Easy Scrumptious Pumpkin Cookies

Holy Moly, These Pumpkin Cookies Are So Good!
The cookies on a white plate.
Skinny Pumpkin Protein Cookies right out of the oven. They were perfectly browned on the bottom and soft on the inside.

I stumbled upon this recipe when I was looking for something else, and boy was it a find.  Amazing taste, fast to put together, low-calorie, gluten-free and ………. healthy.  Yay 🙂

I’m extremely discriminate when it comes to recipes involving sugar AND butter.  I usually look the ingredient list over pretty closely before I decide to save it, write it down or pin.

One bowl with the wet ingredients and the other with the dry.
The dry ingredients mixed and the wet ingredients ready to mix and add to the oat flour.

If the recipe calls for over 1 cup of sugar, I walk away.

1 cup …… I can work with.

I always use less sugar than a recipe calls for because most recipes call for more sugar than you need for it to have a lovely flavor.  Although this recipe only calls for 3/4 cup, I decreased it to 1/2 cup, which helps the pumpkin flavor shine.

Showing the cookie scoop I used and the cookies on the baking tray before I put them in the oven.
I used a small cookie scoop, which made the perfect size cookie.

Butter is distressing for me as well.  Each time I use butter, or ghee, I imagine our (Poo and I) arteries clogging up, constricting blood flow to the heart, eventually choking the life out of us as we fall to the ground, both of us  lifeless from heart failure.

Too dramatic?

At the very least, I feel guilty.  But, most of the time, I can replace half the butter with natural unsweetened applesauce.  (ie:  if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter, I will use 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce.)

Me, holding a half eaten cookie!
This may, or may not, have been my 3rd cookie straight from the oven.

However ………. these cookies don’t have butter on the ingredient list.  Hallelujah!

They are already pretty healthy, and then there’s the added benefit of protein powder and I’m always looking for other ways to use my protein powder, other than in smoothies.

This recipe only uses 1/2 can of pumpkin, and after tasting this cookie when the first batch came out of the oven, I decided to make another batch rather than put the remaining pumpkin in the fridge, where I would surely forget about it and consequently spoil.

This recipe comes from kimscravings.

*The author claims that each cookie comes in at 48 calories per cookie.

The pumpkin cookies on a cooling rack.
Skinny Pumpkin Protein Cookies

Makes 16

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 large egg white (I used liquid egg whites)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup protein powder (I used vanilla flavor)
  • 1/2 t  baking powder
  • 1/2 t  baking soda
  • 1/2 t  cinnamon
  • 1/2 t  pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 cups oat flour (I made my own by grinding the oats)
  • 1/4 t  salt
  • 3/4 cup sweetener that measures like sugar (I didn’t have a sugar substitute on hand so used 1/2 cup organic raw cane sugar)
  • mini chocolate chips (I didn’t use them)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. If using oats, process in a blender until it becomes a flour-like consistency.
  3. Mix together dry ingredients.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients and then add to the dry mixture, stirring until it is blended.
  5. Scoop 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) of dough onto baking sheet.  Flatten them slightly as they don’t spread much.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips if desired.
  6. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

*The cookies might come in at 48 calories if you use a sugar substitute.  I assume that is what is meant by “a sweetener that measures like sugar.”

Author’s notes:  I think a light glaze would be fantastic on these cookies if you’re not too concerned about the added calories.   Also, I didn’t try to freeze these as they got eaten too quickly but, will try with the next batch.

“A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.”

xoxo, Katy

Author: Katy

I am a business owner, a mom of two grown daughters, a wife, and lover of life! I am an active 50+ -er with many new developing interests. Physical activity has always played a role in my life. Sometimes, more ........and sometimes, less. As a "Baby Boomer," it has become increasingly important for me to navigate the aging process with grace and agility. Part of the healthy living equation is, of course, the nutritional aspect as well. This blog, first and foremost, is devoted to women over the age of 50 looking to improve the quality of their life by exercising and consuming a healthy diet. Cheers to a life well lived! *You can read more about me by visiting my Home Page.