Perfectly Pumpkiny Oatmeal Cookies

The Fall pumpkin obsession continues! I am trying to create a cookie to bring to Zachary when I drive there in a few weeks and I think my second pumpkin recipe of the Fall is the ONE! These perfectly pumpkiny oatmeal cookies that I whipped up yesterday reminded me a lot of pumpkin bread- thick, soft and moist. I added just a few vegan chocolate chips to my version but I will likely attempt to make this recipe again with regular chocolate chips and some more protein for his version.

Perfectly Pumpkiny Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (or unbleached white)
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup natural sugar (I used Agave)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon coarsely ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together flour, oats, baking soda, spice, and salt.
3. Mix together canned pumpkin, sugar, olive oil, flaxseed and vanilla.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Drop rounded tablespoons onto greased baking sheet about 1 inch apart. These cookies don't spread much. Press down with a spoon.
6. Bake for 14-16 minutes.
7. Remove heat and place directly onto a cooling rack. 

Makes 25 cookies. ~90 calories each

Soooo delicious while warm. You can freeze these guys too so you don't eat them all in one sitting, because you will want to! 

Looks like I'm not the only one that STILL needs a haircut :)

Today

On another note, I have been reading and hearing a lot about how important it is to consume your fruits and vegetables raw to really get all of the nutrients. Some nutrients can be lost through the cooking process, not to mention adding all of the extra calories we usually do with cheeses and oils etc can really take away some of the nutritional value we are aiming for. Now, I don't think that I could ever become a completely raw vegan but I am very interested in trying to eat raw a majority of the time. This is completely different than anything that I have tried so I'm really not sure how often I could do it. But I think a good goal might be somewhere around 75% of the time? 

I'm not setting any sort of plan in place yet but I am going to try to really start incorporating more raw fruits and veggies into my diet and see how it goes. In my opinion, the more fruits and veggies we consume, the better. So, with that being said, if someone doesn't like them raw, they aren't going to eat them. Obviously it would be better to eat them cooked than not at all! I like a lot of them raw so I'm going to take a shot at this. Still gotta be able to have my occasional treats like vegan cookies, protein smoothies, meals out and a drink or two here and there. I think I'd see benefits at making 50% of my diet raw but know I'm capable of a little better, so I'll keep ya posted!

Your Turn!

1. Share a favorite Pumpkin recipe with us!

2. Do you cook your fruits and veggies or try to consume them raw?