7. Refreshments

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom or allspice
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup butter or vegan butter, melted
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
• 1 tablespoon almond butter or peanut butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips or vegan chocolate chips

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• Whisk together the flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cardamom in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Use a hand mixer (or whisk very quickly) to mix the pumpkin puree, butter, maple syrup, sugar and almond butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
• Use a tablespoon or ice cream scoop to scoop roughly two sheets about 2 inches apart. Wet or lightly grease the bottom of a measuring cup and gently press down on each cookie to flatten. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until firm with lightly browned edges. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Recipe courtesy of Ben Lively, Senior Project Manager