Vegan Pumpkin Coconut Cookies

Are you thinking it is a 'pumpkin week' on this blog? It definitely is not. When I made the Pumpkin bread, I had opened one can of pumpkin. It still had 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree left in it and I didn't want to store it in the refrigerator and then forget all about it. I also didn't want to make more bread. I tried to mimic the flavor of a pumpkin coconut milk pudding that is a traditional sweet from a southern state of India in the form of a cookie. I should tell you that these cookies aren't the prettiest on the block, but are so good. They are so soft and more like cake than a cookie. But the taste is so good that my kids and adults in the house polished off the entire batch within minutes.

One year back -  Honey Applesauce Muffins, Dosa Batter and freezing tip
Ingredients: (Makes 12 medium sized cookies)
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Fine dessicated coconut - 1 cup (Unsweetened. If you can't get this, grind the regular dessicated coconut into fine powder and then measure)
Corn starch - 1 TBSP
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Pumpkin puree - 3/4 cup (I used canned)
Oil - 1/4 Cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup (Or up to 3/4 cup)
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp (or as per taste)
Nutmeg - a pinch

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, coconut, baking soda, baking powder, spices, salt, corn starch. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together oil, pumpkin puree and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients to wet and fold till no streaks of flour is visible. Drop by heaping TBSP on to the cookie sheets 2" apart and bake for 15 - 18 minutes. Remove on to the cooling rack and let stand on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Slide the parchment paper on to the rack to cool completely.

These are soft cookies more like whoopie pies but with less fat. They are not too sweet either. If you prefer a sweeter cookie, increase the sugar to 3/4 cup.

Enjoy.