My Adventures at Whole Foods: Sprouted Millet Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies

It is no secret that I am a fan of Whole Foods.  The foodie in me can walk around the store for hours looking at all of the products.  It may be a little crazy how excited I get when I come across a great new product that I’ve never heard of before.  My last trip was particularly exciting for me because I found so many new real food products that I fell in love with.  I know that Whole Foods is often regarded as I high priced store that many people would not even step foot in, but I love supporting a company that is striving to provide its customers with healthy products.  They have created a business plan that includes going completely GMO free by 2018.  They support local farmers and usually have the hard to find products.  I wish all companies could be like that.

Some of the things I have been discovering lately are: Graindrops (a dairy free and gluten free probiotic drink) that tastes just like keifer and has amazing flavors including Mango Ginger, Blueberry, and Original.  I have tried all three flavors and love the fruity ones.  I mix the original flavor into my morning overnight oats for that added probiotic benefit.

I almost fell over when I saw a chicken and vegetable stock that was actually made with real ingredients.  Pacific organic Simply Stock vegetable broth reads like this: water, carrots, celery, onions, leeks, and mushrooms.  That is it!  The chicken stock ingredients read much the same way.  I use it to flavor grains, use a little in your sauté pan instead of butter, or soup of course.

I am such a huge fan of sprouted and soaked grains that I got gitty to see a whole wall with sprouted flours and grains from The Sprouted Flour Company.  I couldn’t wait to get home to try everything out and bake with my new sprouted millet flour.  I only use whole ingredients when baking.  I am not a fan of using ingredients like xanthum gum and agar agar in gluten free recipes.  It just doesn’t seem real to me.  I wanted to create a gluten free cookie with simple, real, whole food ingredients.

I was so happy with the way these Gluten Free Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies turned out and even my husband said they were good!  I don’t have a ton of experience with gluten free baking but using gluten free flour like this millet flour could be great motivation for me to experiment.  Millet has been a seed grain that I have been using regularly.

Don’t be afraid to look around for new products.  You may find something life changing.

*I was not sponsored by any company for this post.  All opinions are my own.  I just really love great products.

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Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 12

Author Sara

Ingredients

• 2 cups sprouted millet flour feel free to try out your favorite flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp coconut or almond milk
• 1 chia egg 1 tbsp ground chia and 3 tbsp water- let sit for 1 minute *I ground whole chia in a coffee grinder or 1 regular egg
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
• 8 large dates pitted (soak overnight in water if they are not really soft)
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl add the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
3. Mix to combined.
4. Add the vanilla, coconut oil, maple syrup, milk, and egg.
5. Mix to combined.
6. The dough with be thick and soft almost like play doh.
7. Scoop 1 tbsp of the dough and roll it into a ball with your hands.
8. Put on a lined cookie sheet.
9. With your thumb lightly press down into the cookie to form a bowl for the topping.
10. In a blender add the pumpkin puree, dates, and pumpkin pie spice.
11. Blend until smooth and thick (add a couple tbsps of water if needed to get the blender going).
12. Spoon 1-2 tsp of the pumpkin date mixture into the thumb bowl.
13. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until firm.
14. Let cool.
15. Store in a airtight container for 5-7 days.
16. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Recipe Notes

*choose organic ingredients when possible