This will be our first Christmas in our first house, and I am so excited to make it feel like home. We have decorated our front living room with a tree (real grand fir baby!), along with some garland, candles, and holiday nic-nacs. We'll be hosting the Husband's small work holiday party at our house this Saturday, so I will be doing some crafting and decorating up until then. We don't have lights on the outside yet, but hopefully we can get around to that this week if it ever stops raining. (The forecast says "no".)
We had a pretty relaxing day on Sunday watching football and doing laundry. Sundays are usually my day to prep some meals for myself for the week. My main meal I prepped for the week is Curried Kidney Bean Stew from Helyn's Plant-Based Kitchen. The stew is fantastic. If you've never checked out Helyn's site, seriously do. Her recipes are gorgeous, creative, and super nutritious!
This Sunday, I was in the mood for some oatmeal cookies, and I had a bit of canned pumpkin to use up, so were born these lovely little balls of goodness! This recipe is vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, processed sugar-free, gluten-free (Use gluten-free rolled oats if you're baking for someone with a serious sensitivity to gluten. Rolled oats themselves are gluten free, but they can be sometimes processed with the same equipment as grains that do have gluten.), oil-free, AND acceptable to eat for breakfast. ;)
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Print this recipe!
Makes: 24 cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 15 minutes per dozen
Ingredients:
Dry:1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, processed into a flour in the blender
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
Wet:
2/3 cup canned pureed pumpkin
3/4 cup plant-based milk
4 pitted medjool dates
1 small banana, peeled
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tsp vanilla extract
Other:
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Instructions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2.) In a high powered blender, blend 1 cup of the rolled oats into a flour. Combine the flour with the rest of the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
3.) In a high powered blender, blend all of the wet ingredients until smooth and creamy. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well incorporated.
4.) Use a cookie scoop to spoon out a dozen golf ball-sized cookies onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use your fingers to press each ball down until it is flat and "cookie-shaped". Because these cookies do not have saturated or trans fats (yay), they will not do the usual melt-down SAD cookies normally do in the oven. So, press those suckers down and know that your heart is thanking you!
5.) Top each cookie with a small amount of chopped nuts. For an even prettier look, top each with one full pecan. I had only chopped pecans, so that is what you get today.
6.) Bake in the preheated oven for 13-17 minutes until lightly browned and the tops aren't gooey when you poke them. I know, "super specific", but just bake them as much as you like. You can eat the dough raw if you so feel like, so it doesn't really matter. (Repeat for the second dozen)
7.) Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for a while.
Nutrition Info (as calculated on My Fitness Pal):
Serving size: 1 cookie (recipe makes 24)Calories: 67; Total Fat: 2 g; Cholesterol 0 g; Sodium 85 mg; Potassium 57 mg; Total Carbohydrate 11 g; Dietary Fiber 2 g; Sugars 4 g; Protein 2 g;
