Coconut Oil and Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

If you haven't used coconut oil before...here is your chance to make it a staple in your life.  It is absolutely amazing.  Once you discover it and all of it's benefits, you won't know what you did without it!

Coconut oil is one of those magical products that can be used for anything and pretty much fixes everything.  It is a hidden gem that more people should know about.  Check out this site for 101 uses for coconut oil.  I decided to start my many uses of coconut oil with baking!

Other products I used for the first time in this recipe were coconut flour and coconut palm sugar. 

 Coconut flour states that you can replace up to 20% with the amount of flour called for in a recipe and add an equivalent amount of liquid.

Coconut palm sugar is a 1:1 substitution for brown sugar and I think it tastes great.  

Now, I present to you Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies that will make you coming back for seconds.  I used the recipe from this website, but changed a bunch of the ingredients to make it my own (and a little healthier).

 Here is the full list of ingredients I used:

1/3 cup coconut flour (1/3 of water to balance)

1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled

1/4 cup coconut palm sugar

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil

In a medium bowl add wheat and coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.  Whisk together and set aside

Combine coconut oil and sugars together. 

Use an electric mixer to mix these ingredients together.  

Then add vanilla, pumpkin, and the equivalent liquid for the flour.  Mix until combined.  

Slowly add dry ingredients.  Mix until well combined.  (I ended up using a spoon and fork to finish mixing the batter because it was very thick).  Add the chocolate chips.

Drop small tablespoon size rounds of batter onto the baking sheet. 

Bake for 10 minutes.  

Let the cookie cool completely.  I found the cookies tasted best once they were completely cooled and even the next day.  

If you want you can use regular chocolate chips, but I couldn't even taste the difference with the vegan chocolate chips.  Using organic ingredients is even better.  Have fun and experiment with different natural ingredient substitutes. It makes baking interesting when you can substitute healthy alternatives and make a really good product.  

Most importantly, go out and get some coconut oil! It will change your life.  I hope you enjoy this recipe and the many benefit of the coconut.  

Dream, Believe, Inspire