Believe it or not, I’m not one of those folks who devotes an entire cabinet of the kitchen to canned pumpkin. I do love me some pumpkin pie, and everything about pumpkin pie spices makes me happy, but the canned stuff itself? Eh, I can take it or leave it.
This weekend I was on a mission to bake cookies. When baking, I usually try to incorporate a few healthy swaps in order to reduce the overall calories and bulk up the nutrition just a bit. The last time I made (delicious) vegan chewy chocolate chip cookies, I swapped out the oil for one ripe banana, and found out that some of you guys are hardcore banana haters. Man, I had no idea!
I vowed that next time I would keep my banana-free friends in mind. I made two different versions of these using healthy oil replacements – one with applesauce and another with canned pumpkin. The pumpkin won by a landslide – better texture, taste, and overall just a much better cookie. These cookies are definitely one good reason to have at least a can or two of pumpkin in your kitchen.
Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients: (makes 2 dozen cookies)
- 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance
- 1/3 cup sucanat or cane sugar
- 1/3 cup (loosely packed) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp non-dairy milk
- 1/2 cup raisins
Instructions: Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients and spices in a mixing bowl until combined.
Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the Earth Balance and two sugars. Once it is light and fluffy, add the canned pumpkin, vanilla, and milk. Beat it!
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixer until combined into a cookie dough. Fold in the raisins and combine!
Scoop dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Since I used a cookie scoop that made them more ball-like (what?), I flattened these down with a spatula before baking them.
Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Cool on a cooling rack, plate, and serve!
These cookies have just the right fall spices that make you want to put on a puffy vest, drink hot cider, and dig out your leaf-shaped platter. Just me?
And at only 95 calories a piece, there is no excuse to not eat several.
Happy October – enjoy!
69 Comments so far
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YUM oatmeal raisin cookies are my fave!! I’m so glad you’ve made a vegan version- can’t wait to make these!! :D
And woah hardcore banana haters?! Haha I can’t get my head around that- I love bananas too much! :P
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Apparently I need to spend a day at home baking. I’ve got enough banana’s to make about 36 chocolate chip banana muffins and now these cookies too. Good thing my daughter has been BEGGING me to bake. . . and the husband’s work will enjoy the plate of goodies I make up just to get some of it out of the house!
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Using pumpkin is such a clever idea! I’ve used applesauce for muffins before and always enjoy it, but I love the taste of pumpkin and it would go so well with the cinnamon and raisins that are typically in oatmeal cookies. Mmmm!
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These sound so yummy!*
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I used to be a hardcore banana hater, now I’m a total banana lover! I guess changing taste buds are the reason I now can’t get enough of them!
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I got two words for you: garnet yam. I haven’t made a “pumpkin” pie in years. I’m all about the garnet yam. Tastier, sweeter, AND more orangey.
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
YUM – what a good idea!
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i’m for sure a banana fan, but also a pumpkin lover! can’t wait to try these :) hope that one day i’m baking delicious treats at 39 weeks pregnant!!
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That’s funny, I love all things pumpkin *except* for pumpkin pie! I’m pretty sure I would love these cookies too. They look fantastic!
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Love that idea of pumpkin in cookies, thanks! I am going to try this recipe tomorrow. Have you ever tried subbing 1/2 the butter with 1/2 chia gel? I just tried with another recipe and it was amazing…you couldn’t tell a difference!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
I have never tried doing chia gel before! Interesting!
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YUM! I like pumpkin…but I draw the line at pumpkin oats (Gag!) I have a lone can sitting in my cupboard, and I think I finally found its fate!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Agreed on pumpkin oats. Just not for me. Too goopy.
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I am literally restraining myself from running to my kitchen to make these, they look AMAZING! Everything I love in one cookie. hello fall =]
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Why the restraint? Go make them!
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Yum, these look amazing. I’m a a bit of a crazy pumpkin fan so I’m always looking for new ways to use it. Thanks for the recipe!
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Thank you so much for posting these goodies. My husband and I are slowly becoming vegan and I am trying to find ways to help with our sweet tooth cravings! I may have to make these tonight!
and for the record-I have 5 large cans of pumpkin in my cupboard. I used it for everything-oatmeal, smoothies, muffins, straight out of the can?? Yah, I have a mild obsession with pumpkin.
