Recipe: Holiday Pumpkin Maple Almond Drops

These pumpkin maple almond drop cookies, prepared by Executive Chef JJ at BayCare's St. Joseph’s Hospitals, are a gluten-free, vegan, low sugar option for the holiday season. They’re not overly sweet and are great with a cup of black coffee to warm your holiday spirit.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked oatmeal
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice, brown, long grain
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp fine kosher salt
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil  
• 15 oz canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup sliced, blanched almonds

Directions

• Combine uncooked oatmeal, rice, cornstarch, spices and salt in a dry blender and grind until a fine powder is achieved.
• In a separate bowl using a stand mixer, combine syrup, applesauce, olive oil and pumpkin. Use a paddle attachment to mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until uniform and smooth.
• Combine wet mix and the bowl of dry ingredients on low mixer speed for an additional 2-3 minutes until a thick dough has been achieved.
• Cover for at least 30 minutes to allow dough to hydrate.
• Line sheet pan with parchment paper and using a medium portion scooper (#30 scoop), portion 2 tablespoons of cookie dough onto parchment paper. Using a firm even motion, drop or tap pan on counter to flatten cookies to 3/8 inch high.
• Top cookies with a few almond slices.
• Bake in a 350F conventional oven (325F convection oven) for about 12-14 minutes or until edges of cookies are light brown and bottoms appear done.
• Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from sheet pan.

Yield: 24 cookies

Per cookie:

• Calories 80
• Fat 3.5g
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 140mg
• Total carbohydrates 11g
• Protein 1g
• Sugar 2g