Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Small Batch)

I love baking cookies, cakes and other sweet treats (big surprise I ended up on Weight Watchers) but I have discovered that if the baked goods stay in the house, I will eat them until they are gone.  I can keep chocolate bars, ice cream, chips and other “junk” in the house and I will leave it alone (for the most part) but there’s something about baked goods.  It’s probably the smell when it fills up the whole house.  I’m not really sure what it is, but I know my weaknesses and that’s definitely one of them.  So I have learned to make small batches of cookies that make about 2 servings.  If I eat the entire batch, I know it won’t completely derail my healthy eating for the day.  This batch of cookies made about 8 cookies last time I made.  Although I do not need to be eating 8 cookies, I know if I do, I will still be okay for the day.  Or maybe I do want to eat all 8 cookies and just plan for that.  These cookies also have a lot of healthy ingredients.  It’s not just a cookie recipe filled with crap.  If you want to make a larger batch of these, just double or even triple the ingredients.  It’s a pretty simple recipe. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

-1/2 TBSP ground flax seed

-1 TBSP warm water

-1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour)

-1/4 cup old fashioned oats (instant should be fine too)

-1/4 tsp baking powder

-1/8 tsp baking soda

-1/8 tsp salt

-2-3 TBSP sweetener (I use Organic Zero but you could use Truvia or regular sugar)

-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)

-1/2 cup canned pumpkin

-1/2 tsp vanilla

-2-4 TBSP semi-sweet chocolate chips (I measured out about 22 grams on my food scale)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the ground flax seed with the 1 TBSP of warm water.  Whisk together and set aside.

Mix the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sweetener and spice in a medium to large sized mixing bowl. 

Add the flax mixture, pumpkin and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix well.  (If the mixture seems too dry, you can add more pumpkin or a little nondairy milk to it.)  Once the mixture is mixed well, fold in the chocolate chips. 

On a nonstick cookie sheet, scoop out the mixture into cookies.  My batch made 8 smaller cookies.  If you make larger cookies, just allow for it with the cooking time. 

Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are starting to brown and are firm to the touch.  As long as I can’t stick my finger through the middle of the cookie, that’s usually good for me.  I like mine pretty moist.