These healthy Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies make a nutritious and grab-and-go breakfast that tastes like fall! This gluten-free and clean eating breakfast treat is made with wholegrain oats, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and honey.
In the 2 years since posting the recipe for these healthy pumpkin oatmeal cookies for the first time, it has quickly become the most popular recipe on this site! Mainly thanks to Pinterest!
There is not much to be improved or updated on this post. The recipe for these healthy pumpkin cookies is ON SPOT! I've remade them many times since without changing anything.
Even 2 years later, I still love the images - the lighting was awesome that day. These were some of my first food photos that I truly loved. Maybe I could take slightly better ones now, but the difference would be minimal. And I want to hold on to these almost for nostalgic reasons.
The only one thing this post was missing was a video! Which is hereby remedied.
I am leaving the rest of the post and the recipe unadulterated for you below. And if you are interested in more healthy pumpkin recipes try these paleo pumpkin muffins, this pumpkin spice mug cake, or even these decadent (still healthier) chocolate pumpkin brownies.
Original post from Nov. 3, 2014
I have never been a fan of cooking first thing in the morning or making any breakfast that involves a lot of prep.
And some days I am especially happy to have my breakfast already waiting in the fridge.
I am not a morning person, still some mornings are harder than others. Like the morning after a night of my baby Olivia randomly deciding to wake up no less than 6(!) times for no obvious reasons.
Or when I went to bed waayy later than I should have either because I was working, binge-watching Netflix, or finishing just one more chapter of a book.
It's on those super-rough mornings that I could hug myself for having prepared some make-ahead breakfast like these pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies (or awesome overnight oats).
They are like having a bowl of yummy oatmeal with lots of mix-ins only without the bowl. The convenient cookie shape offers itself for breakfast on-the-go or for easy snacks.
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How To Make Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
I am using both rolled and quick oats for a texture that isn't too dense but still holds together well. Note: To make these pumpkin oatmeal cookies gluten free, be sure to use certified gluten free oats. Although oats don't contain any gluten naturally, regular oats may be contaminated with gluten during processing in facilities that also process wheat.
Eggs help as a binder, but I have also been able to make vegan pumpkin breakfast cookies without eggs by soaking the flax meal in the recipe in ½ cup of water until gelled, before mixing with the other wet ingredients. Honey offers just a little sweetness to these pumpkin oat breakfast cookies. But again, you can make this recipe vegan by substituting maple syrup for example.
Pumpkin puree is complemented with aromatic pumpkin pie spice.
Ground flax seed ups the nutritional value of the cookies. And - in my opinion - pumpkin seeds and cranberries pair really well with pumpkin puree and give the cookies are great flavor and texture contrast. A combination of chopped nuts (like pecans or walnuts) or seeds (like sunflower seeds) and chocolate chips also make great add-ins.
I am having a very hard time finding unsweetened, oil-free cranberries in stores. Luckily there is Amazon, where I've found Paleogoods Dried Cranberries infused with only apple juice.
Last, but certainly not least, there is melted coconut oil. I love to use organic refined coconut oil for recipes where I don't want a strong coconut flavor - like these gluten free pumpkin oatmeal cookies in which I wanted the pumpkin to shine.
For all other recipes organic virgin coconut oil is a great choice.
To shape the batter into cookie shape, I am using my ¼ cup sized measuring cup. You can use any type of measuring cup, but it is easier with the ones that are wider than deep.
I just dip the measuring cup into the oat mixture to fill it up. Then I tap it onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet and the dough already comes out looking like a cookies - flourless pumpkin oatmeal cookies that is.
I just flatten them a little bit, because these cookies won't spread at all during baking. And if shaping individual cookies isn't your thing, I've even had readers send me pictures of how they baked this recipe into pumpkin breakfast bars! Baking time may be a little longer, but this way you only need to cut them into shape after baking.
These healthy breakfast cookies are also great to make ahead. Often I make a double batch, then store the cookies in a ziplock bag in the freezer.
If this healthy pumpkin cookie recipe isn't quite your thing, I have FOUR other breakfast cookie recipes. Maybe these are more up your alley?
Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
- 1 cup rolled old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- â…” cup dried cranberries unsweetened
- â…” cup pumpkin seeds
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs * beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet.
- In a small bowl warm coconut oil and honey (either microwave, inside preheating oven or on the stove top).
- In a large bowl combine both kinds of oats, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, ground flax, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add pumpkin puree, eggs and warmed coconut oil and honey. Stir until fully combined.
- Drop about ¼ cup sized scoops of the mixture onto a cookie sheet and flatten (cookies won't spread while baking). Bake for about 15-20 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheet before moving to an airtight storage container.
Patti
Yummy!
I topped with homemade vanilla yogurt.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thanks for your wonderful review, Patti!
