Loving the BITE: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies (for breakfast)

I’d love to tell you that I cook up a delicious breakfast for myself and my family each morning.  I don’t. Grab-n-go is usually my style, since I’m usually packing lunches and backpacks while the rest of the crew eats (and, if I’m lucky, I’m getting ready to head out on a quick ride).  I need something quick and sustaining.  And something that goes well with my coffee.  Here’s one of my favorites:

Recipe of the Week: Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Breakfast “Cookies”

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup natural creamy almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter OR sunflower seed butter
• 1/4 cup honey (local, raw if possible) or pure maple
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (organic if possible)
• 1/3 cup chia seeds
• 1.5 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (preferably 60%+ cocoa)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients, folding chocolate chips in last.  Spoon onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1 heaping tablespoon per cookie.  If you’d like flatter cookies with the traditional criss-cross design, gently press down each mound with a wet fork.

Bake ~12-15 minutes or until slightly browned around edges.  Allow to cool before serving.  Enjoy! Makes ~18-24 cookies.

Comments:

Yum! Who doesn’t like cookies first thing in the morning?  Okay, okay, maybe these shouldn’t exactly be called cookies in the traditional sense.  In fact, I put “cookies” in quotations because I want to distinguish between cookies you can eat for a meal like breakfast, and those that should be dessert.  I’m not opposed to dessert (at all).  In fact, I’d rather the occasional dessert be left alone with all it’s rich, calorie-laden, high-fat, satisfying yumminess.  I’d rather not try to “healthify” it.  When you try to make all foods a health food, by manipulating ingredients and reducing the portions of the very things that make it wonderful, you’re usually left unsatisfied and still craving a good dessert.  It’s okay to indulge on occasion.  These are not dessert cookies.  They are real, nourishing foods that are baked and formed into portable little mounds. They work well as a meal because they have only a moderate amount of carbohydrates from pumpkin and honey, a good amount of protein, and healthy fats. For lack of a better term, they are breakfast cookies.  If it helps, we can call them delicious breakfast biscuits.

So, why would you want to eat these delicious breakfast biscuits from a nutrition standpoint?  First, they are full of wonderfully healthy whole-food ingredients like almond butter, chia seeds, and honey.  Together, these pack in a great balance of healthy proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.  But, the star of these biscuits (and of all of October and November) is the pumpkin.  Here’s what it has in store for you:

Antioxidants: Alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.  These antioxidants will work together to fight free radicals, reduce risk of cancer, promote heart health and reduce plague formations, and preserve eye health.

Anti-inflammatory nutrients: The cell walls contain pectin, and this pectin contains components that are anti-inflammatory.  A high anti-inflammatory diet can lead to less chronic bodily inflammation which means less chronic bodily disease.  Pumpkin seeds offer their own anti-inflammatory components that may reduce arthritis.

Anti-cancer action: Specifically, a reduction in the risk of prostate cancer  most likely due to zinc and components in pumpkin seed oil. (So, roast all the pumpkin seeds you get your hands on!)

Heart-Health Components: Pumpkin seeds contain phytoestrols which can reduce “bad” cholesterol.

Additionally, fiber, monounsatured fats, omega-3s, B-vitamins, and copper (important for energy production).

Just for fun, here’s a list of 31 Pumpkin Puree Recipes from Greatist.com: http://greatist.com/health/awesome-weird-healthy-recipes-canned-pumpkin

Lastly, a few more easy Power Breakfast ideas: https://lovingthebike.com/cycling-nurition/loving-the-bite-5-minute-power-breakfast-ideas

Baked in less than 20 minutes total, and easy-as-pie (or cookies) for breakfast in the morning.  We may have just saved 10-15 minutes per day for riding. Did I mention they go great with coffee?

Fuel Your Ride. Nourish Your Body.