One of the huge downsides of my pumpkin obsession is that most of the sweets made with pumpkin really should be eaten in moderation (something I am not capable of adhering to). So I am always in search of a way to lighten the calorie intake of those desserts so that I can still enjoy them without feeling terribly guilty afterwards.
Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny recently had a post trying out a new buttery spread called Melt with rave reviews. Luckily, Melt graciously sent me two packages of their organic buttery spread for me to try out as well!
So what exactly is melt and what makes it different from other butter substitutes? Melt contains virgin coconut oil, flax seed oil, palm fruit oil, and canola oil — all healthy cooking oils and “good fats.” Typical buttery spreads are made of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, which have been liked to obesity, heart disease, etc. Melt is also organic, gluten free, soy free, kosher, and has 50% of the saturated fat and fewer calories than butter. Whew.
Melt’s, well, melt point is close to original butter’s melting point, making it perfect for baking. Typical buttery spreads usually have a lower melting point, which means they tend to separate during the baking process resulting in a flat cookie. So what better way to really test out Melt’s best qualities than making a batch of Skinny Iced Pumpkin Cookies? I adapted this recipe from AllRecipes.com.
Ingredients (this makes 3 dozen cookies):
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup Melt buttery spread
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing, for drizzling:
- 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
- 2-1/2 teaspoons 2% milk
- 3/4 teaspoon melted Melt buttery spread
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and salt and mix to combine.
In a larger bowl, add the butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat until well combined. (Side note: another plus to using Melt– you don’t have to have it sit out to soften for long. Melt has a softer texture than butter so a few minutes outside the fridge is all you need).
Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract and beat until creamy.
Add half of the dry mixture to the wet mixture, beating to combine. Repeat with remaining dry mixture.
Drop heaping teaspoons on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I strongly suggest springing for the parchment paper, no more burned cookie bottoms!) Bake for 15 minutes and allow to cool.
While the cookies are baking, make the glaze. Combine confectioner’s sugar, milk, melted Melt, and vanilla extract. If it thickens up, add a little bit more milk until it reaches the consistency you are looking for.
Using a fork, drizzle the glaze over the cookies and allow to set.
Don’t these look incredibly decadent?
Using eRecipe.com, I entered the original recipe versus my “skinny version.” The result?
A 23 calorie reduction per serving (1 cookie). I’ll take it!
The cookies are chewy and a little bit spicy (think pumpkin spice) which contrasts the sweetness from the glaze. I love the presentation with the drizzle, it really takes them up a notch!
If you have a serious sweet tooth, you can drip the cookie completely in the glaze, but I personally prefer the small bites of sweetness along with this cookie.
As you can see, Melt was up to my baking challenge and worked beautifully within this recipe!
Melt is also currently hosting an amazing giveaway, Mingle with Melt where you can win a $500 visa gift card to use towards a foodie night! One winner (plus the blog that referred them, hopefully me!) will win a chic foodie night with friends and can use the gift card to buy cooking supplies, food, decor, and maybe even a new LBD, as well as 3 packages of Melt. Melt will also feature each winner’s party photos and original recipes featuring Melt on their facebook page and website. The contest runs until October 31, so be sure to head over and enter! — Don’t forget to include me as the blog you came from 🙂 Good luck!
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Now thats my kinda treat, all the goodness without the guilt. Thanks for the recipe share:-)
The cookies look fantastic and sound fantastic lightened up. I need to lighten up my treats as I eat way to many!
I have never heard of Melt before Kelly posted it. Looks like great stuff! Moderation is overrated!!!
They look delicious! I’m glad you liked the spread….
Oh these look so tasty!! I like how you “skinnified” them!
Love the drizzle on top!
Sounds like a GREAT spread! Yummy cookies, too~
Looks so delicious, life that drizzle on top.
Love itt!!! And I’m going to enter..especially since it ends on my birthday..hehehe
Great recipe, these sound fabulous!! Love all the calories you saved! 🙂
Thanks for all the pumpkin recipe ideas! I came across an easy, tasty way to use the seeds that you can score from all that pumpkin. I’d be happy to share it ! 🙂
@Samantha: Happy early birthday! I think that should hopefully give you some extra luck 🙂
@Katie: That would be wonderful! I love pumpkin seeds!
These look delicious and so healthy too. Yum!
That spread sounds really interesting. I hope they sell it in a store near me.
I love your post…these sound delicious! I have leftover pumpkin and am trying to figure out what to do with it…so when I saw your recipe I knew just what to do with it…Thanks!
These look and sound fabulous! Love that they’re guilt free too. Thanks for sharing, have a good one! =]
Mmm, these look delicious! I imagine they’d be perfect for coffee or tea 🙂 Love the skinnying them up, as well!
I love the fact that this is a guilt-free delicious snack. Since this is pumpkin I can let the children eat this and they will not notice that they ate vegetables(pumpkin).
This recipe is terrific! Made it with my mom yesterday and it was perfect! It turned out what we expect. If you are looking for more tasty and delicious bread recipes — Now is the right time to make one just watch the videos and follow list of bread recipes at http://www.everything-bread.com, http://www.gourmandia.com and http://www.gourmetrecipe.com for more exciting and delectable recipes. Have fun!!