AIP Orange Pumpkin Cookies

It’s that time of year again. Pumpkin flavored everything is in season. These AIP orange pumpkin cookies are so dang delicious. They’re light, creamy and indulgent. If you’re a fan of Beth Blends grain-free flours, this recipe is for you. In particular, it uses the Nut/Cassava Free Beth Blends. 

If you’re in search of pumpkin recipes, you might also want to check out my No-Bake Vegan Pumpkin Pie, Spiced Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Cherry Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze, and Pumpkin Cranberry Cookie Dough Protein Bites.

For cookies, you might like my Easy AIP Snickerdoodle Cookies or Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• These cookies gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free, Paleo and completely AIP compliant.
• The texture is amazing- Many AIP baked goods have an “ify” texture. These are perfect- soft but sturdy with a little crisp around the edges. And the frosting is so decadent. 
• If you don’t have have Beth Blends, you can still make the frosting and apply it to another AIP cookie recipe. 

Recipe Ingredients:

• Beth Blends Nut/Cassava-Free Grain-Free Flour (yellow bag)
• Sea Salt- Any type of sea salt is fine. 
• Gelatin Powder- Make sure it’s unflavored and preferably from grass-fed beef. I use NuNatural brand but Great Lakes Wellness is also a good brand.  If you want to substitute an egg for the gelatin powder, use a smallish egg and reduce the pumpkin by 1 tbsp.
• Ground Cinnamon
• Ground Ginger
• Ground Cloves
• Palm Shortening- I use Nutiva brand which is actually a blend of palm oil and coconut oil. If you can't do coconut, just go with regular palm shortening. Palm shortening is really key to creating a good cookie as it solidifies (mostly) at room temp, so it helps to hold them together and gives them a little firmness. 
• Maple Syrup- Try to use maple syrup here if possible. You can substitute honey if needed but it will change to texture of the cookies quite a bit- they spread more and they're much thinner/softer which makes them a bit less sturdy for adding frosting. Also, note if you do use honey, they will be extremely soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up within about 30 minutes. Just let them sit.
• Pumpkin Puree- I use canned pumpkin- preferably organic. 
• Vanilla Extract- A lot of people question whether it’s ok to use vanilla extract on AIP because it usually contains alcohol. It’s fine in baked goods because the alcohol bakes off. When you're making something that won’t be cooked, opt for vanilla powder.  Generally, you can use about ¼-1/2 tsp vanilla powder in place of 1 tsp vanilla extract when substituting in recipes. 
• Fresh Orange Zest- You only need a small amount but it makes a huge impact on flavor! It makes them taste so fresh. To zest them you can use a zester on the orange skin or just a grater works ok too. 

Orange Frosting

• Palm Shortening-   I can’t recommend an AIP substitute for this. I’d say you need palm shortening for a decent AIP frosting. If you’re not strict AIP/Paleo, you could probably use unsalted grass-fed butter instead. 
• Maple Syrup- You can substitute honey if needed.
• Orange Zest- Don't skip this if you can help it because it really adds a great flavor boost to the frosting.
• Tapioca Starch- This allows the frosting to thicken and firm up giving it shape. You can use arrowroot in equal amounts as a substitute. 
• Orange Juice- Use fresh-squeezed or 100% juice if using store-bought.
• Gelatin Powder- You can get away with omitting this if you must but I recommend using it because it helps the frosting to hold its shape really well. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

Cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make sure one of the racks are in the center of the oven.
2. Prepare 2 baking sheets by greasing it or adding a sheet of parchment paper. You could almost fit them all on 1 sheet but I prefer to 2 to make sure the cookies don't run into each other.
3. In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients- grain-free flour, sea salt, gelatin powder, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

4. In another medium bowl (or stand mixer), combine the wet ingredients: palm shortening, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and orange zest.
5. Use electric mixer (or whisk/spatula) to mix the wet ingredients together. *Note- it ill look a bit lumpy and weird until you add the dry ingredients. This is normal.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while mixing. Mix until smooth.

8. Spoon about 1 tbsp of dough onto the baking sheet for each cookie. Leave at least an inch (maybe 2 inches) between cookies as they do spread. Continue this process until you use all the dough. You should have about 18-20 smallish cookies when done.

9. Bake for 13-15 minutes on the middle rack(s). Allow to cool completely- at least 15-20 minutes before adding frosting. *They will be very soft and fragile until completely cool. Then they're easy to handle.

Orange Frosting

1. Combine palm shortening, maple syrup, orange juice, and orange zest in a medium bowl or stand mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds. You can mix by hand with a whisk if needed. It will be lumpy and weird until you add the dry ingredients- no worries, this is normal.
2. Add in the tapioca starch and gelatin powder. Continue mixing until smooth and thick. If for some reason it's too thin, add a little more arrowroot starch. If it's too thick, add a little orange juice.

