I love pumpkin pie. I credit my mother, who looked at the recipe for pumpkin pie and saw pumpkin (a vegetable), eggs, and milk and concluded there was no reason children shouldn’t eat all they want of it. We had unlimited pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and Christmas and I’ve continued the happy custom with our children.
My passion for pumpkin pie is unabated, but my metabolism alas is not what it was when I was ten. I came up with these cookies as a way to enjoy the best elements of pumpkin pie without slowly expanding to the horizon. Enjoy!
Innocent Pumpkin Cookies
Pre-heat oven to 350 ◦ F
– 3 large eggs
– 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin– 1/2 cup Splenda (baking kind, with equal volume to sugar)
– ¼ cup xylitol
– 1/2 tsp NaCl
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1 tsp ground cinnamon
– 1/2 tsp ground ginger
– 1/4 tsp ground cloves
– 1/4 tsp ground allspice– 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
– 1 cup (approx) coconut flour, sifted or shaken vigorously to break up clumps
In large bowl beat eggs and stir in pumpkin. Add seasonings and stir in. Add milk and stir. So far, this is basically a pumpkin custard as you would make for a pie.
To thicken into cookie dough, add the coconut flour gradually, about a quarter cup at a time. Stir in completely before adding more. Coconut flour has a lot of fiber and soaks up a lot of liquid, so the potential is there to make lumps. The final cookie dough should be light and hold together for dropping onto a cookie sheet.
Drop onto a cookie sheet covered with baking parchment (with no added fat these cookies would probably stick otherwise). Bake for 24-28 minutes, rotating front to back and between shelves every ten minutes, until the cookies brown a little bit and are firm. With so little sugar in them they do not brown a lot. They take longer than normal cookies because the coconut flour holds so much water. Cool on a rack to let them set.
These cookies are low glycemic, gluten free and rich in complete protein, fiber and calcium. They taste exactly like pumpkin pie ☺ and would make good breakfast cookies.
If you prefer other non-sugar sweeteners, the amount of coconut flour might need to be adjusted up or down to get a texture that allows dropping onto cookie sheets, and the baking time might need adjusting too.
My son’s girl friend describes them as “Pumpkin pie you can hold in your hand.”
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