Paleo Halloween Cookies (Gluten Free, Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free)

These paleo Halloween cookies are almost too cute to handle. Tender and soft with a paleo buttercream-style frosting, these paleo Halloween cookies are a must for this holiday! Whether you cut them into pumpkins, ghosts, or bats (or maybe zombies, anyone?), these paleo Halloween cookies are a healthier way to enjoy the classic holiday treat. No tricks here!

There are certain dishes that have punctuated the seasons in my life for as long as I can remember. Chili with boxed cornbread and plenty of shredded cheddar in the fall, rum cake dripping with a boozy glaze on Christmas Eve, strawberry shortcake made with fresh strawberries and real cream in the summer.

And then there’s Mom’s sugar cookie, versatile in their formations, making appearances at every holiday, shaped like a heart with white frosting and red sanding sugar in February, dressed like little Christmas trees in December, and ghosts or pumpkins with the respectively festive frosting in October.

They’re buttery and soft with just the right amount of bite, and the frosting is rich and sweet, not as cute as a royal icing cookie, but far tastier. I request them to this day, rationing them out over a week or so, knowing full well they don’t fit into our mostly-paleo diet and not caring one bit.

That said, as soon as cackling witches and 20-pound bags of fun-size chcoolate and 12-foot-tall dinosaur skeletons popped up in the stores, I knew I had to make a paleo Halloween cookies recipe that rivaled my mom’s. With no gluten, no grains, no dairy, and no refined sugar, they’re a treat with positively no tricks lying beneath their frosted surface.

It took a few go’s, but these paleo Halloween cookies are wonderful. Both the cookie dough and the frosting come together in the food processor, so they’re super easy to make, and the cookie is tender and soft with a sweet and creamy frosting on top. 

Leo devoured them, so they’re 100% kid-approved! And O ate several, too, not having a clue that they were healthier paleo Halloween cookies at all. Perfect for a Halloween party or just a show of festivity for the best holiday there is (Right?!). 

To make these paleo Halloween cookies, I used…

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Paleo Halloween Cookies (Gluten Free, Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free)

These paleo Halloween cookies are almost too cute to handle. Tender and soft with a paleo buttercream-style frosting, these paleo Halloween cookies are a must for this holiday! Whether you cut them into pumpkins, ghosts, or bats (or maybe zombies, anyone?), these paleo Halloween cookies are a healthier way to enjoy the classic holiday treat. No tricks here!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes

Total Time 37 minutes

Ingredients

Paleo Halloween Cookies

• 3/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1/3 cup palm shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg

Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 cup palm shortening
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Equipment Needed

• food processor
• parchment paper
• cookie sheets

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 315º F.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, add coconut sugar. Process until fine, then add remaining ingredients. Pulse until well-combined.
3. Turn out on a parchment-paper-lined countertop and cover with another sheet of parchment. Roll out until about 1/4" thick and cut into desired shapes and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Chill 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Bake for about 7-9 minutes, or until edges are barely beginning to set. Thinner cookies will only need 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet.

5. Make the frosting. In the bowl of a food processor, add all ingredients and pulse until well combined. Add natural food colorings as desired and frost fully cooled cookies using a butter knife or offset spatula. Best fresh or within a day, but will keep in an airtight container for several days.