***I’m so excited that this recipe for my Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies is featured in Paleo Magazine’s 2015 Reader’s Favorite Holiday Cookbook! The cookbook features a total of 75 mouth-watering, holiday-inspired recipes from your favorite Paleo food bloggers and cookbook authors (and the photos are gorgeous, by the way). It would make a great gift for your loved ones, or simply a treat for yourself if you’re looking for healthy and delicious recipe ideas for the holidays! You can find the cookbook here.***

’Tis the season for all-things-pumpkin! When creating my Paleo pumpkin bread, I realized that I needed a fun way to use the leftover pureed pumpkin and not let it go to waste. These Paleo pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a great way to do that.

These Paleo pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are grain-free, nut-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free, plus they’re easy to make and delicious! They are sure to be a festive treat for everyone in the family anytime during the holiday season.

(Note: this post contains affiliate links. To learn more about what that means, click here.)

One note: you’ll notice that just like my Paleo cinnamon chocolate chip cookies, this recipe calls for palm oil shortening: a non-hydrogenated, trans fat-free, soy-free, vegan healthy fat that provides a wonderful texture for baking and is naturally shelf stable and not prone to rancidity. However, due to the environmental impact palm oil production can have on our forests and natural habitats, please choose a brand that harvests their palm oil ethically. Some trusted, sustainable brands are Tropical Traditions, Nutiva and Spectrum. While it is possible to substitute coconut oil or grass-fed butter instead, oil or butter will change the texture and make the cookies more crumbly. I highly recommend using a responsibly harvested, sustainable palm oil shortening to produce the best texture results.

Okay, enough of the technical mumbo jumbo. Let’s get to the good stuff (i.e. making these delectable cookies). Happy pumpkin-ing!

Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

(grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free)

Servings: 2 dozen

Author: Lori / Adventures of a Sick Chick

Ingredients

½ cup coconut flour
¼ cup arrowroot powder
¼ cup organic coconut sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp organic ground cinnamon
1 tsp organic ground nutmeg
2 pastured eggs
¾ cup pureed pumpkin
3 Tbsp pure honey
½ cup responsibly harvested sustainable palm oil shortening
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½-¾ cup allergen-free chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix wet ingredients: eggs, pureed pumpkin, honey, palm shortening, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Mix well with an electric mixer.
In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients: coconut flour, arrowroot powder, coconut sugar, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix well with electric mixer until batter is smooth. Gently fold in chocolate chips until stirred in evenly.
Scoop batter with a rounded spoon (approximately 1½ - 2 Tbsp per cookie) about two inches apart on lined baking sheets (I love using this cookie scoop in size medium...makes scooping out my batter so easy!). This batter tends not to spread, so if you prefer a flatter cookie, gently press the top of each unbaked cookie with the back of a spoon or spatula. Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.
Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 25-35 minutes (depending on the strength of your oven) or until cookies begin to turn golden brown. Cool and enjoy!
Store leftovers (if there are any!) in an airtight container in the refrigerator.