Everyone from your mother to Taylor Swift are raving about the pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks. But what if you like you spice in a cookie form? You don’t have to stand in line to make these delicious seasonal (or not…) cookies, and unlike the Starbucks delight, you don’t  have to sacrifice nutrition entirely.

The Lowfat Pumpkin Spice Cookie is chewy and delicious enough to be considered dessert, without making you feel like you deserted your [insert regimen here]. They also include my favorite cookie ingredient: oatmeal, BUT can be made without oil or butter.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup pumpkin (please note, this is not pumpkin pie filling… BIG diff!)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp allspice (replaces the clove taste in pumpkin pie that is so beloved)
• Optional mix in include any kind of nut or mini-chocolate chips (because mini are the best)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl combine your wet ingredients: pumpkin, eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, oats, sugars, baking, powder, baking soda, spices and any additional ingredients that meet your fancy.

Combine wet and dry ingredients until mixed. The cookie dough will be very thick.

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets about 2″ apart. If desired, flatten the cookie dough slightly with a spoon. The dough is thick, and will hold its shape and does not spread out in the oven as per your normal cookie expectation.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove your treats from the cookie sheet quickly after baking to prevent them from sticking.

Makes approximately 36 cookies. That’s whole lotta delicious treat.

-Arianna Schioldager