Vegan pumpkin cookies

Please forgive me, it’s been almost a month since I’ve last written…..guess I’ve been a busy girl lately. But amongst my inherent busyness, some of that preoccupied time was spent cooking and baking. I’ve tried several new recipes and for the most part was very pleased with them all.

One recipe, an all-too-seasonally appropriate pumpkin cookie, might just be my favorite so far in my recent endeavors. They are moist, chewy, and flawlessly sweet. This indulgence not only stars one of my favorite ingredients as the main flavor component, but also contains no eggs, so I can enjoy every bite! (No, I’m not allergic to eggs, they just don’t agree with me…..I love them, but they don’t seem to love me back. And, yes, it is extremely difficult for a foodie like me not to be able to enjoy eggs, but it’s a reality that I’ve learned to accept over the past year.)

I got this recipe, courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis, from foodnework.com, and added my own personal touch. These pumpkin cookies speak fluently the language of autumn, combining pumpkin, raw sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, rolled oats, candied ginger, flour, baking soda, canola oil, and salt. The recipe originally called for raisins, but I prefer the candied ginger because it gives the cookies an additional spice that makes them a perfect pairing for a hot cup of tea; but, if you happen to be a raisin lover, unleash your inner child and throw in raisins instead of the ginger….. or even add both!

Even though these pumpkin cookies are technically “cookies,” they are indeed healthy little treats. They do have oats in them and therefore could most certainly be eaten for breakfast…… not that I’ve done that before or anything.

Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 cup raw sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/3 cup avocado oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped into small pieces

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and allspice. Stir to blend well. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, syrup and vanilla; whisk to blend. Using a flexible rubber spatula, gradually stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. Stir in the ginger. For each cookie, drop 1 generous tablespoon of batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing the mounds about 1 inch apart (or use a mini ice cream scoop). Using moistened fingertips, flatten each to a 2-inch-diameter round. Sprinkle each cookie with a bit more raw sugar. Bake the cookies until brown and a bit firm to the touch, 17 to 20 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.