Need a healthy breakfast option for those on-the-go mornings? Our Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies are just the ticket. Made with easy to find, budget-friendly ingredients, these oatmeal breakfast cookies are naturally made gluten-free and nut-free.
Looking for a new breakfast recipe? We have just the thing! Insert Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies!
Easy to make breakfast cookies are going to bring your breakfast game to the next level. These perfectly baked little cookies are made with gluten-free oats, sunflower seed butter, and a handful of healthy and delicious add-ins you can customize to your family’s preferences.
Recipe created and brought to you by Ana Ankeny, Social Media Coordinator of The Real Food Dietitians and blogger herself!
A breakfast you can feel good about serving
It’s not every day you find a cookie recipe wholesome enough to eat for breakfast! These breakfast cookies are chock full of nutritious oats, pumpkin puree, sunflower seed butter, and naturally sweetened with a little honey (or maple syrup).
Whether you’re serving these cookies to the kids before school, making them for your own on-the-go breakfast, or whipping up a batch to stash away for snacks, rest assured these soft and chewy oatmeal breakfast cookies will be the perfect cookie recipe to fit the bill for all of those needs. If you’re looking for an easy, one-bowl recipe that the whole family will get excited about, this is it!
And if you love these ones, be sure you also give our Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies a try!
This post contains affiliate links that will not change your price but will share some commission.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
- Rolled oats – also known as old fashioned oats. Use gluten-free oats if needed.
- Gluten-free all-purpose flour – use your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour, we like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour.
- Baking soda & baking powder
- Pumpkin Spice – use a pumpkin pie spice blend or use a combination of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and allspice.
- Flax Seed meal + water – to make a flax ‘egg’ use ground flax meal (also known as ground flaxseeds) either golden or brown will work.
- Honey – For a vegan option, use maple syrup.
- Sunflower seed butter – a nut-free butter. Though not nut-free, you can also sub creamy peanut butter, almond butter, or any nut butter of choice.
- Pumpkin puree – be sure to use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Coconut oil – melted coconut oil, otherwise, any oil you have on hand will work.
Cookie Add-ins – use what you have on hand or what sounds good to you.
- Dried Cranberries or Raisins – a great healthy add-in that adds sweetness to the breakfast cookies.
- Pepitas – also known as pumpkin seeds. You can also substitute sunflower seeds if you wish.
- Unsweetened Shredded Coconut – we like this one, but use what you have on hand.
- Dark Chocolate Chips – Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels are our favorite and they happen to be allergy-friendly/dairy-free.
Shop Thrive Market to get the best prices on natural, organic, and specialty foods. PLUS get a free gift when you sign-up!
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the flax meal and water, stir. Set aside until it’s thick and creamy.
- In a large bowl combine the rolled oats, gluten-free flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir.
- Next, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt the sunflower seed butter, honey, and coconut oil. Stir continually until melted. Once liquid, remove from the heat and add pumpkin puree and flax ‘egg’. Stir.
- Then add the melted mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir with a large spoon until all the dry ingredients are mixed into the wet ingredients.
- Finally, add mix-ins of your choice. If following the recipe exactly, they would be the dried cranberries or raisins, pepitas, unsweetened coconut shreds, and chocolate chips. Fold into the batter.
- Scoop the batter up by large spoonfuls, then place on the prepared parchment-covered baking sheet. Divide evenly to get 12 round cookies. With hands, slightly press the dough down to form a round cookie shape.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and leave on pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
After all of the breakfast cookies have cooled, place them in an airtight container and store in the pantry/counter for up to 4 days.
Yes! You can make these cookies ahead of time and then pop them in the freezer for later use. These freeze and reheat really well, and only require dirtying a few dishes during the actual cooking. Also, the majority of the recipe time is hands-off while the cookies bake. In other words, the perfect weekend meal prep recipe!
To freeze, first wait for the oatmeal breakfast cookies to cool completely. Then place them in a tightly sealed, freezer-friendly container. If you’re stacking cookies, we also recommend placing a piece of parchment paper between the stacks to prevent sticking. These cookies will store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat in the microwave, first let the cookies sit on the counter until they come to room temperature. Once the cookies have thawed, pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds bursts until warm.
Alternatively, place them in the oven at 300 degrees until they’re completely thawed and warm on the inside.
Can you substitute sweet potatoes for pumpkin?
Absolutely! Substituting sweet potatoes for the pumpkin in these healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies is a great swap.
Using a baked sweet potato, scrape the sweet potato from the skin and then send the flesh through a food processor. This results in a smooth and creamy sweet potato puree, which you can then use in the same way you would use canned pumpkin.
This recipe calls for only ½ a cup of pumpkin, so if you want to use up any leftover sweet potatoes you have, it would be a perfect time to make this breakfast cookie recipe!
Other healthy pumpkin recipes to try:
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies (Gluten-free)
Need a healthy breakfast option for those on-the-go mornings? Our Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies are just the ticket. Made with all healthy ingredients, these oatmeal breakfast cookies are soft and filling.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup rolled oats (gluten-free, if needed)
- ½ cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1)
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. ground pumpkin pie spice
- 2 Tbsp flax meal (also known as ground flaxseed)
- ¼ cup water
- ⅓ cup honey (for vegan, sub maple syrup)
- ⅓ cup sunflower seed butter
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted (may substitute avocado oil)
Mix-ins of choice (use what you have on hand, equaling about 1 – 1 ½ cups):
- ¼ cup dried cranberries or raisins
- ¼ cup pepitas (also known as pumpkin seeds)
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the flax meal and water, stir. Set aside until it’s thick (about 5-8 minutes).
- In a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, honey, sunflower seed butter, pumpkin, and oil.
- Stir with a large spoon until well mixed.
- Fold in your mix-ins of choice.
- Scooping the batter up by large spoonfuls, place on the prepared parchment-covered baking sheet. Divide evenly to get 12 round cookies. With slightly damp hands, lightly press the dough down to form a round cookie shape.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and firm to touch in the center. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely before storing.
- Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive so we can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Notes
For a protein-boost, add ½ cup unflavored whey protein to the dry ingredients.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 190
- Fat: 8g
- (Sat Fat: 1g)
- Sodium: 60mg
- Carbohydrate: 27g
- (Fiber: 3g
- Sugar: 12g)
- Protein: 4g
Dietary
Pin now, make later!
All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!
Hello again,
Can I use ground flax seeds or almond meal instead of the flax meal? Or what else can I use for the “egg”? Thanks
Almond meal will not work but you could use chia seeds.
Hi,
My daughter hates anything pumpkin, could I use applesauce instead? And almond butter instead of sun butter?
We have not tested the recipe with these substitutions but you could sure try. Let us know how they turn out if you do!
I wonder if you could use a nut flour and then it wouldn’t be so carb heavy?
You could sure try! Let us know how they turn out.
What if you can’t tolerate oats (even GF)? Do you have a good suggestion to replace the oats? These sound delicious otherwise.
Hi Christine! This recipe has not been tested without oats. You could try adding additional flour and some quinoa. Maybe 1 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup quinoa. Not sure how this will turn out but if you try it I’d love to hear how it does.
For anyone looking for a slightly lower fat/less sugar version, I tried reducing the honey to 1/4c and reducing the coconut oil to 1T., and added 1/4c unsweetened applesauce and they turned out great! I also used chia seeds in place of the flax meal (because that’s what I had) as the recipe creators suggested in another comment. Delish!!
Hi Shannon! This is so great to hear! Next time I make these, I will definitely be giving those changes a try and may even update the recipe accordingly. Anytime you can reduce sugar and even fat in cookies and they still taste great, is always a win in my book!