As much as I wish it wasn’t true, I hated science and math in high school.
I could never get the equations to line up and my experiments in chemistry had a high rate of failure. On top of that I can’t even count how many times I burnt my arm on the Bunsen burner.
Yet, when it comes to baking, I love experimenting. I love making sure I have all the ratios right in order to get the best result. If something fails, I try it again and again until I get it right. Part of me wishes I could go back and take science classes with this same mentality.
Sometimes my experiments work out on the first try- like these cookies. I’m always looking for ways to cram nutrients into everything I eat and while these cookies still have butter and sugar, they also have a good source of protein through the hemp seeds.
The hemp seeds add an extra bit of earthiness to the cookie and the texture is a hybrid of a muffin and cookie. I feel like these taste like fall in a cookie!
Next time I experiment with these cookies I’m going to use a less processed sugar and see how that goes (maybe some maple syrup to add one more layer of fall…)
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup ground hemp seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup natural sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚.
- Using a nut or coffee grinder, grind hemp seeds to resemble a course meal (about 15-30 seconds.) Combine ground hemp seeds, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a mixer attached with a paddle, beat butter and sugars together. (if you don’t have a mixer, beat by hand- just make sure your butter is soft but not melted.) Add in pumpkin and continue to mix until pumpkin, butter, and sugars are combined.
- Next, add in egg, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I like a heavier cinnamon taste and if you don’t, you may want to cut back to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon instead. Continue to beat, scrapping sides if need be.
- Finally, add in hemp mixture and beat until dough comes together and the hemp mixture is incorporated. Do not over-beat, you should only need less than a minute.
- Cover a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper. Using a cookie scoop (or a large spoon) scoop cookies and place two inches apart from each other.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes (for large cookies) or until cookie springs back slightly (as if baking a cupcake.) Remove from oven, let cool for five minutes then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
