This past weekend was the annual Kadena Cookie Drive. It's a great cause that we all volunteer to bake for. You can make as many or as little goodies and cookies as you'd like. We then drop them off at the collection point to be divided into individual packages for all the single service members on Kadena. It's just something small and nice to offer to those men & women who are away from family, don't have their own kitchen to cook in, and may not be enjoying something as simple as home made cookies during the Christmas Season.
One of the main reasons I love this cause is also because if there are any extra cookies they are donated to the children's shelters out in town. I imagine the smiles as the children receive their treats and the joy in such a simple pleasure that we all take for granted being near family.
So, this year I purchased my chocolate chips, cinnamon chips (which I've never seen before), and ingredients to make these in a slight healthier version than most. I substitute eggs for egg whites, sugar with Truvia, oil with applesauce, and the divide the flour amount in half with whole wheat & white flour. You could use all wheat flour, but it'll change the flavor of the cookies tremendously and they don't cook quite as well.
I got lucky and found a delicious recipe for the cinnamon chips searching google. I saw it included oatmeal, so it was a MUST for me to try out. Never being very good at actual baking I'm seeming to get the hang of it now. No more flat as a tortilla cookies!! :o)
So, by popular demand after posting pictures of the cookies on facebook, here is the recipe for the Pumpkin Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies!
What you'll need
1 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room tempurature
3/4 c packed brown sugar
3/4 c sugar (read above for substitutes)
1 lrg egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c pumpkin puree 100% (NOT the pie filling)
3 c old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 c cinnamon chips
Mixing it up:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl (I use my kitchen aid stand up mixer with the paddle attachment) cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 mins on medium speed. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until well-combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Stir in the pumpkin puree.
4. Slowly add in the flour mixture. Fold in the oats and cinnamon chips.
5. Drop the dough by the tbsp onto the prepared cookie sheets. bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are golden. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack.
