PUMPKIN SEASON HAS ARRIVED! I'm sure you've noticed, since everywhere you look there are pumpkin recipes, pumpkin-flavored foods, tiny pumpkins + gourds for sale, and of course, PSL's. I like pumpkin just as much as the next gal, but I prefer mine to be not SO sweet. Too much sweet pumpkin flavored crap before November and I'm burnt out. That's why it's become Mid-October and we're just now getting around to pumpkin-themed foods over here! These cookies are perfectly fluffy and moist, and have an almost muffin-like texture. They're soft, chewy, and packed with oats and pumpkin spice. Plus, we cut the sugar way down so you can eat like six instead of one. (That's how that works, right?) They're easy to whip up and perfect for serving at parties or just binge-eating while you watch Hocus Pocus. They're also about to become your new favorite oatmeal cookie. Let's bake! 

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon ground flax 
3 tablespoons warm water
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pumpkin purée
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups oats

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl combine ground flax and warm water and stir to combine. Set aside to gelatinize.
In a large bowl, mix together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together pumpkin purée, melted coconut oil, sugar, brown sugar, water and vanilla. Add gelatinized flax mixture and stir to combine. 
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, using a wooden spoon to mix the two into a thick batter. Pour in the oats and mix together until dough forms. Use a cookie dough scoop or spoon to place 1 inch balls of dough onto a greased or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are golden and cookies are cooked through. Let cool, and enjoy! Makes about 24 cookies.

NOTES
*Instead of 3/4 cup of AP and WW flours, you could try using 1 1/2 cups of either one. I haven't tried this recipe with GF flour.

*Your flax egg will come together faster with warmer water. 

*We used a 1 in. cookie dough scoop to measure ours out and got about 24 cookies. For a smaller batch of larger cookies simply use more dough per cookie.

*Leftover cookies can be left on the counter in an airtight container about 3 days, in the fridge for about a week, and in the freezer indefinitely. 

I know Thanksgiving is right around the corner and your Pinterest is just FULL of recipes for the big day. But surprise- you still have to wake up and cook breakfast before you can even start the undertaking of cooking for everyone else that day! I bet you'd totally forgotten about that. Me too. And last year, I decided to make it easier on myself THIS year. So I came up with this delicious oatmeal bake that you can make the night before and just reheat for morning. Simple, easy, and another great way to use up all of those end of the season apples.
As usual this recipe is vegan, gluten-free (when GF oats are used), and pretty low in sugar content.
This also makes a really wonderful any-other-day-of-the-week meal, but makes the best I-can't-sleep late-night snack. Full of cinnamon, this dish screams FALL and COZY...and a warm bowl of apple-y pecan pie goodness would give anybody something pleasant to dream about.

Ingredients:
3 flax eggs (3 tablespoons ground flax+1/2 cup water)
3 cups GF (or regular) oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups diced apples
3/4 cup chopped pecans, divided
3 cups hemp milk
(or your fave non-dairy milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Begin by mixing together the ground flax and water (flax eggs) in a small bowl; Set aside to let mixture gelatinize and turn to ‘egg’ like consistency, about 5 minutes. While you wait, chop your apples and pecans. Set these aside, too.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, baking powder and salt. Add the chopped apples and 1/2 cup of the chopped pecans. 
In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: the flax eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into dry mixture, stirring to combine and uniformly distribute the apples and pecans.
Once well mixed, pour into (minimum) an 8x8 glass baking dish. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped pecans & bake for 25-30 minutes, until the mixture is bubbling and edges have slightly crisped. 
Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup or agave and a little warm milk.
Keep covered in the fridge for about a week. Serves at least 6-8 people. Reheats well in the oven or microwave.
Let's eat!

I used to think that the word 'jujube' (ju-ju-bee!) was made up. It sounds awfully silly, sort of like a weird nickname. Or a disease. 
Either way, Alex and I were lucky enough to actually eat a jujube at the Farmer's Market last Thursday, and we fell in love.
Basically a dried red date, the jujube is a fruit grown in Southern Asia. It is a pretty reddish maroon in color, with one large seed in the middle. When dried, the seed can be easily removed and the jujube can be cut up or eaten whole...its sweet like candy either way!

