Gluten-free pumpkin cookies are light and cakey with a lovely pumpkin flavor. Finish them with a drizzle of vanilla icing. So good. And so easy!
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together gluten-free flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spice, and salt in a small bowl. Set the bowl aside.
Mix together butter and sugar in a large bowl until it's thick and creamy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Mix for an additional 30 seconds.
Add the egg and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until light, about one minute.
Stop mixer. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Add the gluten-free flour mixture and blend on medium-low speed until a batter forms.
Drop dough, about a tablespoon each, onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake the cookies until set and golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Allow cookies to cool on the pan for about three minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
Once cookies are cool, make the glaze.
Stir together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl. If the glaze is too thick to drizzle over cookies, add ½ teaspoon additional milk. If the glaze is too thin (runny), add 1 tablespoon additional powdered sugar. Drizzle glaze over cookies.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to four days or place in a freezer container and freeze for up to four months.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions.
Gluten-free All-Purpose Flour. This recipe was tested with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. Gluten-free flours vary by brand. For best results, use one that contains xanthan gum or whisk in ½ teaspoon to the flour blend. Coconut and almond flours don't work in this recipe.
Pumpkin Spice. Replace the pumpkin spice blend with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger. For the best flavor, be sure your spices are fresh.
Salt. I bake with table salt. It dissolves best in batters and gives an even flavor. If using kosher or a flaky salt, increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
Granulated Sugar. I recommended using granulated (white) sugar in this recipe. Sugar replacements give very different results. If you decide to use one, know that the cookies might not turn out.
Butter. Dairy-free butter sticks can be used in place of unsalted butter.
Egg. This recipe hasn’t been tested with an egg-replacer.
Vanilla extract. If you don’t have vanilla extract, simply omit it from the recipe.
Pumpkin Puree. Use canned pumpkin puree, not canned pumpkin pie filling.
Milk. The glaze calls for a little milk. Replace this with a dairy-free milk or water.