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Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies

16 November, 2016 by Giselle Rochford 11 Comments

These pumpkin pecan vegan shortbread cookies are just as tender and ‘buttery’ as classic shortbread cookies but with a fall-inspired vegan twist. 

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

Quick question for the food bloggers in the audience: How many times do you test a recipe before giving up?

I had the idea for these pumpkin pecan vegan shortbread cookies long before I made the red velvet version. In fact, they were supposed to be part of last year’s pumpkin week but I had to miss a day when the cookies refused to cooperate.

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

Pumpkin cookies are usually way to soft and fluffy for my liking. I’m much more of a thick and chewy cookie kinda gal. But I figured that pumpkin would be a great addition to this vegan shortbread since shortbread is usually on the tender side. Couldn’t hurt my quest for that elusive ‘buttery’ shortbread texture, right? Especially since I planned to used coconut oil and not actual butter.

Unfortunately, the first 1340923 tries were epic fails. I either ended up with cookies so soft they were almost rubbery or cookies that were much harder than I wanted.

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies

But on my 340924th attempt, I made one tiny substitution, just for fun and realised the pumpkin wasn’t the issue at all. It was my choice of sweetener.

I originally used coconut sugar to replace the fine white sugar traditionally used in shortbread. But, even though it worked well with the beets, the coarse coconut sugar apparently wasn’t all that great in pumpkin shortbread. #Science.

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

Luckily, switching to a liquid sweetener like agave or maple syrup seemed to do the trick.

The final vegan shortbread was just as tender and ‘buttery’ as I’d ever wanted and just sweet enough without being overpowering. But I still don’t even want to look at pumpkin for the next 21 years or so.

JK. I still have 1/2 a tin left to get through. So maybe just no more pumpkin cookies.

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

What about you?

Have you ever made shortbread before? What recipe took you ages to get right?

p.s. If you make this vegan shortbread , I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment and rate the recipe or take a pic and tag it @ExSloth on Instagram!

More vegan cookies:

  • vegan red velvet shortbread
  • vegan double chocolate chip cookies
  • paleo vegan brownie cookies

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies
 
Print
Prep time
25 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
45 mins
 
These pumpkin pecan vegan shortbread cookies are just as tender and 'buttery' as classic shortbread cookies but with a fall-inspired vegan twist.
Author: GiselleR
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 20 cookies
Ingredients
  • ⅓ cup coconut oil, softened but not melted
  • 2½ tbsp pumpkin puree, at room temperature
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup or agave
  • ½ tsp agave
  • ¾ cup + 1 - 2 tbsp unbleached all purpose spelt flour*
  • ¼ tsp pumpkin spice
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp chopped pecans
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, beat together the coconut oil, beet puree and agave or maple syrup then mix in the vanilla and salt
  2. Sift in ¾ cup spelt flour and pumpkin spice and mix until well incorporated and a crumbly dough has formed
  3. Give the spelt flour a few minutes to soak in the moisture and if, after that, the dough is too wet, add up to 2 tbsp more flour, ½ tbsp at a time
  4. Fold in the pecans then transfer the dough onto a piece of wax paper, roll into a log and freeze for 15 - 20 minutes
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 F, line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside
  6. Remove the dough log from the freezer, unwrap and slice into cookies about ½ an inch thick. If the dough is too soft, return it to the freezer. If it's too hard, let it sit at room temperature until you can cut into it
  7. Place cookies on the baking tray and bake for 16 - 20 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown. Stop at 16 minutes for more 'buttery' melt-in-your-mouth shortbread or leave for full 20 minutes for more shortbread that's crispy on the outside. Do not over bake.
Notes
*can sub spelt flour for regular all purpose flour or other 1:1 flour
**If using unbleached spelt flour, allow a few minutes for the
3.5.3217

Liked this recipe? Pin it for later:

Pumpkin Pecan Vegan Shortbread Cookies made with coconut oil and spelt flour via ExSloth.com

Want more shortbread cookies? Try this one:

Vegan Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies + 4 vegan Valentine's Day Recipes via @ExSloth | ExSloth.com

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Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

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Comments

  1. Kim says

    16 November, 2016 at 10:54 am

    Yum! These look amazing. I’ve never baked with spelt flour before but I’m excited to try!
    Kim recently posted…Weekend Fun and My Fall Food Obsession

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      18 November, 2016 at 9:05 am

      You should definitely try it! I bake almost exclusively with spelt because although I’m not gluten free (and spelt has gluten) it’s a lot either on my stomach than regular wheat flour. Plus, it has such a good flavour IMO 🙂

      Reply
  2. Runwright says

    16 November, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Looks yummy but I’m not sure I’d have the patience to try it several times. I’d probably just ask you to send me some when you were done 🙂
    Runwright recently posted…Top Ten Movies

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      18 November, 2016 at 9:03 am

      haha I usually wouldn’t have the patience either tbh but for once I refused to just scrap the recipe. Probably won’t happen for another 3 years 😅

      Reply
  3. Erin @ Erin's Inside Job says

    17 November, 2016 at 9:32 am

    Haha this is why I’m not a dedicated food blogger. I just come up w recipes I know will work out and then post them. I’m terrified of things coming out poorly!

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      18 November, 2016 at 9:04 am

      Girl, this is why I’m not a better food blogger. I get so annoyed with things don’t come out right and I take like a week of blogging to recover 😩 😅 😂

      Reply
  4. Christina Henager says

    23 November, 2016 at 11:33 am

    Can I use soy flour and can I refrigerate the roll overnight?

    Reply
    • Giselle Rochford says

      23 November, 2016 at 11:52 am

      Hi Christina, I haven’t tested soy flour in this recipe myself so I can’t guarantee how the cookies will turn out. But if you want to make that sub, start with about 1/2 cup of soy flour and add more as necessary. And you can definitely refrigerate the dough overnight instead of freezing. Hope that helps and let me know how it goes with the soy flour!

      Reply
      • Christina Henager says

        23 November, 2016 at 5:34 pm

        Thanks

        Reply
  5. Denise says

    29 November, 2016 at 10:13 pm

    Giselle, These look delicious. I love pumpkin. Going to try these with sorghum flour or something gluten free. I like that there’s no baking powder or soda either. Thank you

    Reply
  6. H.E. says

    20 January, 2019 at 6:10 pm

    There’s a small issues with this recipe – you mention agave as a alternative to maple syrup on one line of the ingredients, but then have another entry for agave below it? Meanwhile, the directions mention vanilla. I think you wrote agave in the ingredients rather than vanilla?

    Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

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