pumpkin!

Orange and versatile, pumpkins can be used for decoration or in various dishes, savory and sweet. I recently discovered a recipe for pumpkin cookies which I then altered to make a bit more healthy. They are delicious, moist and not too sweet.



Pumpkin Cookies
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 ground cloves (optional--I didn't have any)
1 can pumpkin
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (unsalted)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
chocolate chips (however many you wish to add...most would like one bag)
chopped walnuts (optional--I don't like nuts in baked goods so I left them out)

Preheat oven to 375F. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer, add eggs, oil, pumpkin and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder. Slowly add this to the liquid mixture while beating. Add the chocolate chips and optional chopped nuts at the end. Place on a cookie sheet in small mounds and bake until bottoms have browned and a knife comes out clean (time with depend on the size of your cookies).

Next time I may swap apple sauce for the oil to make it even healthier. Also, I made some as mini muffins which were even better. Next time I'll make some as large cupcakes and add a cream cheese filling (mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and a pinch of cinnamon together). Enjoy!