Halloween arrived and my children bounced out of bed as if it were Christmas.

The prospect of costumes, games, apple bobbing and treats has sent them in to a little frenzy.

We have had the whole of half term week to prepare so every spare inch of our house is covered in spiders. And sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles!

The goji berry frosting discovery has backfired somewhat as we have iced everything we can get our hands on.

In the end, I insisted that if we were making cookies we at least had to stuff a vegetable inside them. And although pumpkin is of course technically a fruit, it is at least on the savoury side.

This recipe is sweet, but not very sweet — so it balances out the frosting really nicely.

You could use the goji berry recipe from last week, or cheat with the Dr Oetker organic icing mix (Lindo’s Devonshire.)

If you do use the box and you are making the goji icing, hold back on the extra liquid as your goji colouring will be more liquid than regular drops (less concentrated.)

I found some natural “Let’s do sprinkelz” at Miles too that didn’t break the bank.

I even tried to get the children to decorate with pumpkin seeds but they were having absolutely none of it.

One step too far mummy! Really, I should know the limits by now.

Meanwhile, Jules and Ellie the adopted cats, have been thrown into major confusion. They are not quite sure why we have suckered plastic spiders to every available surface, or why their paws are coated with sprinkles after padding across the kitchen floor.

On the upside, at least they don’t eat the sprinkles, they just shuffle across the carpet and rub them off.

The downside, is that I have sprinkles in the carpet, which for someone with ant issues, is a problem.

Still, the Switch Witch will be flying in to rid our house of all the excess sugar …. I wonder if she could do a quick vacuum too?

Pumpkin Spice Cookies (gluten/dairy free)

Makes approx 25 small cookies

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups almond flour

2 tbsps milled flax seed

1 ½ tips ground cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp sea salt

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 large piece pumpkin

/¾ cup pumpkin purée

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Oil 2 small or 1 large cookie sheets.

2. Peel and chop your pumpkin and steam until very soft. Blend or mash well into a purée and allow to cool. You need ¾ cup purée. Any excess can go into pasta sauce later!

3. Meanwhile, place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until blended well.

4. In a food processor (or use a bowl and electric beaters), whizz together the wet ingredients until well combined and smooth.

5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Combine well.

6. Place small balls of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Mine were a bit smaller than golf balls. Squash down so they form round pucks. They don’t spread much when they cook!

7. Bake for 12 mins, or until golden and firm to the touch.

8. Squash down a little more with the back of a fork when they come out of the oven.

9. Allow to cool completely and then frost with the goji icing from last week, or the Dr Oetker’s organic mix from Lindos’s Devonshire. Add chocolate chips and natural sprinkles for fun.

The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION is the Managing Director of Natural Ltd and a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in the UK Please note that she is not a Registered Dietitian. For details, please go to www.natural.bm or call 236-7511. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda