I had a can of pumpkin open the other day and I decided to make cookies. Part of the show that hubs is in has a scene where all the characters eat cookies on stage. They had been eating Madeline’s, which are super tasty, but high in calories.

So I opted to bake something a little lower in calories. I also made the cookies quite small (1 tablespoon, instead of two), to cut down on calories.  I added pumpkin instead of the eggs and some of the fat to lower the calories and add fiber and fruit.

In keeping with the spirit of using up what we have in the house, I also used only brown sugar, as we were out of white sugar.Lil’ Man was a big helper- He added the chocolate chips and helped scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets. He’s going to be a Master Chef yet!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c butter (or use vegan margarine if vegan), room temp
• 1 15 oz can of pumpkin
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 c flour (I used AP, but feel free to use wheat or even 1 for 1 gluten free)
• 3/4 c. almond meal
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• dash salt
• 2 c. chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream the first 4 ingredients until smooth using a hand mixer on medium.
3. Add remaining 4 ingredients until a soft dough forms, using hand mixer on low, or by hand with large wooden spoon.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 9-13 minutes.

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.

Variations: This recipe is east to make as vegan, just sub out butter for the solid fat of your choice. To make GF, sub in GF flour of your choice.  To make it nut free, omit the almond meal and increase the amount of flour to 2 cups.