Healthy Pecan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies are a fall treat with no guilt! They include no butter or oil, are loaded with wholesome ingredients and lower in sugar than many cookies so indulge your sweet tooth and feel good about it!!
It isn’t feeling much like fall around here…the high for today is supposed to be 92, but we supposed to be getting some “fallish” weather later this week with highs in the lower 80’s…hey we will take it 🙂 However, I was tired of waiting for it to “feel like fall” for me to get in the kitchen and start making something that tasted like fall!
These Healthy Pecan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies really do taste like fall with the pumpkin puree and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg but it isn’t too overpowering 🙂 I can call them healthy (IMHO) because I have used pumpkin and eggs in place of butter or oil to make these cookies nice and moist. I have also loaded them up with oats, whole grain flour and pecans to make them wholesome, heart-healthy and full of fiber. Now I can totally rationalize having them for breakfast too 😉
They do contain some refined sugar, but it is lower than in most cookies. You could totally substitute that out for coconut sugar or another sugar substitute if you like, but I have had a MAJOR sweet tooth here lately and so I went for the real stuff. There is a good reason for the sugar “cravings” I have been having and I just hadn’t found the right time to announce it here on the blog… so I guess now is a good time…
Yep! We are expecting an addition to our little family 🙂 Baby Girl Miller will be joining us in February 2017!! We are super excited and can’t wait to meet our little girl!! We had our 18 week appointment this morning and they did the anatomy scan and everything is looking good 🙂 They comfired that it is a girl!! We actually found out a couple of weeks ago when we had an early gender reveal scan at one of those boutique places 😉 She is about 8 oz. right now and has a good, strong heartbeat! I have been feeling pretty good, just tired and I have been craving sugar like crazy!! I guess that old wive’s tail is true for me about craving sweets and it being a girl 😉 I swear that is all that I want! It is so odd for me, because before I got pregnant sweets were not my thing, but now I HAVE TO HAVE THEM! And so, I am actually trying to learn to bake 😉
My inspiration for my Healthy Pecan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies was this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I actually ended up tripling the recipe and that started because I was opening a can of pumpkin puree (note…not pumpkin pie filling [which is full of sugar] but pumpkin puree [full of fiber, vitamin A and beta-carotene]). Since I was opening a can, I wanted to use the whole thing and not throw out part of it and be wasteful. So I started there and then had to adjust the amounts of the other ingredients. I also decided on not using cloves, cranberries but adding pecans.
Here is your recipe for Healthy Pecan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies:
- 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2¼ cup whole wheat flour
- 4½ cup oats (I used quick cooking)
- 1 cup sugar*
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar*
- ¾ tsp. baking powder
- 1½ tsp. baking soda
- ¾ tsp. sea salt
- 1½ tbsp. ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
- 1½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 small bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet, if desired and set aside. I just used nonstick cooking sheets and didn't worry about the parchment paper or baking sheets.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
- In a separate large mixing bowl combine, flour, oats, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, pecans and chocolate chips.
- Slowly fold in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. **See the note regarding the texture of the dough but this will take some patience and it will be VERY THICK!
- Drop the cookie dough by the spoonful onto the baking sheets and press out to the desired cookie shape.
- Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom and slightly firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes.
- Transfer cookies to wire cooling racks or other clean surface to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
**When you are mixing this dough, it will seem almost too dry at first. Just keep mixing, it will come together with further mixing. It does take a few minutes, a little patience and then dough will turn out but be VERY THICK!
***When dropping the cookie dough on your baking sheet, you will then have to flatten out the dough into the shape that you want for the finished cookies. They will NOT flatten out on their own in the baking process.