Baking with Toddlers: Black Bean, Pumpkin and Chia Seed Cookies

Getting out of the house with a newborn and a toddler is like trying to herd a pack of cats. So far, our attempts to leave the house have gone like this:

1) Start packing the 900 items we need 2 hours in advance of departure.

2) 30 minutes before departure, sit two year old on potty. He ” no have go”.

3) Change baby’s diaper and nurse him.

4) Put baby in carseat.

5) Baby has an explosion in his diaper; change baby.

6) Toddler now pees on carpet while saying “I had an accident; no biggie!”

7) Clean up carpet, change toddler’s clothes.

8) Toddler proclaims ” I’m pooing” which is code for ” I need to go use the potty”.

9) Set toddler on potty; wait for 10 minutes while he does his business. Congratulate him profusely for letting us know he had to go.

10) Clean up potty and toddler.

11) Baby now cries due to hunger.

12) Nurse baby.

13) Baby has another explosion in diaper.

14) Toddler now cries due to hunger

15) Repeat process until by some stroke of luck, the stars align and we are able to make it out the door only two hours behind schedule.

Needless to say, we’ve tried to stick as close to home as possible since having our second baby. While my husband and I have attempted to remain as zen as possible during this transition, we’re both ready for a stiff drink by the time 8 PM rolls around.

So, in our time spent at home,  Fig and I have been up to lots of cooking projects, our most recent being Black Bean, Pumpkin and Chia Seed Cookies! While these certainly have a lot of sugar they are not totally an empty calorie food due the beans, pumpkin and chia seeds. I feel a little bit better about giving them to Fig as a sweet treat. After all, having a new baby brother is hard work and sometimes a cookie is just what the doctor ordered.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of black beans
• 1 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree ( our puree was homemade from our recent pumpkin patch trip but canned would probably work just as well).
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of chia seeds
• 1/2 cup of chocolate or carob chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips, sugar, flour and chia seeds in a food processor until smooth
•  Pour mixture into a bowl, mix in chia seeds,flour, sugar, and chocolate chips
• Spoon out batter  (about two tablespoons per cookie) on a cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.
• Recipe makes about 15 good sized cookies