Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you!

Do you have any adventurous plans for your long weekend? This sunshine beaming down on Vancouver today is such a welcome surprise after the forecast for rain. I hope you have the chance to get out and about for some of your favourite weekend activities before tucking into your big turkey feast later on. (Mm can’t wait for the food fest!)

What a great day today would be to grab a friend and visit a farmer’s market, Granville Island, take your pet for a brisk sunlit walk along Spanish Banks or run/bike some of Vancouver’s golden maple leaf-lined streets! Don’t you love it when the sunshine hits us on a weekend? Too good to be true. It makes me feel like a winner.

I’m excited to wind down at the cabin for a few days. I feel like it’s high time to log some quality fireplace snuggle time with a book and a wooly blanket. As much as I love getting out and enjoying the day, I also love the chance an evening-in offers, to curl up in Pj’s and feel the stress melt away. Do you know what I mean? :)

Things lately have been so busy, I can’t wait to take some time this weekend to relax, surrounded by the smell of baking and burning logs. Nothing beats a little reading hour beside a crackling fire in my opinion. It is heaven. Keep it coming chilly weather, I like where this is headed.

What are your plans for the big Canadian Feast? We are prepping a scrumptious dinner for our extended family on Sunday night. It might get a tad hectic in true Thanksgiving family fashion (Too many cooks in the kitchen!). I’ve been put in charge of dessert duty to help keep things sane for my mom. I have some delicious ideas planned..

I can’t wait to bring this scrumptious dessert to life as well as attempt this tasty looking treat. I am also in charge of making some smoked salmon appies and am preparing a deeeelish looking Moroccan wild rice butternut salad for the group as well. I’m stoked to get my chef hat on and make them all! Haha. Yum, right!? I’m curious, do you have any awesome recipes to tackle as well?

Today’s recipe is in true Thanksgiving style, incorporating some of the season’s tastiest ingredients. These little cookies are satisfyingly chewy, dense in flavour and to top it off are incredibly healthy. Each nugget is packed full of crunchy nuts, grains and laden with rich aromatic fall flavours like cinnamon, molasses and pumpkin.

The cookies are great to grab on the go for a zesty mid-day snack or as a post-workout/run energy boost. Bake a batch of these, and your home will be filled with the most amazing aroma for the rest of your day (sometimes I bake just for that reason!). Save half the batch in your freezer and you can enjoy these crunchy, chewy healthy cookies for weeks. Yum!

Healthy Harvest Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies Time: 1 hour Bake: 350 F for 18-22 mins.

Ingredients:

Dries
2 1/4 cup quick oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup flax seeds
2 tbsp millet
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips (for vegan: use carob chips)
1 1/4 cup dried cranberries 
(or a mix of dried blueberries/goji berries)
Wets
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup pumpkin purée
1/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk (for vegan: use soy milk/almond milk)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350’F and grease cookies sheets or line baking sheets with parchment paper

2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and sift together with a whisk.

3. Combine all the wet ingredients and mix until nicely blended.  Add wets to the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined.

4. Scoop mixture onto the baking sheets with 1/3 cup measuring scoops. (warning: don’t use hands! This is a sticky dough and you will turn into a scary cookie monster.) Gently flatten cookies with back side of a spoon.

5. Bake for approx 18 to 22 minutes until lightly browned. Be careful not to over bake as they are best when left chewy :)

Recipe Credit: Ned’s Power Cookie from the Fairmont Vancouver’s Yew Seafood

I hope you have a wonderful week full of energizing work outs, healthy snacks and… the most amazing Thanksgiving you could ask for! (All that really requires is good food and company, right? ) xox.

Love,

Blue Owl