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Hardcore raisin hater here (seriously who doesn’t like bananas? oh wait, my boyfriend. whatever), but those are easy to leave out. I LOVE pumpkin and oatmeal, and I’m determined to make these now! Yum!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Haha sorry about the raisins!!
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Catherine Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
:) No big deal! Thanks for the recipe!
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Amber K Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 10:01 am
lol, that’s what I was thinking! Who hates bananas? Blech, raisins ;)
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Sounds great! I love reading your blog!
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Wow! Those look so delicious! Can you think of any good oat substitute? Regardless of the type (old fashioned, steel cut, rolled, gluten free) my body doesn’t agree with them. It’s making it hard for me to enjoy apple crisp too :(
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Hmm have you tried barley flakes? They look just like oats but are (obviously) barley instead. Or you could just up the amount of flour and skip the oats altogether.
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YUM!!!!
I feel like a spoiled brat asking this – but if you hate raisins, what would you put in instead?
:)
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Haha it’s always something, right? :) I would do another dried fruit, or maybe crystallized ginger? Ginger would be awesome with the pumpkin pie spices.
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Michaela Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
oh gosh, I can´t wait to try them with ginger! I really do not like raisins either, but I would have never thought of using ginger instead!
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I WISH I wasn’t a banana hater—it’s just another allergy of mine. These look amazing :)
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Mmmm, looks tasty! I’m not a banana hater, per se, but I can see that side! I usually find just as many people who hate bananas as I find pumpkin-haters. I myself go through phases with banana, but pumpkin always has my heart!
I have to say I’m a raisin-hater, but I love putting dried cranberries in my baking! So that’s my suggestions for the other raisin-haters asking!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
I love dried cranberries too. I actually have plans for a cranberry orange cookie or muffin soon…
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These look great! I made your vegan chocolate chip cookies twice–once with banana and once with applesauce instead. I normally love banana everything, but I definitely preferred the applesauce in the choc. chip cookies. Can’t wait to try these! Thanks for the recipe!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
How interesting! A few people told me they made them with applesauce, which made them more cakey. When I tried the applesauce in these, I got the same cakey result. Still tasted good, but the texture bothered me. I’m glad you found a way to best suit them to your taste though!
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Yum, and only 95 calories, even yummier!
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Yay I would have never said anything, but I’m so glad you went banana free. Bananas are the ONLY food I won’t eat. At all. They totally gross me out. Texture, smell, and flavor!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Haha, well at least you know you are not alone! :) I love bananas, but I can totally see how they would gross someone out.
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Did the pumpkin make them cakey? I keep finding that everything I make with pumpkin is taking a lot of the “chew” out of the baked good. Not bad, just a surprising texture thing. Regardless, I think I’d have to have at least 3 of these at only 95 calories. Love that!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Nope, the applesauce made them cakey! They were much more dense and cookie-like using pumpkin instead.
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I loooooooooooooove that you are coming up with so many vegan recipes :)
Your chewy choc chip cookies were absolutely divine!
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Those cookies are great! I totally stocked up on canned pumpkin too the other day from Trader Joe’s. They gae me some weird looks. :) Your recipes are always amazing!
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Yum! I’m always surprised by how many banana haters there are. Pumpkin & raisins are a really tasty combo. I sometimes add them to my loaf pumpkin breads. Can’t believe you’re due so sooon!! So exciting.
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I cannot find canned pumpkin anywhere in Atlanta. It’s driving me crazy. I don’t even like it that much, but the fact that I can’t find it is making me really need to have it!
Every time I don’t see a post from you until later in the day, I think you’ve had the baby.
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 4th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Haha, nope! Still pregnant! Not sure how quickly I’ll be able to update the blog, but I’m sure at at LEAST send a Tweet that we’re at the hospital. :)
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I was having the hardest time finding canned pumpkin here in Seattle! finally, Trader Joe’s came through!
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Looks delicious! I love a lot of pumpkin treats (pie, pumpkin roll, cookies, PSL from Starbucks, etc), but I don’t like to just use the canned pumpkin either – I’ve tried it in oatmeal like everybody raves about, but I DID NOT like it! It just tasted weird to me…
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Totally agree. Pumpkin oatmeal is not my thing. Too goopy.
