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Vegan Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies – Oil-Free Recipe

These vegan peanut butter pumpkin cookies combine two of my favorite things to eat in the fall – pumpkin (obviously) and peanut butter (that one I love year round though). Who could resist the delicious fall flavor of pumpkin combined with the rich decadence of peanut butter, all whipped up into a warm, soft cookie? Not me!

Three cookies

I love pumpkin, especially in desserts, but for some reason I tend to forget about it after the holidays.

Now that I have the recipe for these yummy Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies, I’ll have a reason to enjoy the delicious pumpkin flavor any time of the year. Gotta love that canned pumpkin puree!

Here’s how the recipe for these cookies was created. Some time ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for Exotic Spice Cookies from Figgy and Sprout blog (now defunct).

I made them a couple times with some substitutions, mainly skipping the added oil and replacing it with unsweetened applesauce, and using brown sugar instead of coconut sugar. They came out very tasty, at least for my Indian spice-loving palate.

Last week, when I was putting together our menu for vegan Thanksgiving dishes, I realized that there wasn’t going to be anything with pumpkin on our table.

Feeling adventurous, I decided to take the recipe for the Exotic Spice Cookies and reinvent it with pumpkin instead of oil or applesauce, switch cardamom for a pumpkin pie spice combo, and omit oil again.

I used a generous helping of my homemade chunky peanut butter, and it made a big difference: the little peanut chunks tasted crunchy and delicious!

Vegan peanut butter cookies recipe with pumpkin

As you bite into these Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies, you’ll notice how soft they are inside, with almost a cake-like consistency.

The flavor is rich, but not too sweet, so they go very well without any mix-ins like chocolate chips or dried fruit.

These cookies turned out to be a big success at our friends’ house where we had our Thanksgiving party.

Our friends aren’t vegan, so these were the first vegan cookies they’ve ever tried. Our friends’ feedback and the speed with which the cookies disappeared all concluded: these are delicious!

Stack of cookies

Another delicious, oil-free pumpkin recipe that I shared some time ago: this Pumpkin-Walnut Bread.

Yield: 16 medium cookies

Vegan Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

Vegan Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

These delicious vegan peanut butter pumpkin cookies are soft inside, almost like a cake, thanks to the generous amounts of pumpkin puree in the recipe. Dairy free, egg free, soy free, suitable for vegetarian diets.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 23 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quick oats, or rolled oats pulsed 3-4 times in a coffee grinder
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

Spices*:

  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/8 tsp cloves

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and spices, mix well.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients, whisk to dissolve any clumps.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry, mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
  5. Spoon onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, about one heaping Tbsp per cookie (or more for larger cookies). Bake for 18-23 min, or until the cookies are firm on the outside but still soft in the middle.
  6. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 min first, then put them on the cooling rack. These are especially tasty while still warm!

Notes

*Alternatively, use 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1 cookie

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 204Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 3mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 3gSugar: 8gProtein: 7g

Please note that the provided nutritional information data is approximate.

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author avatar
Alina Zavatsky - Vegan Runner Eats
Alina first made a switch to a vegan diet in 2013 to optimize her athletic performance as a marathon runner. Eventually she embraced veganism as a way to be kinder to fellow living beings and the environment. Alina hopes that this blog helps its readers on their path to becoming vegan and making this world a better place.

Chitra Jagadish

Thursday 2nd of October 2014

wow scrumptious cookies...

Alina

Thursday 2nd of October 2014

Thanks Chitra!

Annie

Thursday 2nd of October 2014

Perfect! My kind of cookie!

Alina

Thursday 2nd of October 2014

I love these, Annie! Thanks for stopping by!

Susan

Friday 11th of July 2014

Do you think I could sub dates for the sugar?

Alina

Saturday 12th of July 2014

Yes! A friend of mine made these cookies with finely chopped dates instead of sugar and raved about them!

Laura

Sunday 8th of December 2013

I love both, but never thought to combine them! Looks and sounds unique and delicious!

Alina

Sunday 8th of December 2013

Thank you Laura! If you make this, let me know how it came out!

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