Bill and I recently went to the pumpkin patch at Schramm’s Farm near Pittsburgh. We went on a gorgeous fall Saturday afternoon. We decided it would be a nice way to spend some time together, and also fun to browse Schramms farm market for some great fresh produce. After walking around the enormous pumpkin patch for a little while, we spotted a pumpkin that looked perfect for picking. We grabbed this 8 lb pumpkin and headed home to prepare it for some delicious fall treats.
We had no idea that gutting this pumpkin would be such a work out! We had two pots of boiling pumpkin on the stove while we were still chopping the other half of the pumpkin up into cubes to be steamed. We now have enough pureed pumpkin to last us through quite a few holidays.
The recipes we are sharing with you today are delicious dessert options for holiday parties and dinners. They require all of the same ingredients, with the exception of using almond flour for the cookies, and coconut flour for the cakes and bread. Have fun with these easy pumpkin recipes and enjoy the holidays to come!
For those of you using a fresh pumpkin in your recipes as we did, here is a link to a few options on how to prepare pumpkin for baking (How to Puree a Pumpkin for Baking). For ours, we steamed, pureed, and then froze the pumpkin. Chose the way that works best for you.
Pumpkin Spice Cakes | Pumpkin Spice Loaf
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted
- 6 omega 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup yacon syrup, or maple syrup
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice blend
Process:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients and blend with a hand mixer.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry and blend with a hand mixer until evenly combined.
- Lightly grease mini cake or loaf pans with coconut oil.
- Pour batter into mini cake pans, or mini loaf pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, check with a toothpick.
- 1 cup palm shortening
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Process:
- Blend all ingredients with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to a week.
Pumpkin Spice Cookies, or Pumpkin Spice Squares with Toasted Coconut
Ingredients:
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup yacon syrup, or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt, kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice blend
- Unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
Process for Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Blend all ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer.
- On a parchment lined baking sheet, drop spoonful of batter (about 1-2 tablespoons in size)
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Let cool and serve.
Process for Squares:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Blend all ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer.
- Pour batter into a 9×9 square baking pan.
- Sprinkle with shredded unsweetened coconut.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Cool, cut, and serve.
All of these pumpkin treats are not only delicious, but will make your house smell warm and sweet! They are a perfect dessert for Thanksgiving, or another fun healthy treat to serve on Halloween.
I just pulled the pumpkin spice bars out of my oven after 30 minutes and they are still EXTREMELY loose. As I made the recipe, I wondered if you omitted eggs?
I tried it as written, but I just don't see how this will possibly come together … help!
the egg is only used in the coconut flour recipes for the spice cake and loafs. coconut flour is very dense and needs the eggs to keep it fluffy and moist. the cookies and bars using almond flour should not have egg in the recipe. it's listed above. The pumpkin does keep things very moist, so for the cookies/cookie bars,you may have to leave them in the oven a little longer. they will be a softer cookie, but you don't want them to be mushy.
hope that helps!
hayley & bill
Well, I couldn't wait (because they smelled SO GOOD!) so I went ahead and took what I cooked and mixed in 6 eggs per the coconut flour recipe and re-baked the whole thing for about 25 minutes … and it turned out like a nice little bar! I just didn't see any way those bars were ever going to solidify enough to even cut. The edges close to the pan did get crisp (and delicious) but that was it.
Thank you!
Hi! I would like to bake the pumpkin cake as 1 cake- what size pan would you recommend and how long to bake? Thanks so much for the site! Your recipes are awesome!!!
Diana
Hi Diana,
We would recommend trying a 9'' round cake pan. Start Checking the cake at 30-35 minutes, but it will most likely bake for about 40-45 minutes. We haven't tried it in a larger cake pan yet. Let us know how it turns out for you!
Currently munching on a nice big helping of the pumpkin spice loaf…it's great! There were a couple of modifications though:
1.) I needed something to satisfy my sweet-tooth so I had 3 packs of Truvia. It was exactly what I needed!
2.) I had to double the bake time because after 30 minutes, the middle was way underdone.
All in all I think this is a GREAT recipe and tastes pretty darn close to the "real" thing!
So I made the pumpkin cookies last night.. AMAZING! My husband could devour the whole thing.. I also added some raisins, yumm. My only question is when I made the cookies they were really flat, like crackers.. they are soft but there is no dimension to it, what did I do wrong? Do I need to add baking powder? thanks!
I made these once but didn't have the coconut flour on hand so I used almond flour. They turned out way too egg-y (like a pumkin quiche!) but my kids devoured them anyway. Just now I made them w only 4 eggs & 1 1/2 cups almond flour (waiting for my shipment of coconut flour to arrive) & they were great! Perfect texture! Do you have any substitutions for the palm shortening tho? I wanted to make a frosting but I don't have any.
I love the Pumpkin Spice cookies and so does my 5 year old daughter! Based on some other people's comments I made a few adjustments. I ended up adding 2 room temp eggs and whipped them before adding the rest of the wet ingredients. Then I adjusted the baking soda to 1 tsp. Finally, I added 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and baked at 375 for 15 minutes. They turned out delicious and moist!
Thank you guys for all the time and effort you put into this website. It is a tremendous help and encouragement for all of us who are trying to make a difference in our lives and the lives of our families!
Is the coconut oil used jsut for greasing the pan? I am confused as to whether it goes into batter or on pans?
Hi guys! Love your site! Just wanted to check. I made a pumpkin loaf last night with this recipe, and it was still pretty uncooked in the center after 45 min. Have you guys increased the time for a loaf??
Thanks!
Did you use a mini loaf pan? Thats what the recipe requires. Not sure how long a standard size loaf pan would take…
I made these for Halloween last night and they were a hit! I made muffins, not a loaf. They were sweet, moist, and filling!