These are hands down the best vegan pumpkin cookies ever! Soft, bakery style pumpkin cookies with a tangy and sweet white frosting that tastes like cream cheese frosting (with no cream cheese!). Best of all, they’re easy to make in 1 bowl.
I have been looking for the perfect vegan pumpkin cookie recipe for YEARS, long before I started this blog. Since I never found it, I finally decided to make one myself. You see, I wanted pumpkin cookies that were melt-in-your-mouth delicious, not a healthy breakfast cookie recipe. They had to be generously frosted, soft and tender, and full of pumpkin pie spices.
I hope you love these cookies as much as my family and I do! They are perfect for bringing to holiday parties and get-togethers of all kinds. Your family and friends will never believe these cookies are vegan!
How to make vegan pumpkin cookies:
In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter and sugars until creamy. I used Melt brand here, but also like using Earth Balance and Miyoko’s brand. Now add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix until combined. I used a hand mixer but you could use a large wooden spoon, your arm will get quite the workout! (see recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and instructions. This is just an overview + tips.)
Next, add the flour, then sprinkle the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt on top of the flour. Mix until just combined and a dough is formed. The dough will be wetter than most cookie batters.
Place heaping tablespoons onto a prepared baking sheet with parchment paper, then flatten the cookies a bit with moistened hands. Bake at 350 degrees F for 11-14 minutes, until the tops are no longer shiny.
Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Meanwhile, make the frosting.
Tangy and sweet frosting
This frosting is incredible. It’s sweet but a little tangy, and tastes a lot like cream cheese frosting, without needing any cream cheese (vegan or otherwise)! The secret? A tiny bit of apple cider vinegar.
To make it, beat the vegan butter with a hand mixer for about 2 minutes until creamy, then add the powdered sugar, apple cider vinegar and vanilla. Mix until smooth and creamy. If it’s too thick, add a tablespoon of non-dairy milk at a time, but don’t add much or it will quickly become runny! If you’ve added too much milk, add more powdered sugar.
Make sure your cookies have cooled completely before frosting, or the frosting will slide right off and melt.
How should I store vegan pumpkin cookies? These are best stored in the refrigerator, on a plate or platter covered loosely in plastic wrap. They will last about 4 days this way. You can keep them at room temperature, but they won’t last as long.
Can you freeze pumpkin cookies? I would recommend freezing the cookies without frosting, rather than frosted cookies. But yes, you can freeze the cookies.
Can I make them gluten free? To make the cookies gluten free, try using a quality all purpose gluten free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1. Don’t sub almond or coconut flour, it will not work.
Want more Vegan pumpkin recipes?
- Starbucks Copycat Vegan Pumpkin Scones
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte
- The Best Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- 1 Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
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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.
- For the vegan butter, I used Melt and was quite pleased with the results! Earth balance or Miyoko's brand will also work.
- Recipe adapted from Chelsea's Messy Apron.
My whole family loves these. They come out soft and pillowy…almost like muffins (just the tops of muffins).
I use less sugar than the recipe calls for and I don’t frost them. Still my family devours these and asks me to make a double batch!
Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Christina. I’m glad your family loves the pumpkin cookies. Thank you for taking your time to share!
I love them and everytime someone tries them… They always ask me the recipe… Well done nora??
Thank you very much for sharing you comments, and my recipe! I’m glad you are loving the pumpkin cookies!
I make a big batch of these for my boyfriend and myself every couple weeks, they’re our favorite! We swapped over from Oreo’s to these for a yummy vegan cookie… ( these are much much better)
Hi Robyn. How fun! I’m glad you guys love the pumpkin cookies! Thank you!
I made these cookies and they were delicious, along with the frosting. i am wondering how can the butter be substituted? if one uses applesauce is it one cup of applesauce to one stick of butter?
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed them! I haven’t tested them with applesauce, they will likely be quite soft but it might work. It would actually be more like 1/2 cup to one stick of vegan butter. If you try it, let me know how they turn out. Thank you!
Last month I tripled the recipe to take a big batch to work. Everyone loved them, and, as always, no one ever guessed they were vegan. Many asked for the recipe and I sent this webpage their way!
Amazing! These are delicious, so soft and flavorful!
I just put them into the oven! I hope they taste as great as the batter. When making the frosting, do you have to use a hand mixer?
You might be able to use a spoon, but it will be a little difficult to get it smooth and fluffy. Enjoy!
