My 5-year daughter asked me “Daddy, what is Santa’s favorite cookie? Which cookie should we leave for him Christmas Eve.” I told her “I’m sure he will eat whichever cookies we make him because he is so appreciative of you helping daddy bake cookies just for the reindeer and him.” But seriously it got me thinking. Not so much what type of cookie does Santa like, but rather what type of cookie SHOULD he eat. That’s when I came up with the Paleo Pumpkin Cookies recipe.

Let’s look at the profile of good ole’ St. Nick. He’s portly (that’s part of his charm indubitably)… he’s elderly…he’s likely diabetic. C’mon think of all the sweets he eats in the North Pole, plus half the year it is dark and cold. No Vitamin D…no time for exercise…probably munching down on comfort foods to pass the 364 days he is idle. (Kind of a sad life when you think about it.)

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Paleo Pumpkin Cookies

Santa needs paleo cookies for sure. Let’s get that weight down so next year he can wear a pillow under his costume! Let’s eschew the conventional nutrition-less, inflammatory wheat flour seen in practically every food item in the middle aisles of the grocery stores. Let’s throw in a great non-wheat flour alternative like coconut products, some nutrient-dense spices, a prebiotic, resistant-starch banana, some chia seeds, and we have ourselves one heck of a Paleo Pumpkin Cookies recipe.

Check out our great Review of non-Wheat Flour Baking Alternatives.

Now we have plenty of regular non-wheat flour baking recipes here….and even some Christmas cookies. What separates this Paleo Pumpkin Cookies recipe from those is the use of pumpkin puree. Pumpkin in general is VERY nutrient-dense and loaded with fiber, Vitamin A & C (the great antioxidants they are) and potassium.  Plus it makes the cookies more filling and gives it that aromatic pumpkin smell.

Incidentally, I read a great article in the NY Times recently how most pumpkin pies (and the canned pumpkin puree) is NOT actually pumpkin. The article made the great point that it is virtually impossible to make a pumpkin pie from the actual pumpkin on your doorstep since pumpkin filling is fibrous and sinewy.

Canned pumpkin makers knew this way back in the 1930’s so they use a cousin of the pumpkin, a certain type of gourd. Similarly click HERE to read this great NY times article on how yellow squash should be used to make the creamy pumpkin pie. So really the idea of pumpkin pie is a total sham!

Either way let’s look at the ingredients in this recipe in this Paleo Pumpkin Cookies recipe. The unripen banana we have already mentioned brings prebiotic goodness to feed your probiotic bacteria in your gut. (Most people would recommend a super ripened banana since it is sweeter and easier to mush down, but I recommend the unripen to make it more nutrient-dense.) Read this article on other common prebiotic foods in your pantry and fridge.

The pastured egg will bring you 6x the nutrition of a regular commercial egg. The chia seeds will bring much needed fiber and unsaturated fats. The cinnamon is a super-spice renown for its antimicrobial, anti-diabetic, pro-heart health qualities while the ginger brings many of the same benefits plus GI health.

Click HERE to learn more about the astounding Benefits of Cinnamon.

Click HERE to learn about the Benefits of Ginger.

The coconut oil and its sugar variation bring a much more nutrient-dense, plant-based health than the inflammatory Crisco, margarine could ever bring.  (Don’t be afraid of the high-fat content of coconut oil when you look at the nutritional information.  This is the “good” saturated fat and our body needs it.)

Throw in the nutmeg and vanilla and your taste buds and olfactory nerves are going to dance with joy for this Paleo Pumpkin Cookies recipe!

Check out our Review of Non-Sugar Sweeteners.

Check out some of the ingredients for this recipe down below: