Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Spice Sandwich Cookies

There’s no denying it: pumpkin desserts are everywhere this season, and I’m all in. I can’t promise I won’t keep sharing pumpkin recipes — they’re my weakness. Recently I wanted to bake something special to send to a dear friend who follows a gluten‑ and dairy‑free diet. She was one of my earliest supporters during my own switch to gluten‑ and dairy‑free living, so I wanted to show my appreciation with a thoughtful treat.

I made these pumpkin spice sandwich cookies for Kerri. She loves pumpkin as much as I do, so I knew they’d be a hit. These are soft, bite‑size pumpkin cookies sandwiched with a cinnamon‑spiced cream filling. They’re dangerously easy to eat: one leads to another, and then another—so consider doubling the recipe. The batch below makes 16–18 sandwiches, but you’ll probably wish you’d made more.

Gluten‑Free Vegan Pumpkin Spice Sandwich Cookies

makes 16-18 sandwich cookies

Pumpkin spice cookies

3/4 cup gluten‑free oat flour*
1/2 cup gluten‑free all‑purpose flour blend
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cane sugar
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cinnamon cream filling

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons non‑hydrogenated palm shortening
1–2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, gluten‑free flour blend, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cane sugar, melted coconut oil, coconut milk and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

For piping, fill a large zip‑top bag with the cookie dough and snip off one corner. Pipe 2‑teaspoon‑size rounds onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them slightly apart. Alternatively, scoop dough with a spoon and flatten each mound with your fingers into 1‑inch discs; the cookies will spread a bit while baking. You should get about 36 cookies total (to make 16–18 sandwiches).

Bake 9–11 minutes, until the edges are golden. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 3–5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cookies cool, make the cinnamon cream filling. In a bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, palm shortening, 1 tablespoon coconut milk, vanilla and ground cinnamon until smooth. If the filling is too thick, add the remaining tablespoon of coconut milk a little at a time until it reaches a spreadable, creamy consistency.

To assemble, turn half the cookies upside down and spread each with about 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon filling. Top with the remaining cookies to form sandwiches. Let the filled cookies sit for 20 minutes so the filling firms slightly. Store finished sandwiches in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or in the refrigerator if you prefer a firmer filling.

*To make oat flour: pulse about 1 cup certified gluten‑free rolled oats in a high‑speed blender until a fine flour forms. Measure out 3/4 cup for the recipe.