Plus, jujube's have all these awesome benefits; they are said to alleviate stress, help with tummy aches, cleanse the blood and liver, prevent sore throat, insomnia, and premature aging, and even act as a diuretic! 
They are commonly made into a sweet jujube tea or cake...but we liked 'em in our morning oats!

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1/2 tsp sea salt (optional)
1 cup oats (we use gluten-free)
1/2 cup jujubes, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup raspberries
3 tablespoons hemp seeds
1/4 cup almond slivers

Directions:
Put water and salt in a small pot and bring to a boil. Add oats and simmer for 10-15 minutes, depending on the consistency you prefer.
Once cooked, mix jujubes, raspberries, and hemp seeds into oatmeal, and pour into your favorite oats eatin' bowl. 
Sprinkle with almonds & serve with warm hemp milk. 
Enjoy!
Serves 2

How often do you crave sweets? For me, its almost everyday. I think my body has unrealistic expectations of how much sugar I should be ingesting. Then again, it probably only has those expectations because I indulge whenever the craving hits. 
I was in need of a seriously yummy treat the other morning, and I came up with this. Its a beautiful (or just yummy) mix of fresh fruit, a cream cheese filling, and a rolled oat crust. Perfect for dessert around a bonfire or as a final course for your Graduation party!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 container tofutti 'better than cream cheese'
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 cups mixed berries 
(feel free to use just one kind of berry if its all you've got)
1/2-1 cup mixed berries (for topping)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
[We used a 4 cup pyrex container, but we would recommend using any glass baking pan smaller than 9 in. long. You want plenty of room to layer your ingredients, but not so much that you can't make more than one layer.]
In a mixing bowl, cream together refrigerated earth balance and brown sugar.
Separately, mix together WW pastry flour, baking powder, salt, and rolled oats.
Add dry mixture to wet and fork together/ use hands to combine until crumbly. If it seems too dry, add 1-3 teaspoons of water to increase the crumbliness of the mixture.
Press about 1/3 of oat crust mixture into the bottom of your glass baking pan.
Set aside.

To prepare the cream cheese filling, combine tofutti, powdered sugar, cornstarch, maple syrup, and the first 1 1/2 cups of mixed berries in a blender or food processor on high for about a minute.

Now, retrieve your pan prepared with crust. Add a layer of cream cheese filling, then 1/4 cup fresh berries, continuing to layer with crust, filling, and berries until everything is used up. We got about three layers in our pan.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Enjoy!

P.S. This treat is a great way to convince friends and family that vegans rock delicious desserts as well!

Ready for THE yummiest cookies? They're moist, chewy, and made with fruit! Plus, they taste like miniature servings of banana bread...and who can say no to that!?

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat or AP Gluten-Free flour mix
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon oil
3 tablespoons water
1 large or 2 smaller bananas
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups oats

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix sugars, oil and water until combined. 
Add bananas and vanilla and mix together until completely combined, mashing up the bananas with the whisk as you go.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients about a half cup at a time, stirring all the while. Once completely combined, add in oats and stir again.
Spoon 1-2 inch balls of dough onto a cookie sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes or until edged are golden. Makes about 12-16 cookies, depending on size. 
Enjoy!

I don't know about all of you, but we've been OBSESSED with pumpkin this fall, every recipe we can find! We finally decided to try an oatmeal that was so delicious, you'd never know it was vegan. 
The pumpkin and cinnamon flavors coupled with nutmeg and ginger undertones are incredible. Warmed up as leftovers with lots of vanilla hemp milk was scrumptious! 

Ingredients:
3 cups oats or muesli
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup hemp milk
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1 ripe banana or 1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, & ginger
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 brown sugar (for the top)

Directions:
In a large bowl mix together all ingredients except the ¼ cup brown sugar for the top. Spread into a greased loaf or 9 in. cake pan. We've also had success baking it in a cast iron pan.
Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup brown sugar on top. 
Bake at 350 for 23-25 minutes. 
Serve with warm non-dairy milk and enjoy!