Dairy-Free Pumpkin Spice Fat Bombs For Full GAPS

These dairy-free pumpkin spice fat bombs are small, chilled bites of cooked pumpkin, coconut cream, and coconut oil. They have a soft orange color and a generous spoonful of pumpkin pie spice. Keep them cold, then give a frozen portion about five minutes on the counter before eating so the coconut fat loses its hard freezer edge.

There is no baking and no gelatin in this recipe. Melt the coconut oil, mix everything until smooth, and spoon small dollops onto a lined tray. The freezer sets them in an hour. If you have more time, the refrigerator route takes at least four hours.

I cook in the morning before second shift, with homeschooling in that same stretch of the day. A short mixing job is useful, but a recipe’s chilling time still has to fit the plan. Start these while you have room for the tray, rather than finding out at the end that there is nowhere level to put it.

You do not need a special mold to make them. Spoonfuls on a tray are enough. That also gives you a simple way to serve a small amount without turning a plain pumpkin treat into another elaborate kitchen project.

Jump to the Recipe

The Ingredients That Give These Their Texture

Homemade coconut cream: Use six ounces by weight, about 170 grams. It is a thick coconut ingredient, not the water drained from a coconut or a thinner coconut milk. The separate fresh coconut-cream recipe explains how to extract it at home. Have the cream ready before starting this recipe’s ten-minute mixing allowance.

Coconut oil: The half cup of oil is part of the structure. It is melted for mixing and firms again when the bites chill. Removing it would change how they set. Choose plain coconut oil without flavorings or other added ingredients.

Cooked pumpkin: Measure three-quarters of a cup after the pumpkin is fully cooked and pureed. You want a smooth, plain puree without hard pieces or strings running through it. Pumpkin pie filling with sugar and other ingredients is a different product. If liquid has collected around your cooked pumpkin, do not scoop that loose liquid into the measure as though it were pumpkin flesh.

Pumpkin pie spice and sea salt: Use one tablespoon of pure pumpkin pie spice and a quarter teaspoon of sea salt. Check that the spice blend contains only the spices, without sugar, starch, or flavoring additives.

Raw honey to taste: Honey is the GAPS sweetener here. Add a little, mix, and taste before deciding whether you want more. The pumpkin and your preference affect that decision. Sweeten the mixture to your liking before portioning it rather than assuming every pumpkin needs the same amount.

How to Mix and Chill Them

Have the Cream and Pumpkin Ready

Prepare the coconut cream and cooked pumpkin first. Measure six ounces of cream, half a cup of coconut oil, and three-quarters of a cup of puree. Keep the spice and salt measured nearby. Melt the coconut oil just until liquid; it does not need to bubble or become hot enough to cook the pumpkin.

The mixture will be smoother if the oil is liquid when it goes in. Cold coconut cream can make small pale flecks of oil firm before they are evenly mixed. Look through the bowl as you blend and keep mixing until the pumpkin, cream, and oil form an even mixture.

Blend Until the Color Is Even

Combine the coconut cream, melted coconut oil, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, sea salt, and honey to taste. Mix with a hand mixer or food processor until smooth. The Ninja BN801 has a food processor attachment for this option.

Scrape the bowl as needed so the cream clinging to its sides becomes part of the mixture. The finished blend should look evenly orange, with the fine spice flecks distributed through it. A white streak of coconut cream or a pocket of dry spice tells you where more mixing is needed.

Spoon Small Dollops

Line a tray with unbleached parchment and scoop tablespoon-sized dollops onto it. Leave a little space so neighboring portions do not merge. They can look like small spooned mounds; you are not trying to shape a smooth ball while the mixture is still soft.

Choose a tray that fits flat in your freezer or refrigerator before filling it. A tilted tray makes the soft portions spread toward one another. Move the whole supported tray rather than trying to carry a loose sheet of parchment with the dollops on top.

Chill Until Set

Freeze for one hour, or refrigerate for at least four hours. Those are alternative routes. You do not have to do both. Wait until a portion holds together when lifted from the liner instead of smearing across it.

The coconut oil gives these their chilled firmness. They soften as they warm, so keep the main batch cold while you serve the amount you want. A frozen bite will be firmer than one held in the refrigerator.

Where These Fit on GAPS

This version is for Full GAPS after coconut, cooked pumpkin, honey, and the spices have been introduced and tolerated. It uses homemade coconut cream and raw honey rather than canned coconut milk and monkfruit. The cream is dairy-free; there is no butter, cream cheese, or egg in the formula.

This is a spiced chilled treat, not an early Intro recipe. Pumpkin appearing in an Intro meal does not bring every pumpkin dessert into that same stage. The coconut preparation, sweetener, spices, and whole finished dish matter too.

It does not fit No-Plant GAPS because it contains coconut and pumpkin. For a less sweet batch, add only a little honey, blend, and taste before deciding whether to add more.

Serving and Freezer Storage

The batch is divided into twelve servings. That is a serving guide, not a promise of twelve tablespoon-sized pieces. The mixture makes more small spoonfuls than that, and the number depends on how generously you scoop. Divide the finished batch into twelve portions if you want to follow the card’s serving count.

Once set, transfer the bites to an airtight freezer container. Use parchment between layers if needed to keep the pieces separate. Store them in the freezer for up to three months. Label the container with the date rather than leaving another unidentified orange tub behind the frozen stock.

Take out the amount you plan to eat and let it stand for about five minutes before serving. That takes the hard edge off a frozen portion without warming the entire container. Keep the rest frozen.

If you want a different chilled treat, our blueberry cheesecake fat bombs use homemade yogurt cheese and butter. They are a separate cultured-dairy recipe. Choose these pumpkin bites when you want the dairy-free formula instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Coconut Milk Instead of Cream?

Use the cream named here. Coconut milk brings a different amount of water, and a cup of thin milk does not replace a measured portion of thick cream. Measure the finished homemade cream before mixing.

Do I Need a Mold?

No. The tablespoon-sized dollops on a lined tray are the method described here. The shape can be irregular. What matters is an even mixture that has chilled long enough to hold together.

Why Are They Hard Straight From the Freezer?

The coconut fat is firm when frozen. Let the portion you are serving stand for about five minutes. Keep the rest of the batch in the freezer rather than softening all of it for one serving.

Can I Leave Out the Pumpkin?

Pumpkin is part of this formula, so leaving it out makes a different preparation. Use the measured cooked puree here rather than trying to make a plain coconut bite by removing three-quarters of a cup of the mixture.

Why Does the Total Time Include an Hour?

The ten-minute preparation time covers mixing and portioning with the cream and pumpkin already prepared. The freezer route needs an additional hour to set, making seventy minutes in total. The refrigerator alternative needs at least four hours of chilling instead.

Equipment for This Small Batch

Have a kitchen scale, measuring cups and spoons, a mixing bowl and hand mixer or the Ninja BN801 food processor, and a spatula ready. A small saucepan can melt the coconut oil. Use a supported tray with unbleached parchment for portioning, then a covered freezer container for storage.

For more dairy-free recipe ideas, my upcoming Dairy-Free GAPS Cookbook will bring the homemade basics and the recipes that use them together. You can find it in the upcoming cookbook catalog. Prepare the cream and pumpkin first, then make room for the tray before you start mixing.