MAKE IT CUTE

Nineteen-year-old Kelly Peloza created these melt-in-your-mouth cookies on a whim and decided they were too good to forget about.

You can find this and dozens of other tasty treats in her new cookbook, The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur (Skyhorse Publishing), available in bookstores now. Check out Kelly’s blog at vegancookies.wordpress.com.

Ingredients:

1 cup of pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)

2/3 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon molasses

¼ cup of maple syrup

2/3 cup of canola oil

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¾ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup of chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sugar, molasses, maple syrup and oil.

3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt, and add to the wet ingredients.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop by huge (scone-sized) or normal-sized spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes until firm. Baking time depends on the size of your cookies. Transfer to a cooling rack and enjoy!

Makes 1 to 2 dozen cookies, depending on size.

Tip: You can replace (or supplement) the chocolate chips with raisins, nuts or other dried fruit, Kelly says.

by Kelly Peloza | 2/1/2016