As you can probably tell, I become obsessed with baking once/week from October to April every year. My husband goes off to play basketball and comes home on Sunday afternoons, excited to see what I’ve whipped up without fail.

This past weekend, I wanted to make something healthy with pumpkin as the main ingredient so I scoured the internet for paleo pumpkin cookies. I found and adjusted a recipe to my liking and ended up with a cinnamon pumpkin spiced smelling apartment and a plate of delicious cookies that didn’t make us feel guilty.

I used almond meal instead of flour, maple syrup instead of sugar, and coconut oil in place of butter. There is no sugar, dairy, or gluten in these cookies but you would never know! They aren’t pretty but it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?

Click through for the full recipe.

Yields 15 cookies. Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:
– 1/2 tsp baking soda
– 1/2 cup coconut oil
– 2 cups almond meal/Flour
– 1 tblspn pumpkin pie spice (I made this by mixing cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ground ginger but you can buy it pre-made)
– 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
– 1 tblspn vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:
– Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper
– Mix coconut oil, puree, salt, vanilla, maple syrup in a large bowl
– In a separate bowl, mix almond meal, spices, and coconut
– With a hand mixer, blend dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until well-mixed
– Bake for 30-35 minutes
– Cool for 10-15 minutes
– Enjoy!