Leftover Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here’s a recipe for healthy, holiday pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that uses up leftover oatmeal. These cookies can be used for breakfast or for a treat, and they’re so easy to make that you’ll never again wonder what to do with leftover oatmeal. We’ve included a gluten-free option, as well as different sugars and fats that you can use to suit your diet. These cookies are a taste of the season!
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour or Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour
- 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp. Cloves
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 Cups Cooked Oatmeal
- 1/2 - 3/4 Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1/4 Cup Real Maple Syrup
- 1/3 Cup Coconut Sugar Rapadura, Raw Sugar, or Monk Fruit/Xylitol Sugar*
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1/2 Cup Melted Butter or Coconut Oil or Avocado Oil
- 1/2 Cup Each Chocolate Chips & Dried Cranberries optional
- 2 Tbsp. Candied Lemon Peel optional
- 2 tsp. Fresh Lemon Zest optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/176°C.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sea salt, spices, and soda. Mix in the leftover oatmeal and pumpkin puree until the flour mixture completely coats the oats and pumpkin. It will look a bit crumbly.
- In a liquid measurer, add the maple syrup, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add the oil if using and mix well.
- Melt the butter or coconut oil, if you're not using oil. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the melted fat. Mix until just incorporated.
- Similarly, if you're using oil, make a well in the flour mixture and add the maple-oil mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Over mixing may flatten the finished cookies, making them more dense.
- Add the chocolate chips, dried fruit, and zest according to taste. Mix.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper (or grease it) and place 2-3 Tablespoons of cookie dough 2-3 inches apart. You may also use a small ice cream or melon scoop to dose the batter but it will stick a bit.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies firm up and becomes slightly brown. Browning is hard to observe when the dough has wheat flour, maple syrup, and coconut sugar! Look for the tops of the cookies to lose the their glossy shine and to even crack just a little.
Notes
These cookies are very simple, so don't overthink the process. They're a lot like a drop biscuit in that the recipe is very forgiving and will bake up nicely if you have to make a few adjustments.
The moisture of the leftover oatmeal, as well as the pumpkin puree, will effect the final cookie dough. If you need to add a little more flour to firm up the dough, start with 1/4 cup. If you end up a little dry, you may add a few tablespoons of whole milk or cream, or even almond milk.
You may substitute any dried fruit you have in place of the cranberries. You may also switch out the lemon peel and zest to orange.
*If you use Monk Fruit/Xylitol sugar, begin by reducing the amount to 1/4 cup. You can make this recipe further low carb-friendly by omitting the maple syrup and using a Keto-friendly chocolate chip (they're often sweetened with stevia). Furthermore, you can omit the cranberries and candied lemon peel.
Changing the sugar and omitting the maple syrup will change the color of the finished cookie, FYI.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!