These Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Cookies taste like pumpkin pie but are jam packed with healthy ingredients. And since I don’t make a habit out of eating pie for breakfast, these cookies seemed like a good compromise. Packed with oats, hemp, seeds, fruit and of course pumpkin, they are a healthy on-the-go snack or part of a breakfast!
I just got back from a week away from the kids on our cookbook tour and was craving a simple baking project with the boys. And by simple, I mean stir and bake… that’s all the energy I had in me! What an incredible week. But I sure missed the boys.
I actually decided to skip the mountain of laundry that had taken over my back room and head to the pumpkin patch instead yesterday. Talk about a good choice. I’ve been really opening my eyes these days to just how fast time is going, and am trying to resist the ‘busy-ness’. You know what I mean?
I feel like there’s ALWAYS something to do, but nothing that can trump my time with our family. I looked at a picture of them on the way home and saw how much Charlie has changed… and Max… but Charlie is growing out of his baby face. And that came with the realization that I can’t get these years back. So, my house may not be perfect but hopefully that just means that extra cuddles over mugs of hot chocolate took its place. Check out the last picture of Max with his bestie Evi – haha, it starts already!?
So back to these cookies, I actually created these ages ago, but decided to re-make them to pressure test just how healthy I could get the recipe without compromising taste. I originally made them as a gluten free cookie for some of our family and loved them! I usually use Bob’s Red Mills 1:1 gluten free flour blend, but there are a lot of them out there that you can try if you need to make them gluten free.
The original recipe had brown sugar in it too and used regular all-purpose flour. You can make these vegan by substituting the egg with flax egg or egg replacer OR you can make them gluten free by using gluten free ingredients (flour, nuts etc).
Pumpkin is loaded with beta carotene and fibre: I tell Charlie that it will help him see like a superhero. I keep these in the freezer for those crazy mornings or skip the nuts and pack them in Charlie’s lunch. I also typically keep a batch of Sneaky Mommy Muffins [1] in the freezer or these Breakfast Power Cookies [2].
Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Cookies
These breakfast cookies are packed with healthy ingredients (but taste like pumpkin pie) to help jumpstart your day!
Ingredients
- 1 egg (or flax egg*)
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup large flake oats (gluten-free if needed)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour or gluten free 1:1 flour
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
- 3/4 cup raisins (or dried cranberries)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
-
In a medium bowl, combine the egg, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, vanilla and butter or oil. Whisk until mixed.
-
In a large bowl, combine all of the remaining ingredients. Stir well and add the combined liquid ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients. Fold in with a rubber spatula until the wet ingredients are fully mixed into the dry ingredients (try not to over-mix it).
-
Place a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough on the cookie sheet, and spread it out slightly to make the shape that you want. These cookies are pretty hearty so they won't spread out like a traditional cookie will. Repeat until you have about a dozen cookies on the sheet, leaving approximately a half-inch between the cookies.
-
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they start to brown on the bottom.
Recipe Notes
*to make a flax egg, simply combine 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds with 2 1/2 tablespoons of water and let sit for 5 minutes. Alternately Bob's Red Mills has a great egg replacer.