Sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan pumpkin cookies

Today I had some leftover pumpkin and thought, "Wouldn't it be great to bake something with this?". I am currently sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan so I had to get a little more creative than usual. I played around with a few ideas, but settled on some pumpkin oat cookies as my vice of choice. That sounded like a nice fall-type thing to make and I bet it will go well with the pumpkin soup I just made for dinner!

There are a lot of spices in this recipe, but they really make this cookie taste delicious! I would even try replacing the ground ginger with some freshly grated ginger for a little extra oomph. If you can have chocolate, some tiny chocolate chips would also be a fantastic addition, as would finely chopped walnuts. Feel free to play around with it - and let me know if you do!

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup dates
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/4 teaspoon xantham gum
• 1/4 cup gluten-free oats
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

If you don't need this to be gluten-free, then replace the brown rice flour and tapioca flour with one cup of regular flour and omit the xantham gum.

1. Preheat oven to 375F/ 190C degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Puree the pumpkin, dates, and coconut oil in a blender or food processor. Spoon into a medium bowl.

3. Add all the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Spoon onto the cookie sheet using a teaspoon. Place them about an inch apart.

5. Bake for 10 -15 minutes, or until bottoms are slightly browned.

Makes about 15 chewy, slightly sweet cookies.