Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies for a Good Cause

Can you believe that I made it four whole months without making a pumpkin recipe?  I am a little shocked myself.  It's not that I haven't craved pumpkin, several times, it's just that I made myself make other recipes.  

Then, the other day, I had seen a few posts on various blogs about a family named the "Fishes".  Two of their daughters were born with a a very rare gene disfunction.  After seeing the Families Blog and watching this You Tube video, my heart melted.  What sweet and innocent and beautiful children and it breaks my heart that they have to go through this.  

Ali from Lemon Poppy put together a great cookbook to help benefit the Fishes.  The recipes come from a group of bloggers, including some of my favorites, that have submitted their favorite recipes.

I purchased a .pdf copy of the cookbook for only $5.99 and 100% of the proceeds from the E-books will be donated to the Fishes.  

If you feel like you can spare $5.99, then you should purchase a copy of "Blogging For Fishes".  It is such a bright and colorful cookbook, full of many things that I can't wait to try.  

These pumpkin cookies were one of the first things that caught my eye and I immediately made them.  I think they are DELICIOUS.  They are very soft, yet chewy from the oats and they include my favorite spices!  Not to mention, they are made with wheat flour, so they are healthy, right?  I will be making these again and again.  I have already eaten three of them in the past hour - no lie!   

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from: Blogging For Fishes

(Printable Recipe)

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. allspice (I didn't add)

1/8 tsp. cloves (I didn't add)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. butter, room temperature

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1 c. sugar

1 c. pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. old-fashioned oats

1 c. chocolate chips (I added more)

1 c. dried cranberries (I didn't add)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt; set aside.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.  Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla.  Beat until combined.  Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.  Stir in the oats, chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  Drop dough by rounded Tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, since they will be soft.  Remove to wire rack and cool completely.

Jenn's Notes: I made a half of a batch and got 27 cookies.  The first batch, I didn't line my baking sheet with parchment and the cookies were pretty hard to get off the baking sheet.  The next batch, I used parchment paper and the cookies came off very easily, but they were slightly flatter than the first batch.  I baked for exactly 12 minutes and they were perfect.  I did not have wheat pastry flour, so I used regular wheat flour mixed with a few Tablespoons of cake flour (I read that was a substitute), however these cookies are so extremely soft, that I think using a full cup of regular wheat flour would work just fine.  I will try it next time and come back and update this post! DO NOT stack the cookies on top of each other to store them, they will end up sticking to each other.  I REALLY LIKE these cookies!