In case you don't know, Fall in Alaska lasts about three hours. Yep. The leaves pretty much turn ugly yellow right before your eyes, then fall off and you're left with sad, naked trees. There's nothing lovely about it. No beautiful colors, nothing. Nope. Go to Vermont for that.

So how does an Alaskan know it's Fall (besides the time of the year, obviously), it rains incessantly, for like three weeks straight. Flood warnings will appear on the news and the chilly morning air will bite right through your scrub pants. Okay, that last bit may be just according to me. But oh the rain, and just when you think it's over...more rain. Am I right, Alaskans? Yes. Luckily, I baked these cookies to warm the house and fill it with a delicious and proper Fall smell. No rotting leaf smell here. Just sweet pumpkin pie...but what's that, I smell cookies as well! Yes.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies

These are Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies and they are as delectable as they sound. I might make them for Thanksgiving this year instead of a pumpkin pie. They're that good. Like a ginger molasses cookie but sooo much better. Enlivened with pumpkin pie spice and crystallized ginger bits, these soft molasses cookies are what Fall is made of.

In case you plan on using a chicken egg instead of a flax seed egg, allow me to enlighten you with this video that demonstrates how the Journal of Atherosclerosis (yes there's a journal for that) found a "...similar exponential increase in carotid artery plaque buildup found for smokers and egg eaters." Say what? Eggs? No, thank you I think I'll pass.

You'll be delighted to find out how the American Egg Board attempted to bribe a prominent Yale physician to disagree with the study. The physician refused, so in the most rational and obvious of choices, the egg industry had a fake physician (that they made up) try to discredit the study. Nice. It's really touching stuff. Makes you feel all good and wholesome about buying eggs from the store right? Um, no.

The takeaway? Try a flax seed egg. Just try it once. Pretend you're a hippie and do it for Halloween, I don't care. It won't kill you, though those chicken eggs probably aren't helping you out so much. Hey, don't hate the messenger. For all the goodness of flax though, check out this treasure trove on all things flax. Flax...not so exciting, but it does the body good.

Yes, the irony of this being a dessert post is not lost on me. Cookies are a necessity, though. Eggs are not.

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Pumpkin Pie Molasses Ginger Cookies

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

Enlivened with pumpkin pie spice, and crystallized ginger chunks these soft molasses cookies are what fall is made of.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
2 ½ Tbsp. water
½ cup vegan butter, room temperature
1 cup vegan granulated sugar
½ cup canned pumpkin
¼ cup molasses
1 tsp. Kahlua (or vanilla extract)
2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. kosher salt (or ½ tsp. table salt)
¼ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
¼ cup vegan granulated sugar for rolling, adjust as needed

Instructions

In a small bowl combine the ground flaxseed and water. Allow to rest in fridge until ready to use.

In a large electric mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the flax egg, pumpkin, molasses, and Kahlua and beat for several minutes, until fluffy and smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, except the last two ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients very slowly while the electric mixer is on low. Mix until just combined, then fold in the chopped crystallized ginger.

Cover, and allow the dough to chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven 350° F. Roll one tablespoon of dough in the sugar. The dough is pretty sticky, so don't worry about having perfectly round balls (snicker).

Drop 12 cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. Put the remaining dough back in the fridge while they bake.

The cookies will come out quite soft when done baking. Allow them to rest on the baking sheet out of the oven for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

70 minutes

00:15

01:25

24 cookies