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So, not to play Devil’s Advocate, but what about those of us Down Under for whom bananas have cost $3.50 each for almost a year and canned pumpkin doesn’t exist? I suppose it’s the less awesome applesauce version for us! :P
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 7:36 am
Oh MAN! $3.50 for a banana? I can’t even imagine. Not to rub it in, but ours are 19 cents here at Trader Joe’s! That’s wild. But I’m sure you guys have other things there that we can’t find anywhere in the US (like Vegemite, mmmm). The applesauce version was still good, just a bit more cake-like in texture. You could also try half applesauce, half oil and see if that helps. Sorry about that!
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Yum, I love spiced cookies!! And I am ready for the fall inspired food.
I’m with you on the pumpkin too. I realized that it’s more the pumpkin SPICE that I love, rather than the actual pumpkin. :-)
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oohh man. I love this recipe. Do you realize that Ireland does not stock canned pumpkin?!?! It is NOWHERE! You can bet your behind that as soon as I can, I’ll be buying pumpkins and trying to can their delicious “meat” for next year.
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 7:35 am
That is madness!
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Charlie Reply:
October 17th, 2011 at 4:09 am
I live in the UK and found a website that delivers american goods including canned pumpkin. I made a delicious spice pumpkin chocolate loaf yesterday with it! http://www.outsidertart.com- the shop is right where I live but there website says they deliver dry goods everywhere in the UK!
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Oatmeal, Raisins and Pumpkin!! They can’t miss! This looks like an excellent recipe, Emily…Thanks!
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Mmmm! Oatmeal raisin is my favorite, and these look amazing. Can’t wait to try them!
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As someone who has been recently diagnosed with Celiac disease, I’d love to see more gluten-free recipes on your blog! I used to try out nearly all of your recipes, but with my allergies, I can’t do that anymore.
There can never be enough GF recipes on the Internets!
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 7:35 am
I will see if I can get more GF recipes up soon! GF baking is still definitely an area I need to learn more about, but I’m getting there slowly.
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I am making these today! I have leftover pumpkin from yesterday after making pumpkin loaf (I LOVE FALL!). Can’t wait to try the cookies… hopefully my gluten free flour will work just as well as the regular stuff. Can’t wait for baby news!
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These look so good! I have been craving oatmeal raisin cookies. This is on my weekend plans! Thanks!
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These look amazing! My best friend and I actually used to make brownies substituting pumpkin for most of the eggs/butter, and you could hardly tell the difference. They might have even been vegan…it’s been a while but I think I’ll have to hunt down that recipe again since you made me think of it :)
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 7:34 am
That is a great idea!
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Melissa Reply:
October 7th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Another thought for the brownies is black beans. Crazy… but yummy!
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Who on earth hates bananas with such passion ??!! :D
Well those cookies sounds like exactly what I need at the moment and I almost have all the ingredients at home so I am probably going to make them tonight.
We don’t have Earth balance in the UK and vegan margarine are horrible here, so I will replace the margarine with coconut oil… fingers crossed that’ll work ;)
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Emily Malone Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 7:34 am
I think that will probably work!
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I made the vegan chocolate chip cookies and loved him. I must have used a very ripe banana because the banana flavor was strong. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt but they really grew on me! They ended up being more of a banana-chocolate chip cookie and they went perfectly with a hot cup of coffee. And they were even better straight from the freezer.
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I have found that I actually greatly prefer my baked goods with applesauce over oil. They just have a much better taste/texture for me. Insane! Crazy that there are hardcore banana haters. I could live off of bananas! And coconut water, to you know balance out my system ;)
These look delicious! I’ll leave the raisins (and gluten) out, because it is impossible to please everyone, lol!
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Made these cookies this afternoon. Used chocolate chips instead of raisins (my kiddos don’t care for raisins) and WOW!!…. excellent cookies!!! Will definitely make them again!! Thanks!
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wow these look SO good! And just for the record, I loved the banana in your Vegan Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies : )
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Hi! I’m so glad I made these cookies because they are delicious. I used dried cranberries for the raisins (I didn’t have raisins on hand). I’m just really glad I made a double batch to bake later (individually scooped and froze the rest of the dough) because I couldn’t stop eating them!
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I just made these cookies with my 3 year old daughter and they are wonderful. We didn’t have raisins so we added chocolate chunks instead; this worked out well but will make sure to try them with raisins as well. The dough is just as good as the finished product…gotta love vegan!
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Thanks for such a fantastic recipe – I made these this afternoon (half with raisins, half with chocolate chips) and they’re absolutely delicious. And yes, I do want to put on a puffy vest and drink cider – and plan on doing exactly that this weekend. And congrats on mommyhood!
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