Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup organic maple syrup (amber color)
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 2 cups gluten-free flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• Two 8-ounce packs of cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup (amber color)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix together melted, unsalted butter and maple syrup.
• Add eggs and pumpkin puree - completely mix together.
• Add in gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
• Gently fold into the cookie batter until all the ingredients are combined together.
• Spray non-stick spray on a large baking sheet and set aside.
• Drop about a spoonful of cookie batter on the baking sheet, giving each cookie an inch of space.
• Place in heated oven and bake for 10-13 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.
• Once the cookies are done, take out of oven and set aside to cool.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

• In a separate bowl, whisk together room temperature cream cheese and maple syrup until completely combined and fluffy.
• Add in cinnamon.
• Lightly fold into the frosting.
• Once the cookies are cooled, evenly spread frosting over each cookie.

*Optional: Cinnamon sprinkled over the frosted cookies.

Why Use Maple Syrup Instead of Sugar?

Eating an excess amount of processed sugar increases your chance of dying from cardiovascular disease—along with esophageal, small intestine, colon, and breast cancer. The average adult in the United States consumes about 22 teaspoons of processed sugars a day—the American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons of 100 calories daily for women and nine teaspoons of 150 calories daily for men. Your risk of type 2 diabetes is increased 1.1% for every 150 calories of sugar a person consumes in a day. For this reason alone, it is extremely important that you find ways to incorporate natural sugars, like maple syrup, into your foods whenever possible. Unlike processed sugar, organic maple syrup actually has health benefits. For starters, there are no artificial colors or additives. The mineral benefits that organic maple syrup offers are potassium, calcium, and copper. This isn't the only substitute for processed sugar out there. Some examples are—agave nectar, coconut sugar, brown rice syrup, honey, date sugar, stevia, and fruit juices or purees. Maple syrup is my favorite processed sugar substitute because there are very little provisions you have to make to the recipe. Keep in mind that you may have to do some research as to what the conversions are for whichever natural sugar you are using to add up to the amount of processed sugar.

What Are the Health Benefits of Eating Gluten-Free?

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley—e.g. cereals, breads, and grains. Removing any products from your daily diet that contains gluten can have remarkable results. First, it promotes a healthy weight loss. Almost everyone's weakness is sweets and all the processed foods you could possibly imagine—but guess what, all of that contains gluten. Focusing on a gluten-free life will allow you to finally turn your back to the processed food and heart attacks waiting to happen. Say goodbye to those temptations and you'll be shocked when you see the pounds fall off. Second, it forces your attention to fruits and vegetables because they're gluten-free. Your body needs the nutrients that fruits and vegetables have. The average person is lacking those essential nutrients because they choose to eat fast food and processed snacks. The third major health benefit a gluten-free diet entails is promotes a healthy cholesterol level. Nowadays, the gluten-free substitutes are so delicious, you won't even notice a difference. Making these small changes to your diet will lead to a huge life change.