These are so delicious. I flattened them a bit more than the pictures show so I could put two together sandwich style for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. Um, yes please. So very good and a hit with vegans and non vegans alike.
Wow, yum! That sounds amazing!
Of course we started eating them as they began to cool out of the oven and they’re so unbelievably soft and tasty that I don’t know if I need to frost them. Sure, they’re probably even better with it but the cookies all on their own are AMAZING! Thanks Nora!
You’re welcome!
These were great! Thanks for sharing. I don’t have vegan butter, so I replaced it with a generous 1/3c. olive oil and a shy 2tbsp. water and then increased the flour by a couple tbsp. to give the batter the right consistency. (Bakery trick: I add a tiny bit of salt and baking powder when I add extra flour to a baking recipe so as not to mess up the chemistry.) The cookies came out beautiful and so tasty.
Delicious!
My daughter made these for us. They are insanely delicious!
Thanks!!
These cookies are the perfect Autumn treat! Thanks for the ACV tip, it really does give the frosting a cream cheese flavor!
Omg!! I made these today and they are incredible! I’m already planning on making more to bring to holiday parties! Thank you for the amazing recipe!!
I used nutmeg instead of ginger and country crock plant-based butter sticks (the olive oil kind) since that was what I had on hand and it worked well! Personally, I couldn’t taste the olive oil at all. I also sprinkled them with a bit of pumpkin pie spice. Even my omni family loves these!!
That’s so great to hear!
These were very yummy! They were truly soft, and the icing did taste like cream cheese! I’m going to freeze the cookies, but can I freeze the icing on its own? How long does it last in the fridge for?
I’m so glad you liked them! You could freeze the cookies and the icing on it’s own, that’s fine. Though the icing in the refrigerator should last a few weeks.
These were amazing and it was so neat that the frosting really did taste like cream cheese! My cookies didn’t turn out as beautiful as yours but I was rushing to eat them. ?
Hello
Love this recipe! I try to got out gluten. May I sub gf flour?
Thanks
It should work well, but I haven’t tested it myself. Thank you!
Will you let me know how gluten free goes? I am wanting to try for my boyfriend who is gluten free. Thanks 🙂
Yum. Turned out great! I added some sugared pumpkin seeds to the top. Kids loved them. Thanks for you.
These cookies were like eating the top of a cupcake (almost like thats…my most favorite thing ever). They were super easy and quick to whip up as well. I ended up making my frosting with daiya cream cheese, powdered sugar and some organic maple syrup and topped them once they were cooled with some nutmeg and there you have it. The perfect pumpkin cookie. thank you!
You’re welcome!
These are hands down the best pumpkin cookies. I made them with a 1/3 cup scoop and baked them for about 14 minutes. I added maple syrup to the frosting and then inhaled 3 in a row. ? Thank you thank you!
You’re welcome!
Today I decided to try two “vegan pumpkin cookies” recipes and this one was the winner! I didn’t have any more powdered ginger on hand, so I subbed nutmeg instead which I think was just as good. These cookies did rise a little bit which is what I was looking for. As for baking time, I found that 15-16 minutes gave the most cakey result, 13-14 minutes was slightly more doughy and moist in the middle. I will be frosting them, but they are also delicious without. Thank you for a great recipe! I look forward to using it again and again!
You’re welcome!
I just made these and they’re delicious. Like pumpkin muffin tops, fluffy! Fall encourages my pumpkin craving so now I have found the perfect Fall Pumpkin cookie…my son wandered in and said “Can I have one?” lol..they’re a hit for sure!!?
I’m so glad, thank you!
Hi, I noticed that these cookies have no egg replacement. What would happen if I used 1 Flax egg? Just curious!
Thankyou,
Hillary
I’m not sure! Haven’t tried it. It’s just not necessary here, or how I developed the recipe. Pumpkin works as an egg replacer here.
So good that even my dad (a non vegan and typically not thrilled when you tell him he’s eaten a vegan dish) absolutely loves them!! Huge win!
Thank you Nora this will be a repeat bake!
You’re welcome!
What can I use instead of vegan butter? I assume I can use fresh pumpkin cooked and mashed. Does it have to be pureed?
You could probably use coconut oil instead of vegan butter. You likely could use fresh pureed pumpkin, but it doesn’t have as consistent texture so it’s a little hard, as compared to canned pumpkin. You may have to adjust other ingredients if the pumpkin is too wet or dry.