Recipe: Pumpkin Oat Power Nuggets

Hello my friends - it's time for a new recipe!

Last night I wanted to celebrate being 95% moved in to our new place, and try out our new oven. Zak has been working hard on moving things every day, and I wanted to bake him some treats as a thank you.

I looked in the pantry and wanted to make something with the canned pumpkin, oats, raisins and whole wheat pastry flour I had on hand. Put 'em all together and what do you get?

Pumpkin Oat Power Nuggets!

Wet ingredients:

2 eggs

2/3 cup of raisins

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 cup of canned pumpkin - Libby's is my fave

1/3 cup of honey

1/3 cup of brown sugar, firmly packed

Dry ingredients:

2 cups of oats - I used Quaker quick oats

1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour - I like Bob's Red Mill

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Add-ins:

1/3 cup of chocolate chips

1/3 cup of chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.

2. Beat the eggs. Mix in raisins. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes to soften the raisins.

3. Mix together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to the egg / raisin mixture (I started with a teeny bowl and had to transfer to a large one). Mix until well combined.

5. 1 cup at a time, mix the dry ingredients into the wet combination in the large bowl

6. If desired, add chocolate chips and walnuts. Combine for even distribution.

7. Use a cookie scoop or drop onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until firm when pressed with the underside of a spoon.

These turned out great! The texture is more that of a muffin or scone, and these are not overly sweet-tasting like your typical cookie, so I decided to call them "nuggets." They are high in fiber and packed with Vitamin A, and very low in fat. These are great for an on-the-go breakfast, or a pre- or -post workout snack!

Baking in cowboy boots, oh yeah.

Next time I am going to experiment with vegan-izing the recipe, removing the eggs and perhaps substituting with a flax "egg" mixture instead. Also, I will try and "plump" the raisins by soaking in hot water for a few minutes. I've heard that applesauce is a great way to add moisture to low-fat recipes, so that could be a variation as well.

Do you have any recommendations on a good website to calculate the nutritional value of your recipes? I registered for NutritionData.com but have not yet figured out how to use their tools!

Back to work. Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons, and Brendan Benson of the Raconteurs are playing tonight at our Turner Hall Ballroom! Can't wait :-)