Pumpkin Pillow Cookies and variations

I found this recipe http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2014/10/pumpkin-pie-pillows-low-sugar-vegan.html.  I love finding gluten-free recipes that look interesting.  I thought this recipe looked interesting, despite the coconut. One thing, you may or may not have noticed, on this blog, coconut oil is not used.  I don't like coconut.

I've tried cooking with it in the past but my veggies tasted like suntan oil.  (That's what I think of when I smell coconut--around here, we say I taste the beach when we taste coconut.)

Despite the prevalence of coconut in that recipe, I knew I could fix it.  I added a little more almond butter than she called for (instead of coconut oil) and used maple syrup instead of coconut sugar.  The cookies were very moist; I want to get some maple syrup sugar, but alas, I don't have any still and I'm making the recipe for a second time.

One other thing, the first time I made the recipe I put in A LOT of pumpkin.  I doubled the recipe ('cause 3 hungry girls around here PLUS one hungry husband). On the doubled recipe, I did math and came up with a whole can of pumpkin in the cookies.  Oops.  Really, I should have only used about 3/4 a can for a double recipe... The cookies, with my extra moisture still came out pretty tasty, but they weren't pillow like--chewy and moist, yes, but I expect pillows to be lighter and fluffier. They were good enough to warrant trying again!

This time I used (about) the right amount of pumpkin with maple syrup (so still extra moisture).  I thought the batter looked better and am pleased with how the cookies look and taste. They aren't very sweet, but that's just the way I like them! I added chocolate chips to half the batter (today and the first time). The chocolate chips do sweeten them up and I like them better without chocolate chips (shocking!).

Here's the recipe with my modification, but not doubled.  It made ~24-25 small cookies. 


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups rolled oat flour
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 tablespoon)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon chia seeds


2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 medium apple, chopped
1/4 cup maple syrup
1.5 tablespoons almond butter (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

topping: cinnamon sprinkled on top before baking (Note, I only did this for the cookies without chocolate chips.)



 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the oats, chia seeds and spices to a high-speed blender. Blend until the oats are a fine powder.  Pour the dry oat mixture into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and baking powder.

Add all the wet ingredients to the blender container, apple, vinegar, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, ginger, almond butter, and vanilla. Blend until the apple is not apparent and the mixture is smooth.

Pour the wet into the dry bowl and stir until combined and a soft dough forms. Place the dough bowl in the refrigerator or freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm so the dough is less sticky (it is very sticky dough!) I made about 24 little cookies.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes on a cookie pan lined with a silpat baking sheet. 

The cookies with 1 full can of pumpkin (in the recipe doubled) were good and I might make that variation again, but the batter was REALLY sticky--even with less pumpkin, it's still sticky! The original author said they make a good breakfast cookie.  I agree. I think she also thought they would be good for snacking on at ANY time--again, I agree!