Vegan Spice! Amazing Pumpkin Cookies

By Pam Hadder

I love everything pumpkin and pumpkin spice – who doesn’t!  These were heartily approved by my son – my resident cookie monster, and trusted taste tester – and  I am pleased to report that these easy, vegan cookies were a recent hit with his friends also.  I hope you will bake up a batch and enjoy them in good health xo!

INGREDIENTS:

 For the Cookies -
2.5 cups all-purpose flour (or sub ½ cup of flour with quick oats)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves (I grind my own – way more flavour!)
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup granulated white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup vegan soft margarine (I use Becel – can sub ½ cup applesauce, canola oil or coconut oil)
2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
*Optional - 1 cup chopped mixed, dried fruit (I found a mix with apricots, raisins, dates and cherries) Could also use chopped nuts, coconut or chocolate chips – variations are endless!

For the Glaze -
1.5 cups powdered sugar
Vanilla extract, to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Hot water – approximately 1/3 cup

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment with Pam spray. Mix together flour/oats, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Stir in chopped fruit and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together margarine, both, sugars and the vanilla; stir in the pureed pumpkin.  Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Drop by spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake 15-18 minutes until firm.  Cookies have a cake-like texture, similar to old fashioned hermit cookies.  Let cool completely before glazing.  To make glaze, measure icing sugar into a medium bowl.  Add in vanilla and cinnamon to taste – I used 1 teaspoon of each.  Stirring, slowly add enough hot water to make a soft icing. Using a butter knife or teaspoon, drizzle over baked, cooled cookies. Allow glaze to fully harden before storing or freezing cookies.

Store uncovered or loosely covered – due to high moisture content, these can get mushy and the glaze may dissolve into the cookie if tightly covered.  Freeze well -  flash freeze on a cookie sheet (uncovered), then transfer to bags or containers for  longer term freezing. To thaw, place on plate and thaw at room temp. I would recommend freezing unglazed, and making the glaze fresh.

Yield:  two dozen large cookies (use tablespoon to drop cookies) or three dozen small cookies (use teaspoon to drop cookies).

Spudnuts!

Yes... SPUDNUTS!
My Mom makes homemade donuts for Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) - this was a tradition in her home as a child. She uses a recipe that is made with mashed potatoes - so we call them spudnuts - crazy stuff.

Mmm...
This is the first time I have helped Mom with the production of her famous donuts - I was designated "The Glazer". My job was to lightly coat each donut with a glaze made from sugar, milk, vanilla and butter: "Don't drop them in; just use your hands and lightly skim the surface!" (That oil is over 200 degrees Fahrenheit - so, sorry, Mom, I needed to use a fork to manage those little devils --need to preserve my mouse hand!)

Recipe?
Who me, deep-fry? Not likely to happen, so I have never asked Mom for this recipe. The rare time I have something fried, it is in a restaurant - the occasional order of tempura or yam fries. For the donut lovers out there, try searching the web - I saw a recipe on the All Recipes site that contains Mom's secretweapon: NUTMEG! xo!