Let's make these chewy pumpkin seed cookies with whole wheat flour! They are incredibly delicious with pumpkin pie spices, and orange zest.
Cookies are one of my favourite things to bake, I've been altering cookie recipes to add nutrient-dense ingredients for over 15 years! You are gonna love this recipe. Next, try my breakfast cookies!!
Vision + Recipe testing
I had a vision for these cookies when I was lying in my sleeping bag on a camping trip, I was dreaming of a soft and chewy fall spice cookie! It's like a gingersnap cookie with crunchy pumpkin seeds and orange notes! It took me 8 tries to create this recipe.
First I added too many eggs and not enough oil making these cookies too doughy and tough, I didn't want that! I also tried making these cookies with pumpkin puree, but it made the cookies cakey! Now this recipe features whole wheat flour, no oats, and orange zest! I am so proud of this recipe and happy to share it with you!
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Notes about the ingredients needed
Here are the ingredients you need to make this fall cookie recipe, read the notes below for details.
- Pumpkin seeds (pepitas): This is not a raw pumpkin seed recipe, it uses raw pumpkin seeds but we roast them. However, you can also use roasted and salted pumpkin seeds (the popular ones from Costco) - just skip the roasting step.
- Orange zest: Look for an organic orange as oranges can be heavily sprayed and we want to avoid using those oranges. Alternatively, use 1 tablespoon of orange juice concentrate or a drop of orange extract.
- Coconut sugar: I love the taste of coconut sugar, however brown sugar works perfectly too.
- Cane sugar: You can use cane sugar or white sugar to sweeten the cookies.
- Oil: I use grapeseed oil, however coconut oil, or organic cold-pressed canola would also be great options as they are mild-tasting oil. I haven't tested this recipe with butter but I can't see why melted butter wouldn't work.
- Whole wheat flour: I always remember one of my reading materials in my nutrition schooling explaining how so much nutrition is stripped away when whole wheat flour is made into white flour, I was shocked. Now I try to use whole grains or whole wheat flour when possible.
- Pumpkin pie spice: These spices bring out the flavor in these cookies. Here's my recipe to make your own affordable spice mix. Alternatively, just use cinnamon!
- Molasses: These cookies just have a touch of molasses to reflect a pumpkin spice ginger cookie!
- Egg
- Baking soda
- Sea salt
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make pumpkin seed cookies with orange
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then start by washing the orange, I use a fruit and veggie wash to remove any unnatural I can from the flesh.
Step 2: Use a zester to remove all the bright flavorful peel from the orange.
Step 3: Place the pumpkin seeds in a frying pan over medium-high heat, stir occasionally until they start to darken or you hear popping. Then remove the pan from the heat and let it cool while preparing the cookie dough.
Step 4: In a medium bowl place all the wet ingredients (egg, orange zest, oil, sugars, vanilla) and whisk it all together.
Step 5: In a small bowl place the flour, pumpkin pie spice, sea salt, and baking soda. Use a whisk to mix everything together well.
Step 6: Add the flour mixture and the toasted pumpkin seeds to the wet ingredients, and stir until a dough forms, even using your hands. Roll into tablespoon-sized balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven 7-9 minutes until they look puffy. Take them out of the oven and let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes, this will make them the perfect texture.
Top tips for pumpkin seed cookies
Don't overbake these whole wheat orange cookies! Take them out of the oven when they look puffy and soft - this is 8 minutes for my oven. Let the cookies continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet out of the oven for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan. This will create the perfect soft and chewy cookie.
Optional add in's
Here are some ideas to change up these pumpkin seed cookies!
- Chocolate chips: Add ⅓ cup chocolate chips when mixing in the pumpkin seeds.
- Dried cranberries: Add ⅓ cup of these red berries when adding the pumpkin seeds.
- Roll cookies in cane sugar to make a similar cookie to ginger snaps!
Other homemade snacks to make
Love pumpkin seeds? Or into seed cycling? Try these pumpkin seed granola bars!
Did you make these fall cookies with pumpkin seeds? Would you take 5 seconds to give a star rating and review just below the recipe? That means a lot to me and helps the growth of Beside the Mountain blog. <3
Pumpkin Seed Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoon oil grapeseed or coconut or organic cold pressed canola
- ½ cup cane sugar or white sugar
- ½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon molasses
- 1 egg* room temperature
- 1 orange zested*
Instructions
- Preheat + zest: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then wash the orange and use a zester to remove the peel from the whole orange, set aside for later.
- Roast seeds: Start by putting the pumpkin seeds in a frying pan and placing them over high heat on the stove for 3-5 minutes until they change to a darker color or start to pop. Remove the frying pan from the heat and let them cool slightly while making the cookie dough. Set aside a small handful of seeds to put on top of the cookies before baking.
- Wet ingredients: In a large mixing bowl place the oil, white and brown sugar, molasses, egg, and orange zest. Mix until everything is glossy and smooth.
- Dry ingredients: In a medium bowl place the whole wheat flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Whisk everything together until well combined. Dump the flour mixture and pumpkin seeds, into the wet ingredients. Mix together, even using your hands, until a thick dough forms.
- Form cookies + bake: Use an ice cream scoop or tablespoon to make cookie balls, and place them on a lined cookie sheet. Take the pumpkin seeds previously put aside and press a few into each cookie. Bake the cookies at 350 Fahrenheit for 8 minutes, they will look puffy and not fully cooked, let them cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes to get a soft chewy texture.
Notes
Nutrition
Danika Vanderpyl, C.H.N
I create snack recipes with healthy ingredients that are mostly already in your kitchen. Let's make snacktime nutrient-dense, and well, easy.
Erik
I made these last week and they were a hit! Love the citrus flavour with the seedy crunch and the depth the molasses brings. I need to make another batch ASAP!
Danika Vanderpyl
Thanks for sharing Erik! So glad you made these, I love the hints of orange too!