2015 Cookie Swap Recipe from The Chocolate Cult

Once again The Chocolate Cult participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap and once more I took a basic recipe idea and changed it to reflect my health needs and what I had in my pantry. I made 82 (83 calories a piece if you use my exact recipe below) Puffy Double Chip Pumpkin Cookies so have plenty for both the cookie swap and for our Annual Holiday Party my family throws. They are nice and fluffy inside but if you want to know how I made them, keep reading. Many of the ingredients I used I received throughout 2015 to test and write about once; I will mark* these on the recipe. Additional mentions of these free ingredients is just my being upfront with you all about them; I didn't receive any more compensation from the brands used in this recipe. In fact, I paid a fee to join this program because it befits the Cookies for Kids project.

Puffy Double Chip Pumpkin Cookies
By: TammyJo Eckhart, PhD

Ingredients:
1 Cup Country Crock Spread*
1 T Vanilla Extract
2 Servings Egg Substitute
1/2 C Splenda Brown Sugar Blend*
1 1/2 C morningpep xylitol*
15 oz can of Libby's Pumpkin
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
4 C King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
10 oz bag of Nestle Toll House Pumpkin baking chips
10 oz bag of Nestle Toll House Bittersweet baking chips

Instructions:
1) Lay Silicone mats on baking sheets and preheat oven to 375°F. Lay out parchment paper or a paper bag on a countertop or table to place the cookies onto cool.

2) Beat together spread, vanilla, and eggs substitute on medium setting of your electric mixer.

3) As those ingredients beat, measure out flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and blend them together.

4) Add pumpkin to the wet ingredients and mix on medium until thoroughly incorporated.

5) Add in the flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl as you do so.

6) Blend in the baking chips either using the mixer on low or by hand.

7) Using a cookie scoop, drop cookies onto the silicone mat and bake for 12 minutes.

8) Once the time is up, remove from the oven, allow to cool for two minutes then remove cookies to the paper you've laid out. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then enjoy. You can also eat them still warm if you like your baking chips melty.

Calories per cookies (using the same ingredients) = 83

Sadly I only got two sets of cookies from the other swappers; the first time in the five years I've been doing this that I didn't get three sets for the three that I sent. I know it might sound petty, but if you are going to participate in any type of exchange, make sure to send your treats out. According to the post office, all three of mine arrived on December 3. One of the recipients emailed me; I tried to contact the two who sent mine but only one's email worked.

I got Chocolate Chip Biscotti from Christina at Addicted to the Kitchen and Salted Caramel Vanilla Butter Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle from Amber at Caleigh's Kitchen. Thank you to both of them. I'll link to their recipes above when they are posted.

On top of those cookies, all three of the event sponsors sent me a nice gift! Cute liquid measuring "cups" that I'll review later on in 2016 from OKO, a silicone baking mat (mentioned this month in a review) from Dixie Crystals (sadly their coupon will go unused because I can never find their products where I live), and coupons for a couple of free products from Lake o'Lakes that I'll use and review later on in 2016.