Cee Grace
Perfect breakfast cookie recipe! I love how you can sub for different ingredients once you get the hang of the function of each ingredient. I've swapped in butter or yogurt for the the coconut oil, various dried fruits in place of the cranberries (or added candied ginger which was delicious), applesauce for the pumpkin, extra egg white for the flaxseed when i ran out. They've been delicious every time. i like to keep them in the freezer and snag one as I head out the door to work. By the time I get to my desk with a cup of coffee in hand, they're the perfect accompaniment to start my day. Such a nice treat and relatively healthy too! Well done.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thanks for your lovely review, Cee Grace!
Dedra
I was looking for a fall breakfast cookie but this recipe is disappointing. They were very bland and not worth 200 calories each.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thanks for your review, Dedra!
April Gibbs
These were good, but lacked a little bit of flavor. The 2nd time I made these, I added some ginger nibs/chips. Not as healthy because of the added sugar, but they were delicious.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
The addition of ginger nibs sounds so good! Thanks for your review, April. 🙂
Megan Eppen
So delicious! Do you have any tips if we prefer to use fresh blueberries instead of dried fruit?
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Hi Megan, thanks for your question! I'm not sure that fresh blueberries would be a great substitute for the dried fruit since the stickiness of the dried fruit helps the cookies hold together and fresh blueberries might add too much moisture. You could try dried blueberries, though. I hope this helps but don't hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions. 🙂
Leslie
These are SO GOOD! I added in about 1/2 cup of walnuts and they were perfect!! Awesome recipe!
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thank you so much for your review, Leslie!
Jen
Not a fan of coconut and all I had was unrefined so I swapped 1/8 cup of apple sauce and 1/8 cup vegetable oil. I also bought pumpkin seeds instead of pepitas (maybe clarify in the recipe). After trying to shell them I quickly abandoned it and just omitted them. Also had to use instant maple brown sugar protein oatmeal for the quick cooking oats (all I had). Also added a small amount of tiny chocolate chips. With the subs it was great, I’m sure if I had all the things I needed they still would have been great.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thanks for letting us know about your substitutions, Jen! It is wonderful when you can adapt recipes according to what you have on hand or what your tastes are. 🙂
Elizabeth Solomonson
I absolutely love these cookies! I have two of them for breakfast. I'm going to make them again, using raisins instead of cranberries.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thanks for your review, Elizabeth! They will be delicious with the raisins. 🙂
Donna
Hi Regina,
Can you please tell me what I can replace the coconut oil with? These sound amazing and I want to make them.
Thank you!
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Hi Donna, you could try making the recipe with melted butter or a neutral-tasting oil like grapeseed oil or avocado oil. One of our readers even said they used yogurt in place of the coconut oil.
Wendy O’Connor
I’m not buying granola bars since making this recipe. It’s great for road trips, hiking, and golfing as well as breakfast. I substitute Greek yogurt for the coconut oil and use about 1/3 less pumpkin seeds by using sunflower seeds. The smaller seeds do a good job filling in the nooks and crannies. I also double or triple this recipe and freeze the extras.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Your revisions of the recipe sound great, Wendy! Thank you for letting us know how the recipe worked out for you. 🙂
Jessica
Hi, do you need to add the flax seed or could I omit it all together,
E
Honestly, there are so many ads this is wild. Can’t scroll without something popping up and making it hard to read. Oof
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
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Sheila (from Vancouver Island)
Soooo good! I definitely put 4x the amount of pumpkin spice in that was called for though. Both my granddaughter and pregnant daughter love them! They’re going to be a staple.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Hi Sheila, thank you so much for the lovely review! More pumpkin spice is always a good idea! 🙂
Sarah
What can I sun for the coconut oil?
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Hi Sarah, you could replace the coconut oil with melted butter or even a neutral-tasting oil like avocado oil or grapeseed oil if you like.
Stephanie
I need to make these. I need to get better at having some thing around for breakfast.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
They definitely make a wonderful grab-and-go breakfast! To help save you even more time, you could make up a large batch to freeze and pull out cookies to thaw as you need them.
Tricia Vix
These came out so well. I added them to my yogurt almost more like a granola. Lower in fat which I love too. I used maple syrup and only old fashioned oats. I didn’t have any quick oats but they came out wonderful.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thanks for letting us know how they worked out for you, Tricia! 🙂
Leah
We eat these on trips in the car. I accidentally left out the pumpkin one time and found that we liked it better. I just make them spread on a cookie sheet. When they are cooled I break them them up and put in a plastic bag. With some hot tea they make a great traveling breakfast.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
They do make wonderful snacks for traveling! It is good to know that you can get a delicious biscuit without the pumpkin too. Thanks for your review, Leah.