Healthy Pumpkin Quinoa Cookies

I am pretty sure that I was an extremely well mannered and very grateful child. I know that I  NEVER traded my lovingly packed brown sack lunch which was made up of either  PB&J or Spam sandwiches, yes Spam, and crudités for unhealthy, sugar laden treats like Ding Dongs (which were gloriously wrapped in tin foil) and Twinkies that the other kids (who's parents obviously didn't love them) sported in their Rainbow Bright lunch boxes. Indeed, I was an unusually thoughtful and agreeable child (not to mention cute and lovable) who never, ever, EVER complained about or threw away her healthy, home made lunches. 

The End. (Nobody who reads this knows my parents right?)

My children, my own flesh and blood are tempting my patience when it comes to eating healthy, home made foods. Yes, I have succumbed to the fact that each of my 4 children go through their phases of not liking one thing or another, never at the same time mind you. And I have relented to the reality that dinner time is more akin to an ugly, major court hearing where I am the judge, lawyer, jury and henchman.  

What manages to get on my very last, frazzled nerve however is that my spawn  children begged and pleaded on their adorable little knees to pleeeease make them lunch because the school lunches were "gross" (can't disagree there). So I did. Again.

And they are complaining about it.

Again.

I roasted a 'pie' pumpkin at 400F for about 40 min. then scooped out the flesh and pureed. Your cookies will be much lighter in color then if you use canned pumpkin. Make sure you poke several holes in you pumpkin before roasting to let out steam! Otherwise it can explode, trust me. :(

 In fact, child numero dos had the nerve to tell me that he "changed his mind, the school lunches weren't so bad after all."  Punk.

I mean I have been making these cute little treats packed lovingly with a love note from Dear ol' Mom.

Pinterest pinners must not have boys.

These pumpkin cookies were a hit with the Spawn, the Kale pesto turkey wraps, not so much. Baby steps. I think I will stick to making these for breakfast cookies and after school snacks. 

Recipe Source:  Healthful Pursuit

YIELDS  24 SMALL COOKIES       PREP TIME  15 MINUTES    BAKE TIME 30 MINUTES

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup raw quinoa
• 1 cup (150 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar 
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup (130 grams) pureed pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg white 
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:

Add quinoa to a fine mesh stainer and rinse well. Add water and quinoa to a saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few of minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

Add flour, sugar, ground flax, pumpkin spice mix and salt to a large bowl. Add 1½ cups of the cooked quinoa to the dry ingredients. Stir until combined.Add pumpkin, oil, vanilla, egg white and maple syrup to a small bowl and stir well. Pour the wet mixture in with the dry mixture and stir to combine. Scoop into small balls and place on prepared baking sheet. They will not spread out, so you can keep the cookies close. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through and golden. Remove from the oven, let cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and allowing them to cool for a couple of hours. Cookies will become firmer as they cool.