October has become synonymous with “pumpkin spice,” and I totally love it. Which, apparently, means I’m as basic as they come. And so what if I am? I’m proud to have polished, girly Lauren Conrad as my personal hero. I’m never not going to listen to the latest Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez song. And yes, I do still wear my Uggs. I like the feeling of walking on clouds, okay!?
I digress. While I enjoy the sweet comfort of a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, I can’t drink them all the time. My body simply refuses to guzzle them down the way I did in high school, but does that mean no seasonal pumpkin spice goodness for this older, slightly more health conscious girl? I refused to believe it!
So I found a way I could enjoy the fall-tastic flavor of pumpkin spice all the time, mostly guilt-free. After hunting down recipes on Pinterest, I discovered The Big Man’s World’s No Bake Pumpkin Spice Latte Bites. He even put the word “healthy” in front of it.
What You Need
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free oat flour (I subbed for rolled oats)
- 1/4 cup coconut flour (can sub for almond or extra oat flour)
- 2 T granulated sweetener of choice (I used Vegan cane sugar and also rolled the bites in it to coat them)
- 1 T pumpkin pie spice {I done goofed and forgot to buy it, so I just threw some cinnamon and ginger together and hoped for the best. Nobody died.)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup cashew butter (can sub for any nut butter)
- 1/4 cup brown rice syrup (I subbed for agave syrup)
- 1 T + dairy free milk of choice (I used vanilla almond milk)
- Cinnamon and granulated sweetener of choice, to coat bites in (optional)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut flour, oats, granulated sweetener, and the pumpkin-esque spices and mix together.
- In a microwave safe bowl or stovetop, heat your nut butter of choice with your sticky sweetener and mix them together. Add in your vanilla extract, then pour your wet mixture and the pumpkin puree into the dry mixture and mix well. Depending on consistency, you can either add dairy free milk of choice or extra flour until a firm texture until you get your desired texture.
- Using your hands, form the “dough” into small bite sized balls. Roll balls in optional cinnamon/sugar mixture and place on a baking tray or plate. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to firm up.
The Result
Just kidding. Mine looked more like this.
The Verdict: I couldn’t find pumpkin pie spice, but I did put a heapin’ helping of pumpkin puree in there, so that flavor was definitely still strong. I put them in the fridge overnight so I could eat them with my coffee the next morning and I have to say, they were pretty great!
All in all, I’d say my only real fails were not purchasing cinnamon sugar to coat them in and attempting to take amateur photographs of them at night. (Read: my pumpkin bites look ugly.) But though my bites may not be attractive, or look anything like the ones on The Big Man’s World’s blog, those little seasonally appropriate suckers are pretty darn good.
Take that, Starbucks!
