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Home » Dessert » Cassava Flour Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies

Cassava Flour Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies

Last Updated April 4, 2023. Published November 6, 2019 Good For You Gluten Free

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Cassava Flour Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies
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These cassava flour pumpkin thumbprint cookies are a cake-like cookie with a delicious pumpkin-spiced frosting in the middle. The combination of flavors and textures work well together for a mouth-pleasing cookie treat. And the best part? They’re grain free because they’re made with cassava flour. This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.

I had some leftover canned pumpkin from making my fluffy pumpkin pancakes… and you know what you need to do you do when life gives you bonus pumpkin puree. You need to make pumpkin cookies! At least that’s what I do.

Not wanting to let the pumpkin puree go to waste, I decided to whip up some grain-free and gluten-free pumpkin thumbprint cookies.

These cookies are cakey and moist. They taste so soft and delicious. I’m in heaven and I can’t wait to share them with you.

Before I talk about how to make them, I want to share a bit more about the flour I used because it’s different than the 1:1 gluten-free flour I typically use. 

In this recipe, I used cassava flour, which is a flour made from the yucca root (which is a starchy root vegetable). Cassava flour is gluten- and grain-free as the flour comes from a root vegetable vs. a grain.

When you bake with cassava flour, you simply measure it, by weight, as a one-to-one swap with wheat flour. For example, if your recipe calls for 130 grams of wheat flour, you simply use 130 grams of cassava flour and go about your baking business.

(Please note 130 grams is the approx weight for 1 cup of wheat flour. I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale if you’re going to bake with cassava flour.)

Alternatively, you could measure 3/4 cup of cassava flour for every 1 cup of gluten-free or wheat flour. It won’t be as exact, but it will work.

Two brands I know make cassava flour, Otto’s Cassava Flour and Bob’s Red Mill. I use both. It just depends what I have on hand.

How to Make these Cookies

These cookies come together so easy and quick in a few simple steps.

Step #1: Gather Your Ingredients

Always make sure you have everything you need before getting started.

For the cookie dough, you’ll need:

  • Cassava flour
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Ground cinnamon
  • Pumpkin pie spice
  • Kosher salt
  • Brown sugar
  • Canned pumpkin puree
  • Avocado oil or other vegetable oil
  • An egg
  • Vanilla extract
Picture of the cassava flour, melted butter, pumpkin puree and other ingredients needed for the cassava flour pumpkin cookies

For the frosting, you’ll need:

  • Butter
  • Powdered sugar
  • Vanilla extract
  • Pumpkin pie spice
  • Milk or milk substitute
Ingredients needed for the pumpkin spiced frosting- vanilla, powdered sugar and butter

Step #2: Make the Cookie Dough

Start by combining the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, egg and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract until well combined.

Then add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix together until everything is just incorporated.

Three pictures that depict the cassava flour pumpkin cookies coming together

Step #3: Bake

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto your baking sheet, using lightly wet fingers to help shape the dough into round mounds about 2″ apart. Do not flatten.

Cookie dough mounds on a baking sheet

Bake in a 350º F preheated oven for 6 minutes, then remove from oven and use your thumb or the bottom of a tablespoon to press an indent into the center of each cookie.

Two pictures that show how to create the thumbprint center in the cookies using a tbsp measuring spoon

Bake cookies for another 5-6 minutes until done. Cookies are soft when done. Do not overcook. Allow cookies ample time to cool before frosting.

Cassava flour pumpkin cookies cooling on a wire rack

Step #4: Frosting

To make the frosting, combine butter, sugar, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and milk in the bowl of your standing mixer and mix until well combined.

Add frosting to a piping bag and then pipe frosting into the center of each thumbprint cookie.

Using a piping bag of frosting to add frosting to the middle of the cassava flour pumpkin cookies

Voila, you have beautifully frosted thumbprint cookies to share that taste great on day #1 and continue to taste soft and moist through day #3.

Close up picture of hand holding cassava flour pumpkin thumbprint cookie.

