These Gluten Free Pumpkin Brownie Cookies are rich fudgy brownies in cookie form. Made with wholesome ingredients like vitamin rich pumpkin, heart healthy coconut oil, and dairy free chocolate, these brownie cookies are a healthier, allergy friendly fall treat.
Oh. My. God. These gluten-free brownie cookies are dangerously good! They truly taste like fudgy little brownies in cookie form. This is probably the most indulgent recipe on my website, but they are totally worth it for the occasional celebration or chocolate craving. Perfect for those of you who love pumpkin season but are more of a chocolate person than a spice person.
The Pumpkin and Chocolate Combo
Unlike traditional brownie cookies, these get their rich texture from the pumpkin puree instead of heavy oils or butter. Pumpkin can be used in place of oil or yogurt to add moisture and fat to baked goods. The addition of pumpkin is what makes these cookies so fudgy and lower in fat, plus it gives these gluten free brownie cookies a fall twist.
These gluten free brownie bites call for a combo of cocoa powder and melted chocolate, plus more chocolate chips to mix in, to get a double chocolate effect. I love using dark chocolate as I prefer less sweetness, but I know dark chocolate can be a bit too bitter for some. If you are one of those people, stick to using semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe. Stay away from from milk chocolate to keep this recipe fully dairy free
Why You'll Love These Pumpkin Brownie Cookies
- Great texture! Fudgy, chewy, and chocolatey, these cookies are for the chocolate lovers.
- Allergy friendly. Gluten free, dairy free, corn free, and nut free.
- Lower fat thanks to pumpkin which adds moisture and richness without extra oil or butter.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Brownie Cookie Ingredients and Substitutions
- Gluten free flour: be sure to use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum for best results.
- Eggs: this recipe calls for one whole egg and one egg yolk. The extra yolk helps add fat for that fudgy texture.
- Coconut sugar: my favorite unrefined sweetener to use in cookie recipes. You can also use brown sugar as a sub.
- White sugar: although I generally only make refined sugar free desserts, sometimes you just need white sugar. We only use 2 tablespoon which helps with texture and gloss. You can substitute this for coconut sugar if desired. Some of the photos in this post are an all coconut sugar cookie and you can see the cookies aren't quite as shiny.
- Pumpkin puree: be sure to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. You do want to use a more watery puree, see FAQ below for my recommended brands. If you don't have or don't want to open a whole can of pumpkin for this recipe, you can also use (dairy free) yogurt.
- Chocolate chips: lots and lots of chocolate chips! Stick to semi-sweet if you don't want any bitterness or use dark chocolate for a super rich chocolate flavor.
- Coconut oil: a heart and brain healthy fat that works perfectly in these brownie cookies.
- Cocoa powder: I stick to natural cocoa powder, but dutch-processed cocoa powder should also work. Be sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Baking powder, cinnamon, salt, vanilla extract: want more of a pumpkin spice vibe? Use pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon and increase it to ½-1 tsp!
How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Brownie Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla, sugar, and pumpkin on medium-high speed until combined and frothy. Set aside.
- Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a small saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the wet ingredients and mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to mix everything together. The batter will be thick.
- Fold in a ½ cup of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between cookies. Top each cookie with a few more chocolate chips and some flaky sea salt.
- Bake one sheet in the middle rack at a time for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should seem not quite done when you take them out.
- Take the cookies out and immediately use a glass or round cookie cutter to shape the cookies. Do this by placing the glass/cookie cutter around the cookie and gently moving it in a circle. This will pull the edges in for a nice, round cookie.
- Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
How to Eat and Store These Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
These cookies taste amazing warmed up with some vanilla ice cream, but they also taste really good cold and they freeze wonderfully. Freeze them in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for 5 days.
Tips for the Best Gluten Free Brownie Cookies
- Make sure to beat the wet ingredients well so they are fully combined.
- Don't over mix the batter. Fold in the dry ingredients until a few flour streaks remain, the flour will get fully combined when you mix in the chocolate chips.
- Don't over bake! For the fudgiest brownie cookies with fudgy centers, you want to be very careful about baking time. These cookies go from done to over done quickly so I'd do a test bake with 1 cookie first. You want to pull these cookies out of the oven when they seem not done. They will finish cooking as they cool. Bake time will depend on your oven and size of cookie scoop you used.
- Shape them: when the cookies first come out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter or glass to shape the cookies by placing the cutter/glass around the cookie and swirling it around the cookie to pull the edges in so they are round. You need to do this right when the cookies come out and they are still hot and malleable. This is only for aesthetics and is not a must. The cookies will taste great either way!
FAQ
Different brands of pumpkin puree have very different textures, some are much drier than others. You want a wetter canned pumpkin puree. Opt for Libby's or Farmer's Harvest. I've found that store brands, like Whole Foods 365 is quite dry and doesn't yield the best cookies.
Yes! To keep these gluten-free chocolate brownie cookies refined sugar free, use all coconut sugar and then make sure to use refined sugar free chocolate chips, like the HU kitchen brand.
More Gluten Free Fall Cookies
Gluten Free Apple Pie Cheesecake Cookies (dairy free)
Gluten Free Maple Walnut Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
If you try these fudgy chocolate brownie cookies, leave a rating and review below- I'd love to hear how you enjoyed them!
Pumpkin Brownie Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup 1:1 gluten free flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder if you are at sea level, use 1 tsp.
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoon white sugar
- 5 tablespoon pumpkin puree*
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + another ½ cup or chopped chocolate set aside and more for topping I like Enjoy Life chocolate and HU Chocolate
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla, sugar, and pumpkin on medium-high speed until combined and frothy. Set aside.
- Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips and the coconut oil together in a small saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the wet ingredients and mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to mix everything together. The batter will be thick.
- Fold in a ½ cup of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
- Use a small ice cream scoop or two spoons to scoop dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between cookies. Top each cookie with a few more chocolate chips and some flaky sea salt (this is key, do not leave it off!).
- Bake one sheet in the middle rack at a time for 10 minutes. The cookies should be shinier on top and may seem not quite done, that’s okay.
- Take the cookies out and immediately use a glass or round cookie cutter to shape the cookies. Do this by place the glass/cookie cutter around the cookie and gently moving it in a circle. This will pull the edges in for a nice, round cookie!
- Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- This cookies will stay fresh in a sealed container for about 4 days. You can store them in the fridge for up to a week and transfer any remaining to the freezer.
- Enjoy!
Randy Brittell says
Nice 👍🏼 😋 - I love a hood brownie and pumpkin as well. Delicious 😋
Victoria Faling says
These are some of my favorite cookies! They are absolutely delicious 🙂