User post: Pumpkin Cream Cheese-A-Licious

Caroline Shannon-Karasik

It all started with a simple pumpkin craving ...

And, then it turned into this ...


You would think it was fall or something with all of this pumpkin I have going on, but, alas, spring is just around the corner! Nevertheless, yesterday was a pumpkin-licious kind of day.

So, let's get started with the deets, right?

I decided to ease my pumpkin craving with the creation of a gluten-free, vegan Pumpkin Gob. I can't quite put a finger on it, but I think it may have been these guys that took yesterday morning's pumpkin fantasy and turned it into a sam-ich.

I once said I love a gluten-free (often vegan) treat that can turn even the best of doubters into believers. This dessert qualifies as one of those life-altering moments. Seriously. It will make you do a dance in your pants. It's like a pumpkin and a cheesecake decided to get jiggy with it and have a baby. No jokes.


Gluten-Free, Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Gobs (Makes 6 sandwiches)

Ingredients:

Cookies

  • 1/2 cup safflower oil

  • 1 1/2 cups evaporated cane juice (plain ol' granulated sugar will work just fine too)

  • 1 cup of puréed pumpkin (Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin is gluten-free)

  • 1/4 cup flaxseed meal

  • 4 Tablespoons of natural, unsweetened applesauce

  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla

  • 2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (I used the G-Spot Gluten Free Baking Flour Blend, but I also like Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur mixes.)

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt


Frosting



Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or use one of these nifty fellas). In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the safflower oil and sugar (about 1 -2 minutes). Add gthe pumpkin, flaxseed, applesauce and vanilla, and beat until creamy.

- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Once completed, slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl with pumpkin mixture, and mix until smooth and well combined.

- Drop tablespoons of batter onto the lined cookie sheet, about two inches apart. Wet hands and press down on the center of each ball of batter to flatten a little. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden.

- While cookies are baking, combine cream cheese, confectioners sugar and agave in a small bowl until well blended.

- Cool cookies completely before spreading cream cheese frosting on the flat side of six cookies and then topping with another cookie.



Like, I already said: These are unbelievably yummy. I walked into the kitchen yesterday to find my husband with one in each hand (and he's not gluten-free or a vegan)! "What are these?!" he said. But it sounded more like, "What ... chomp ... are ... chew ... these?!"

I can't tell you how happy the smell of pumpkin wafting throughout our home made me. Do you have a smell that just does it for you? That makes your whole world feel oh-so-right? The smell of cinnamon and cloves always reminds me of my mom (her favorite scents), and apple pie reminds me of a warm hug from my Gram. How about you?