It’s December, can you believe that? The holidays are bittersweet. It’s a time for family, sharing, giving but it’s also a time for stress, unrealistic expectations, and exhaustion. This year I’m striving for a more thoughtful and memorable holiday season. Baking, cooking, and feeding people is what gives me pleasure during the holidays. I am also willing to admit that I suffer from what I call Martha Stewart syndrome. I look around my messy kitchen, messy house and long for it to have the appearance of a magazine spread. I stay up late baking dozens upon dozens of cookies, make my gift wrap, knit personalized presents until I am a neurotic mess just begging for the holiday to be over.
I am compelled to make my house and holiday to look like that perfect Instagram account, you know the one I mean. Where everything is not only in its place but of the highest quality, curated, bespoke, environmentally friendly, minimal, and artisanal. Well, this year I want to not only survive the holiday but thrive. I’m trying to think about purchases I make this year and focus more on experiences vs. possesions. Theater tickets, classes, trips, things that will create lasting memories, not end up in the corner of the closet gathering dust. And for the gifts that I do give, I want to focus on quality, not quantity. It would also like to celebrate and eat what I want without putting on 10 pounds that I’ll be desperate to shed once January comes around.
I’m also trying to figure out how to celebrate and eat what I want without putting on 10 pounds I’ll be desperate to shed once January comes around. So for the next month, I’m going to share some of my coping strategies for the holiday, a few of my favorite recipes, some naughty, some nice to help us all find some balance in this oh so hectic season. Actually, scratch that, I don’t want us thinking of food as good or bad. There is a time and a place for everything, moderation is the key, and there is never a better time to enjoy yourself than at the holidays when you are surrounded by family and friends. So eat that cookie if you want it and spend an extra 10 minutes at the gym or have a salad for lunch the next day. Life is too short to make yourself unhappy, enjoy it.
First up, I’m offering something to help you cope when you are rushing out the door or don’t want to take the time to cook breakfast in the morning. These pumpkin hazelnut breakfast cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and vegan. But they are loaded with hazelnuts, cranberries and will keep well in the fridge for 4-5 days. You can also freeze them and pop them into a toaster oven or microwave so you can make a double batch and have breakfast ready all week long. We’ve enjoyed these so much that I made a second batch with hazelnuts, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. I’ll be sure to share the recipe soon! So eat cookies for breakfast, I won’t tell.
I’ve also put a little video together to walk you through the recipe. I hope you enjoy it! It’s a little rough but we all have to start somewhere!
If you make these pumpkin hazelnut breakfast cookies, I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a picture #scalingback on Instagram so I can see what you came up with!
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 6 tablespoons water
- 1½ cups oats
- ½ cup oat flour
- ½ cup hazelnut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 11/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup pumpkin purée
- ½ cup almond butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- ¼ Cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Grind the chia seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle until a fine powder. In a small
- bowl combine the chia seeds with the six tablespoons of water and let sit for 5-10 minutes to gel while you prepare the rest of the batter.
- In a medium bowl combine the oats, oat flour, hazelnut flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and kosher salt and whisk to combine.
- In a separate large bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, almond butter, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well to combine. Add the hazelnuts and cranberries stir gently to combine. Using a large cookie scoop or a ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet leaving about 1-inch between. Bake for 15-17 minutes until the cookies are firm to the touch but still yield a bit in the center. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before serving. Cookies will keep at room temperature for 3-4 days or you can freeze them up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or pop them into a 350-degree oven for 5 minutes if desired.
I’ve never seen or heard of hazelnut flour. Where do I find that? Or is there a substitute for it like spelt?
Hi Jade,
Hazelnut flour is just finely ground hazelnuts. You’all frequently see it labeled as hazelnut meal, Bob’s Red Mill makes a nice version. You can easily make your own if you have a high speed blender or food processor. Just take a 1/2 cup of hazelnuts and blitz them until they are finely chopped. Don’t process them too much or you’ll end up with hazelnut butter.
You can also easily swap out the hazelnut meal with oat or almond flour. If you don’t need the recipe to be gluten-free you could use whole wheat flour. The recipe is pretty forgiving, I just love the combination of pumpkin and hazelnuts. Let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for checking out the recipe!