When Halloween comes around I want to make these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. After writing my yearlong blog post series on How To Use gluten free flours I’m more comfortable reworking old cookie recipes to be gluten free. These soft Jack-‘o-lantern cookies are as easy to make as any chocolate chip cookie and everyone loves the chocolate chip freckles.
As gluten free bakers we need to learn as we go. There's so much variation between store bought flour blends, homemade blends and the inevitable substitutions for a missing flour. Add to that other dietary restrictions and you can see why baking is more challenging than cooking. The good news is you can learn to bake gluten free cookies and I've got lots of resources to help you. See the list at the bottom of this page to see if there's something there that interests you.
PIN Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for later...
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Jack-o'-Lantern Cookies and a Halloween Cookie Pizza
This recipe can be made as regular round cookies but I wanted to make Jack-o'-Lanterns for this post. To keep it simple I decorated them with regular size chocolate chips. If you have some enthusiastic children in the kitchen you can decorate them with colourful candy, regular icing or royal icing.
To make one Jack-o'-lanterns I put three scoops of dough, touching each other, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a small spatula I smush them together into a pumpkin shape. For the final touch add a small bit of dough using a tiny scoop to shape a stem. A fairly thick stem is best so it doesn’t fall off when the cookies are removed from the baking sheet.
My EGFG Flour Blend for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
To make this cookie like the gluten filled version I started with my everyday blend that I call my EGFG Flour Blend. To make them more crispy I added brown rice flour plus some more potato starch and they were perfect for me. The more you bake the more confident you'll be to try this is your own kitchen.
Get The Tools for Cookie Baking
Metal ice cream scoops are the best tools for making cookies. Using a portion scoop is the best way to make cookies that are a uniform size so the cook evenly and look nice. You can still push the batter into random shapes just like the pumpkins you see at the store. Tell that to a group of kids and watch the fun making them tall, short, stout and ridiculously odd shaped.
Whether you bake cookies once a year or once a month you need baking pans. Some of my pans are ten and twenty years old so I suggest you work on collecting good quality pans over time. This is a good start:
- two cookie sheets , the ones with no edges
- two jellyroll pans, also know as baking sheets, with ¼-inch sides all around (technically used for cooking they are essential for a cookie baking spree and I have baked hundreds of cookies in jellyroll pans)
I'd love to hear about your cookie baking experience. Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and how they turned out.
More Pumpkin Recipes
- An amazing Pumpkin Date Cake filled with pecans too
- Zingy Pumpkin Ginger Muffins
- Pumpkin Pie
- Iced Pumpkin Spice Cookies
- Candied Sweet and Salty Pumpkin Seeds
- Pumpkin Ice Cream
- Or check out my Pumpkin Recipe Round Up blog post
- EGFG Flour Blend
- A Canadian Celiac Podcast interview - Ep 43 Baking Gluten Free Cookies
- A Canadian Celiac Podcast interview - Ep 193 What's All The Fuss About Pumpkin Spice
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup EGFG gluten free flour blend (130 g)
- ¾ cup brown rice flour (110 g)
- ¼ cup potato starch (40 g)
- 1 cup gluten free whole oats (95 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
WET INGREDIENTS
- 14 tablespoon butter, melted (1 cup less 2 tablespoons)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoon milk
ADD IN
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Combine flours, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Stir and set aside.
- In large bowl of an electric mixer add melted butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add egg, vanilla, pumpkin puree and milk. Continue beating until combined.
- On low speed add dry mixture until just combined.
- Add chocolate chips.
- Let cookie dough rest for 30 minutes to allow GF flours to hydrate.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. While oven is heating portion cookie dough on parchment lined cookie sheet. For regular round cookies use a 3 tablespoon scoop. For big Jack-o'-lanterns use an ice cream size scoop (½ cup). Using a bit of flour if needed, flatten into a large pumpkin shape. Add a bit of dough at the top for the stem.
- Bake cookies in 350°F oven for 20-22 minutes, slightly longer for large pumpkins.
- Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before decorating or storing.
- Decorate with icing, chocolate chips, candy corn or candy eyes. Makes 26 regular cookies or 13 large Jack-o'-lanterns.
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