3. Frost the cookies. You can do this with a butter knife or spatula. Or if you want to get fancy, you can use a piping bag.
4. Optional: Garnish with additional orange zest. 

Recipe FAQ’s

Pro Tips:

• Use a piping bag if you want to get fancy. If you don’t have a piping bag or tips, you can also just cut a small corner off of a gallon sized ziplock bag and spoon the frosting into that. 
• Sprinkle extra orange zest on top for a little orange color  “pop”.
• You can also make these into sandwich cookies by putting the frosting between two cookies.

Here are a few other recipes that use Beth Blends:

AIP Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

AIP Pizza Crust

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. If you made it, leave a comment below and let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear from you!

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @foodcourage for the latest AIP/Paleo recipes and Food Courage happenings!

Orange Pumpkin Cookies

Arika | FoodCourage

These fresh tasting citrus pumpkin cookies will hit the spot! They're paleo, AIP, and gluten-free.

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 18 cookies

Calories 179 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Electric Mixer optional

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 1/4 cup Beth Blends nut/cassava free grain-free flour (yellow bag)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder or egg- see notes
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp dried ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup palm shortening
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp fresh orange zest

Orange Frosting

• 1/2 cup palm shortening
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp +2 tsp orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 1/2 cups tapioca starch or arrowroot starch
• 2 tsp unflavored gelatin powder
• extra orange zest for sprinkling on top

Instructions

 

Cookies

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make sure one of the racks are in the center of the oven.
• Prepare 2 baking sheets by greasing it or adding a sheet of parchment paper. You could almost fit them all on 1 sheet but I prefer to 2 to make sure the cookies don't run into each other.
• In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients- grain-free flour, sea salt, gelatin powder, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
• In another medium bowl (or stand mixer), combine the wet ingredients: palm shortening, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and orange zest.
• Use electric mixer (or whisk/spatula) to mix the wet ingredients together. *Note- it ill look a bit lumpy and weird until you add the dry ingredients. This is normal.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while mixing. Mix until smooth.
• Spoon about 1 tbsp of dough onto the baking sheet for each cookie. Leave at least an inch (maybe 2inches) between cookies as they do spread. Continue this process until you use all the dough. You should have about 18-20 smallish cookies when done.
• Bake for 13-15 minutes on the middle rack(s). Allow to cool completely- at least 15-20 minutes before adding frosting. *They will be very soft and fragile until completely cool. Then they're be easy to handle.

Orange Frosting

• Combine palm shortening, maple syrup, orange juice, and orange zest in a medium bowl or stand mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds. You can mix by hand with a whisk if needed. It will be lumpy and weird until you add the dry ingredients- no worries, this is normal.
• Add in the tapioca starch and gelatin powder. Continue mixing until smooth and thick. If for some reason it's too thin, add a little more arrowroot starch. If it's too thick, add a little orange juice.
• Frost the cookies. You can do this with a butter knife or spatula. Or if you want to get fancy, you can use a piping bag.
• Optional: Garnish with additional orange zest.

Notes

The amount of frosting in this recipe is pretty generous and enough for a thick layer on each cookie and you may have some left over. If you just want a thin layer of frosting on each cookie, you could probably get away with cutting the frosting recipe in half.

If you want to use a piping bag but don't have one, you can cut the corner of of a gallon size ziplock bag and use that.

Substitutions:

If you want to substitute an egg for the gelatin powder, reduce the pumpkin by 1- 1 1/2 tbsp. Try to use a smallish egg if possible. Or if it's a large egg, whisk it, then just just 1/2-3/4 of it.

Try to use maple syrup if possible. You can substitute honey if needed but it will change to texture of the cookies quite a bit- they spread more and they're much thinner/softer which makes them a bit less sturdy for adding frosting. Also, note if you do use honey, they will be extremely soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up within about 30 minutes. Just let them sit.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Orange Pumpkin Cookies

Serving Size

 

1 cookie

Amount per Serving

Calories

179

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

12

g

18

%

Saturated Fat

 

10

g

63

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

0.2

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Sodium

 

67

mg

3

%

Potassium

 

45

mg

1

%

Carbohydrates

 

19

g

6

%

Fiber

 

0.2

g

1

%

Sugar

 

9

g

10

%

Protein

 

0.5

g

1

%

Vitamin A

 

531

IU

11

%

Vitamin C

 

1

mg

1

%

Calcium

 

19

mg

2

%

Iron

 

0.2

mg

1

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword aip frosting, cookie, orange, pumpkin, sweet treat, whoopie pie

Did you make this recipe?Mention @foodcourage or tag #foodcourage on Instagram!