Fall is my favourite time of year. Of course I love the long, sunny days of summer but for some reason fall will always have my heart. That little bit of crispness in the air, the splashes on red, orange and yellow dotting the tree lines, the cozy knit sweaters, and of course, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. It’s that special time of year where you can literally eat and drink everything pumpkin spice for just long enough that you don’t get sick of it before winter hits and it’s everything cocoa and peppermint. We are truly lucky that we get to experience all four seasons here in Canada.

Fall is also my favourite time of year because it means Mike and I get to go apple and pumpkin picking. I absolutely love getting all bundled up, throwing on my old muddy boots and heading to a local Ontario farm to pick the very best of the season. If you haven’t gone apple or pumpkin picking, you must! And then once you’re finished picking your bounty of apples and pumpkins, you get to bake with them! Ain’t nothing better than the smell of caramelized apples cooking on the stove or a freshly roasted pumpkin baking in the oven… absolutely heavenly.

Aside from tasting absolutely delicious, pumpkin also has some pretty awesome health benefits.

It’s rich in antioxidants and is also anti-inflammatory which means eating pumpkin can help with joint health, soft tissue injuries and stress. It’s also a great source of Vitamin C — amazing for boosting you immunity (hello cough and sniffle season!), and beta-carotene (the pre-cursor to Vitamin A) — good for protecting your eyes from degeneration and for health skin and brain function. So if you didn’t love pumpkin already, these are some great reasons why you should be eating more of it!

As you can see I am a little obsessed with pumpkin! Lucky for me, Mike also shares in my love of all things pumpkin, so much so that his favourite dessert is pumpkin pie. Once fall rolls around he immediately starts requesting pumpkin pie ALL THE TIME. Well, I’m definitely no Martha Stewart and I definitely don’t have time to throw together a flakey, buttery pie crust every single week — god bless you if you do, you are amazing! — so instead I whip up a batch of these super easy pumpkin spice hemp bites that still capture that pumpkin spice flavour without all the fuss. They are super moist and delicious so I hope you give them a try!

Pumpkin Spice Hemp Bites

— makes 20 —

Ingredients

1/2 small avocado, mashed
1/4 cup pumpkin purée (canned or roast your own!)
1 egg (I haven’t tried with flax egg but i’m sure it could be done)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup tigernut flour
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup coconut sugar (or golden monk fruit sweetener)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Method

Mix together mashed avocado, pumpkin purée, egg and vanilla extract.
In separate bowl, mix together all other ingredients except chopped pecans.
Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients until combined.
Fold in chopped pecans.
Spoon small 1-inch balls onto parchment lined baking sheet (should make roughly 20).
Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes.

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