I recently went to Trader Joe’s and saw that they had some Pumpkin Scone cookies on sale. It seemed almost too good to be true when I laid my eyes on them, but I definitely wanted to re-create these and have them be a part of my keto repertoire as soon as possible. Truth be told, my girlfriend has a bit of a sweet tooth and was really insistent on having a keto version. So, after heading to the farmer’s market, I saw these beautiful squash on sale for only $1 per! I couldn’t resist as the memories of those delicious looking scone cookies entered my mind and decided to pick up a few to work on a replica.
This is a delightfully delicious dish that combines the texture of a scone with the taste of a cookie and pairs great with keto eggnog. The best of both worlds! I thought it was an awesome concept when I first saw them, and I hope you think so, too. It tastes naturally sweet from the sweet lightning squash, but adding in the Torani really gives that blast of pumpkin spice flavor that we’re so used to during the fall season. The spicy, earthy and unique flavor the garam masala adds in addition to the traditional pumpkin pie flavoring of the Torani and cinnamon is sublime.
I picked mine up from Penzeys Spices, but you can find this in most ethnic stores or online. If you have no way to get garam masala, you can always skip it and add a pumpkin pie spice blend of your own.
Be careful when slicing the pumpkin as they are relatively tough to cut and require a sharp knife. If you need help, you can always switch to a serrated knife which can help the slicing process. When you do get to open the pumpkin, scrape the insides out – you want to remove all the stringy, gooey, messy meat.
Feel free to save the seeds to roast later to use as a crunchy topping for salads, chia seed puddings, or my Keto Granola Bars from Keto-fied! Comfort Foods Made Low Carb.
It is of course up to you, but using the rind adds a great chewy inside the cookie. I tend to love it, but I know that some may not so you’re welcome to skin the squash after roasting it. If you decide that you don’t want to roast your own squash/pumpkin, then make sure you squeeze out the moisture if you use canned pumpkin. You can do this using a cheese cloth to remove the watery parts from the pumpkin puree. If you don’t do this, your cookies will be much flatter and not give off a “scone” vibe.
Yields 24 Pumpkin Spice Spice Scone Cookies
The Preparation
- 1 small sweet lightning winter squash (or 1 ¼ cup pumpkin puree, strained)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil cooking spray
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup pumpkin pie spice sugar-free Torani
The Execution
1. Start off by gathering your Winter Squash and a good knife. Preheat you oven to 400°F.
2. Slice the squash in half. If needed, you can use a serrated knife or a sharp chef’s knife. To see my recommendations on knives, you can visit My Kitchen Recommendations.
3. Scrape out all of the “guts” of the squash including the seeds. You can save the seeds for later roasting for snacking purposes, but I generally throw it out.
4. Slice the squash in unison with the grooves of the natural shape.
5. On a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper, lay each piece of squash down and spray with coconut oil. Season with cinnamon and garam masala and then flip all slices and repeat so both sides are seasoned.
6. Bake the squash for around 30-35 minutes or until tender with the touch of a fork.
7. Add about 1 cup worth of squash to a food processor. Generally I like the texture that the skin adds, but you’re welcome to remove the skin before this step.
8. Process the squash until a thick paste is formed and then mix in a bowl with 2 eggs. If you’re using pumpkin puree, make sure that you thoroughly squeeze the moisture out of it with a cheese cloth.
9. Add the rest of the ingredients (butter, almond flour, baking powder, vanilla, torani syrup). Mix together well with a fork or you can get messy with your hands (my favorite method). Keep in mind that this will be super sticky.
10. Turn the oven down to 350F. Using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, form cookies with the dough.
11. Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or until the outside has hardened and the inside is still soft.
12. Serve up by slicing in half and spooning or piping your favorite filling between them!
This makes a total of 24 Pumpkin Pie Spice Scone Cookies. Per cookie, it comes out to be 61.83 Calories, 5.22g Fats, 1.53g Net Carb, and 1.79g Protein.
| Pumpkin Spice Scone Cookies | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 1 ¼ cup pumpkin puree | 126 | 0 | 27.51 | 7.5 | 20.01 | 5.01 |
| 2 teaspoons cinnamon | 13 | 0.06 | 4.19 | 2.8 | 1.39 | 0.21 |
| 2 teaspoons garam masala | 19.8 | 0.07 | 4.6 | 2.6 | 2 | 0.7 |
| 1 tablespoon coconut oil | 121 | 13.47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 large eggs | 143 | 9.51 | 0.72 | 0 | 0.72 | 12.56 |
| 1 teaspoon vanilla extract | 12 | 0 | 0.53 | 0 | 0.53 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon baking powder | 2 | 0 | 1.27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 cup almond flour | 640 | 56 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| ¼ cup butter | 407 | 46.03 | 0.03 | 0 | 0.03 | 0.48 |
| ¼ cup pumpkin pie spice sugar-free Torani | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1483.8 | 125.14 | 62.85 | 24.9 | 36.68 | 42.96 |
| Per Serving(/24) | 61.83 | 5.22 | 2.62 | 1.04 | 1.53 | 1.79 |
Pumpkin Pie Spice Scone Cookies
Ingredients
- 1.25 cup Pumpkin Puree strained
- 2 tsp. Cinnamon
- 2 tsp. Garam Masala
- 1 tbsp. Coconut Oil Cooking Spray
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- ¼ cup Butter
- ¼ cup Pumpkin Pie Spice SF Torani
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Cut squash in half, scoop out all guts, and then slice where natural grooves are located.
- Place squash on cookie sheet with parchment paper, spray with coconut oil (both sides), and season with cinnamon and garam masala (both sides).
- Bake until tender to the fork - about 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from oven, put into food processor and then mix all the rest of the ingredients together.
- Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until the outside has hardened and the inside is soft.
- Pipe or spread your favorite filling between the cookies.
