I've been waking early in the morning. Research supports rising before the responsibilities of daily life amount, and taking a personal moment to reflect, have a coffee, whatever brings you calm. My mornings are filled with making. Of late, I've developed this urgency to hone a craft. While my skills are varied and I'm proud of them, I crave the tangible, the physical creation of something with my own hands.

I shut the kitchen light and rely on the early morning sun peaking through my window alone. It's subtle, almost dark, but peaceful. In these moments there is time to day dream, to conceive of where I'd like to go both literally, as in Tuscany, and figuratively, to a place of confidence and self awareness.

Most importantly though, there are cookies. I comb through my cookbooks and magazine clippings gathered over time and find my inspiration. I've decided to make a different cookie every morning this week to share with family and friends. Today's cookie: Granola Mint Chip Cookie Wedges. Mint chocolate chip is a favorite of mine and the green specks are festive per the season. Lastly, they are a lighter variation so I can still indulge in Christmas cookie-ing.

Ingredients

(adapted from Cooking Light Magazine)

1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg white
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/3-1/2 cup Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips (Feel free to use other chip, nut, dried fruit combinations per your preference. Next round I will be making white chocolate and cherry.)

To prepare

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine first seven ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined. Add the flour, oats, and baking chips to the bowl and stir until just combined. Scrape dough into a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. For a thicker wedge, use a 8 inch dish or smaller. Spread to the edges using a spatula. (It may seem like there isn't enough dough, but it spreads and fluffs up nicely.) Bake at 350 for 13 minutes or until set. Cool on a rack until the cookies firm up and cut into wedges.

Nana clipped this recipe out of the Herald News realistically 10 or so years ago because I remember making them with my mama in the evening autumn hours as a middle/high schooler. Unfortunately, I cannot credit the recipe developer as I spilled vegetable oil on the original clipping and have since transcribed it time and time again on scratch paper and recipe cards. But... to him or her wherever he or she is, I send a big grateful thank you hug as I nibble on cookies. These are my favorite and have been my go-to take along for meetings, parties, and girls nights for as long as I can remember. We baked batch after batch at Georgetown for Best Buddies events. I think I even made a triple batch for a presentation in one of my Marketing Strategy classes. Woo with food, and one can rarely go wrong.

My college roommate (the lovely gal pictured) and I got together this past Sunday for a morning of baking, dancing, and reflecting to revive some feel good moments of the past. We listened to 'Black Widow' on repeat in an attempt to commit the rap part to memory, and then watched 'Anaconda' because we heard it was a hoot. We did not make it through the entire video, but were quite intrigued by the ease with which some folks can shake their posteriors. (If you were wondering, this video has nearly 300 million views. Imagine every viewer paid a penny to watch? That would be some serious cash money.)

Back to the cookies!

They are easy to make and mix, packed with pumpkin, and not a tablespoon of butter in sight. I have nothing against butter. I love butter, but sometimes a break from her goodness is ok too. Yes, I made butter a woman, obviously.

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add dry mixture to pumpkin mixture, along with dissolved baking soda and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and vanilla. Raisins work nicely here as well. Drop by teaspoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Cookies are fluffy and firm up when cooling and are best served warm with milk of course. Alternatively, I make sandwiches out of them with whipped cream. Enjoy!