Quick and Dirty Recipe - Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

First a bit about the title.  Yes, quick and dirty recipes isn't the most appetizing... but I've realized they're a bit of my specialty.  These are the recipes that you just whip together at a moments notice.  These are not the recipes that are fine tuned over years of making them - in fact, this is the tuning process.

This is where I get a craving or a crazy idea and just whip stuff together in the kitchen.  I used to do these things without measuring.  Since the creation of the blog I now measure and write things down so I can share and recreate.

I love this type of recipe.

They're super quick to throw together and they don't always work.  Plus, these are the recipes where I learn the most about cooking or baking.

These also tend to be my small quantity recipes.  So many baking recipes make 1-3 doz cookies.  Not everyone wants that many cookies in the house.  I know I don't!!  This is a recipe you can whip up, it makes 6 cookies and then you're done.  Dessert for the family / guest / yourself :P

So, the other night, I was all too excited to have pumpkin in my house again.  We all love the regular, not-so-healthy version of these cookies... but I wanted a guilt-free version.


Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup quick oats
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 tsp sweetener
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/2 tsp molasses
2 tbsp mini semi sweet chocolate chips*

Combine dry.  Add in wet ingredients and stir with a fork.  Cook at 350 for 12 minutes.

Yes, it's that simple!

The hard part?  Not eating all six of these cookies in the evening :P

But the good news:

These are soft and cake-like and healthy enough your can pretend you're just eating oatmeal :P

* A note about chocolate chips.  You'll notice I always use mini chips.  For me it's because I find they go farther in a recipe.  You want a certain amount of chocolate in your cookie / loaf / etc but don't want too much because well, let's face it, a steady diet of chocolate isn't the best idea.  I use the mini ones so I get chocolate in every bite without having to have a lot of large chips.  I buy these great dairy-free semi-sweet chips at Bulk Barn.