Pumpkin Kisses

Last night, we celebrated Halloween with the wonderful people of [OCN] CrossFit in a grueling, yet incredibly fun team workout fully decked out in costume.  Although the workout was followed by a borage of snacks and beverages, it was definitely a different way to celebrate the holiday from past years.  Two years ago, if you would have told me I'd be more excited about deadlifts, handstand pushups and burpees than keg stands and flip cup, I'd probably have laughed pretty hard.

When trying to figure out what to contribute to the post workout buffet, I wanted to keep with the Halloween theme and coming off of my Whole 30, I wanted to try and keep it as close to paleo as possible.  I opted for my snack staple of sliced apples with pumpkin almond butter, pumpkin Whole 30 granola and a new creation - pumpkin kisses.  Fluffy, crisp little puffs with a subtle sweetness and a distinct pumpkin pie flavor.

With regard to coming off the Whole 30, I didn't pay enough attention to the reintroduction instructions and caused myself a good deal of unnecessary pain.  The slice of pizza and beer and a half I ate last night after the workout ripped my stomach apart in ways I'm not going to describe in an effort to prevent over sharing.  We'll just leave it as, it was unpleasant.  Very unpleasant.  Today, I'm going through our pantry and refrigerator and fully purging anything that isn't going to make us feel good.  What's the point of eating something that causes me to curl into the fetal position, wrenching in pain?  Is the few moments of gratification from eating worth the aftereffects?  For me, I don't think so.  When we started the Whole 30, we tossed a good deal of junk and stored what we were ready to part with in a box downstairs.  Well, I'm ready to part with it.


Pumpkin Kisses

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon of creme of tartar or arrowroot starch
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/8 cup plus 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar

- Preheat oven to 200 degrees
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- In a stand mixer, beat egg whites and creme of tartar/arrowroot starch on high until stiff peaks form
- Add in pie spice, cardamon and vanilla and whip for an additional 30 seconds
- Slowly add in coconut sugar and turn down your mixer to low speed

- Turn off the mixer and gently fold in the pumpkin
- Transfer your egg white mixture to a piping bag with a large fluted tip
- Pipe your "kisses" across the parchment paper, leaving about 1/4 inch between each one to account for spreading
- Bake for one hour
- Turn off your oven and crack the door, leaving the kisses in the oven to cool completely
- Carefully lift kisses off the parchment paper using an offset metal spatula
- Store in an airtight container, free of all moisture, for up to a week