hands before pressing down. Not so much that they are dripping, but just so the dough won't stick.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes, until the tops are no longer shiny. The cookies will have puffed up a bit as well. Remove from the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Make the Frosting: Using a hand mixer, beat the softened vegan butter for about 2 minutes until creamy, then add the powdered sugar, apple cider vinegar and vanilla and beat everything together until smooth and creamy, adding a tablespoon of non-dairy milk at a time as needed. If you add too much milk and it gets runny, you will need to add more powdered sugar.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, frost generously and sprinkle with a little bit of cinnamon or nutmeg, if desired.
Notes
- Leftover cookies are best stored in the refrigerator, on a plate covered with plastic wrap. They will stay good for 3-4 days this way. You can store them at room temperature for 1-2 days, but I prefer how they taste from the refrigerator and they will last longer.
- You can freeze the cookies without frosting, but I would not freeze frosted cookies if you can help it.
Great recipe, Nora. I added applesauce instead of butter. I wasn’t sure how that would work, but it did. Anytime I see a recipe from you, I know it’s going to be a winner!
Hi Judy. Thank you for loving my recipes! I’m so glad that the cookies turned out wonderful for you! I appreciate your awesome review of the cookies!
Delicious cake-like cookies with just the right amount of spices. I made a double batch of cookies and a single batch of icing and made “sandwich cookies”, with a thick layer of the yummy icing.
Hi Karen. I love the idea of sandwich cookies! Fabulous idea! Thank you for sharing your stellar review and wonderful comments! Wishing you happy cooking!
I absolutely love these cookies, and I’ve made them every year for the past three years! I’m hosting some friends tonight and one of them is gluten free. Is it possible to make these GF? If so, what baking adjustments would I need to make? Thanks in advance!
I’m glad you love the pumpkin cookies! Yes, you can substitute a quality gluten-free flour blend. I have pretty good luck with King Arthur Measure for Measure flour. Otherwise, keep everything else the same.
Hi there! Made these and loved them!! I modified them slightly and turned them into sourdough cookies ☺️ do you think the finished dough could be frozen if I only wanted to bake 12 at a time?
Thanks!!
Sounds lovely! Yes, you can freeze the dough.
Hi Jessica – very interesting idea to turn them into sourdough cookies!Would you be willing to share how you did so (your adjustments to the above recipe)? T.I.A.
I ate 10 in one sitting! So yum!
I am having a party and wanted some fall themed desserts so I made these. I tripled the recipe to use all of my 2 cans of pumpkin and it worked out pretty well. I had to bake much longer than the recipe states and I also found them to have way too much ginger. I would cut the ginger in 1/2 if not 1/4 – it is overpowering. I also added just a sprinkle of cloves because that is my favorite fall spice.
Hi Nora, it’s hard to get canned pumpkin where i am, is roasting and puree a pumpkin okay to sub?
Yes, that should work. Just keep in mind that homemade puree can be thinner then canned, and affect the outcome. Thicker is better if possible, similar to canned consistency.
These are like mini pumpkin breads! I doubled the recipe and used a #20 scoop (~3tbsp). It was super sticky for me, so I eyeballed it, and folded in about 1/4 cup more flour (to the doubled recipe). The big scoop took 22 mins at 350 and came out perfect! Going to gift these huge cookies to folks around Thanksgiving.
These are my favorite fall cookies! They’re perfectly moist and no one can tell they’re vegan. I’ve been making them every fall for years now! I always put extra vanilla in them and I think they’re even better after a day in the fridge 🙂
Hi Nora! I hope to make these with a #60/1 tbsp scoop for mini cookies. Should the cook time or temperature be adjusted? Thank you, and I love all your recipes!
I’d try baking for only 8-9 minutes, same temperature just a few minutes less for smaller cookies. Thanks for loving my recipes!
can these be made into bars?
Hmm I honestly don’t know! Possibly, but I have this recipe for Pumpkin Cake Bars which is basically a sheet cake recipe that are sliced into bars. Check it out!
This is my GO-TO for vegan pumpkin cookies. They always turn out insanely soft, chewy, and delicious! I use extra cinnamon and ginger because I love the spices but I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who wants to eat something vegan without being able to tell it’s vegan. 10/10!
Thank you for this recipe. It is my favorite cookie recipe now!💕
Thanks for your wonderful review! So glad you love the cookies!
I made these cookies several times and love the recipe! It is very consistent and I was able to substitute for a gluten-free measure-for-measure flour with great results!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
You are welcome, Gretchen! I’m glad you love the cookies! I appreciate you letting me know they came out wonderful using gluten free flour! Thanks for your fabulous review!