10 Things I Love About Fall

10 Things I Love About Fall:

1. Changing leaves: The transition from Summer to Fall provides brilliant displays of warm hues- orange, red, rich browns.
2. Jogging outside in the crisp Autumn air. As I have mentioned before, I am a sweater. Anything above 70 degrees, I will break out in a sweat. With the approach of Fall, I look forward to more comfortable (in terms of temperature) workouts.
3. FASHION. Boots, coats, scarves, hats, tights, cable knit…
4. Fall spices- cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
5. Fairs, bake sales, fall festivals, pumpkin patches
6. FOOTBALL
7. Fall TV. Oh how I’ve missed you (Gossip Girl, Desperate Housewives, How to Make it in America, and many, many more)
8. Hot chocolate. With overcast days and dark, chilly nights, I look forward to snuggling up in a blank and enjoying a steaming cup of hot chocolate at night.
9. Holiday spirits. With Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and News Years approaching, everyone seems to be spreading holiday cheer with smiles and laughter.
10. PUMPKIN. In all their forms. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin dumplings, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin cookies…..

Last night after my evening run, I came home and was in the mood to bake something sweet and delicious. Because I was in a rather festive mood, I grabbed the canned pumpkin that had been sitting in the back of my pantry for quite some time and whipped up something good….very good. Inspired by my vegan gingerbread pumpkin bread, these cookies are soft, spongy, and almost cake-like.         

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cookies 

Ingredients:

• 1 chia egg (1 chia egg = 1 tsp ground chia + 2 tbsp water)
• 1 cup regular oats
• 1 cup whole grain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp chopped walnuts (you can substitute with any other type of nuts)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup agave syrup (maple syrup will work too)
• 1 banana
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• In a small bowl, make your chia egg by mixing 1 tsp of ground chia and 2 tbsp of water. Set the bowl aside.
• In a separate, medium sized bowl, mix dry ingredients together (oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon)
• In another bowl,  mix wet ingredients together (vanilla, agave syrup, mashed banana, canned pumpkin). Add in the chia egg and stir.
• Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix until well-incorporated.
• On a well-greased baking pan, shape the cookies (this recipe makes ~12-13 large cookies). Bake for ~13-15 minutes.
•  Remove from heat. Allow the cookies to cool for ~15 minutes. If you choose, drizzle with vegan buttercream icing (recipe can be found at the bottom)