Spooky Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year. We love the cozy rainy days and warm veggie soups that come with it. But most of all, we LOVE the sweet pumpkin flavored treats!

We were craving a delicious pumpkin cookie and decided to make this simple, one-bowl recipe. They are a great snack, breakfast, or dessert and definitely a recipe we will continue to make in years to come. Our favorite way to enjoy these cookies is with a nice warm cup of coffee or tea, cozied up by the fire. They add the perfect amount of sweetness to your morning coffee, or a taste of fall to a relaxing evening. We love the maple syrup in these cookies, but if you prefer less sweet cookies, try using one or two tablespoons of maple syrup instead of a ¼ of a cup. With the dates and the bananas, they will still be quite sweet and are delicious no matter what!

These cookies are full of nutrients and only contain natural sweeteners. If you want to make them vegan, replace the chocolate chips with cacao nibs or vegan chocolate chips. I made my first batch with dark chocolate chips (as pictured) but for my second I used cacao nibs and loved them even more, so I highly recommend cacao nibs if you have them around the house. The cacao nibs add a nice crunch, and bitter note to balance out the sweetness! The dates are a perfect binding agent for these cookies and on top of adding sweetness, they also add potassium and dietary fibre. The bananas add potassium as well, and vitamin B6 and C! The spices are great antioxidants, and the oats add fibre and carbohydrates.

These cookies are SO delicious, and with the added benefit of all these nutrients, how could you go wrong?!

Why you will LOVE these cookies:

• Texture: these are chewy cookies, and super moist from the pumpkin puree and banana
• Flavor: by using cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and maple syrup, I guarantee these will be super flavorful! It will be your favorite pumpkin spice latte in a cookie!
• Ease: no cookie dough chilling! They’ll go directly from your mixing bowl to the oven, which is especially helpful if you’re baking with kids (or if you just can’t wait to taste test!!)

Recipe notes before you get started:

1. Pumpkin: use pure pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling. You can use fresh pumpkin puree, however I always have better results with canned.
2. Spices: you may choose to use prepared pumpkin pie spice, instead of the ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground allspice, and ground ginger.
3. Maple Syrup: I love using maple syrup, but honey or sugar work too.
4. Dates: if your dates are too dry, try soaking them for 10 minutes in boiling water, then drain before using them in the recipe.
5. Optional Add-Ins: feel free to add additional chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or dried cranberries into the dough after you mix the wet and dry ingredients together.

Let’s get into the recipe, here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of dates (packed)
• 1 whole medium banana
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of ginger
• 1/2 tsp of cloves
• 1/2 tsp of allspice
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ½ tsp of vanilla
• 2 cups of oats
• ⅓ cup of dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a food processor add dates and banana and process until there are no large chunks of dates left.
3. Add the pumpkin puree, spices, salt, vanilla and maple syrup and process until well combined.
4. Transfer mixture into a medium-sized bowl and fold in oats and chocolate chips.
5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place golf ball-sized dough balls on the tray.
6. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven.
7. Let cool and Enjoy!