For me, a meal isn’t complete without dessert. Just a little tasty treat. But as a grown up, I know that dessert has a lot of what I don’t need to be eating!!

So it seems that a dessert that has healthy ingredients while still maintaining its desserty-ness is the perfect solution.

These moist and cake-y cookies are it, with just the right amount of sweetness, and filling enough for a small serving to satisfy.

Packed with cherries for Vitamin C, pecans for Vitamin A, fiber-rich pumpkin, and whole oats to boot, think of them as a treat for your body and your taste buds!

 Cherry Pumpkin Pecan Cookies

Yield: 2 ½ dozen 3 inch cookies

Ingredients

1 cup all- purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups whole oats

1-15 ounce can organic pumpkin purée

½ cup whole cane sugar (also called sucanat or rapadura)

1/2  cup organic sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped

½ cup pecans, roughly chopped

Procedure

Position rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.

In a sifter placed over a large bowl, sift the flours, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Add in oats and stir to blend well.

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In a separate medium bowl, combine the pumpkin purée, sugars, oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Whisk to blend. Stir in the cherries and pecans.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until there are no dry spots left.

For each cookie, drop 1 rounded tablespoon of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Flatten slightly with your hand or a spatula sprayed with a little oil to prevent sticking. Bake cookies until the bottoms are lightly browned and the cookies are a bit firm to the touch, 15-17 minutes.

Cool 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.