This gluten-free pumpkin thumbprint cookie is one moist, delicious soft-baked cookie that will melt in your mouth. It tastes almost like a cookie muffin because it’s soft and yummy!

Best of all, it’s filled with good for you ingredients (well, except for the sugar, shhh!). In fact, the cookies are loaded with fiber thanks to the pumpkin puree (1/2 cup of pumpkin puree is about 3-4 grams of fiber).

Four cassava flour pumpkin cookies with frosting on a plate.

The cookies I made lasted less than 24 hours (they were gone after breakfast the next morning). We ate them all. Fast. Gone. Delic!

A ton of pumpkin cookies on plate.

On my next go round of making these cassava flour pumpkin cookies, I plan on doubling the recipe. I highly recommend you do, too. You will have leftover frosting, so you might as well double the cookie dough and put that excess frosting to good use.

Other Recipes You Might Like

Here are some other delicious cookie recipes you might enjoy too:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip pumpkin cookies on a wire rack

Gluten-Free Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

A bunch of Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies-54

Gluten-Free Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tray of classic gluten-free chocolate chip cookies

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms

Gluten-free peanut butter blossoms recipe 4

Cassava Flour Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies

These cassava flour pumpkin thumbprint cookies taste delicious. They are a soft-baked cookie that taste more like a mini-muffin than a cookie. If you love a soft-baked, cakey cookie, you'll love this recipe!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cassava flour, cassava flour cookies, gluten-free cookies, gluten-free pumpkin cookies, pumpkin thumbprint cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
Servings: 15 cookies
Calories: 169kcal
Author: Jenny Levine Finke

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 130 grams cassava flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup avocado oil or other vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting

  • 4 tbsp butter softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tbsp milk or milk substitute

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375º F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
  • Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, egg and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract until well combined.
  • Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix together until everything is just incorporated.
  • Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto your baking sheet, using lightly wet fingers to help shape the dough into round mounds about 2" apart. Do not flatten.
  • Bake for 6 minutes, then remove from oven and use your thumb or the bottom of a tablespoon to press an indent into the center of each cookie. Bake cookies for another 5-6 minutes until done. Cookies are soft when done. Do not overcook. Allow cookies ample time to cool before frosting.
  • To make the frosting, combine butter, sugar, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and milk in the bowl of your standing mixer and mix until well combined. Add frosting to a piping bag and then pipe frosting into the center of each thumbprint cookie.

Notes

I love the pumpkin-spiced homemade frosting center, but you could use store-bought frosting instead. 
You will have extra frosting. You can use it for another recipe or I always double the cookie recipe (but do not double the frosting recipe), and use up the rest of the frosting.
I find the bottom of a tablespoon works well for creating the perfect indent in the cookies. Press gently and don’t worry if the cookies crack. That’s part of the charm.
Store uneaten cookies in your fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 169kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 155mg | Potassium: 48mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 1384IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @GoodForYouGlutenFree or tag #goodforyouglutenfree!

Filed Under: Cookies, Dessert 4 Comments

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pamela Poe says

    October 7, 2019 at 8:30 pm

    Just made these tonight. Awesome!! Had to make a few changes cause I’m trying to stay sugar free. Used surkin gold replacement sugar in batter and swerve powdered sugar substitute for the frosting. Amazing pumpkin taste. These are a keeper especially for this fall season. Thanks and keep the recipes coming.

  2. Jenny says

    October 15, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    I hope you do. It definitely tastes like pumpkin pie!

  3. Jenny says

    October 15, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    My pleasure. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. They’re gone too fast!!

  4. A Healthy Hint says

    October 15, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    Thanks for sharing, Jenny! These sound heavenly.

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Hi, I'm Jenny Levine Finke and am passionate about the gluten-free lifestyle. I'm a certified integrative nutrition coach and self-taught expert on [most] gluten-free things. I have celiac disease and know the struggles you're going through first-hand. This is why I've dedicated this blog to serving the celiac and gluten sensitive communities with important information, product and restaurant reviews, and simple recipes I hope you'll love. Read More…

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