These sweet, delicious and mere 42 calorie cookies were made this fall because I wanted something sweet that wasn't going to derail my diet. Instantly, this became my go-to cookie recipe of the season! My husband, roommates and collages gobbled them up as soon as they were finished! Each bite has the right amount of pumpkin flavor, chewy moistness and natural sweetness. What makes these cookies so low fat is the use of applesauce in place of traditional butter and oil. Indulge this new year in a cookie that won't break your resolutions!

Step 1: Ingredients

Recipe yields 32 cookies.

What You'll Need:

1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
1 teaspoon of almond extract (you can use vanilla if you prefer)
1 cup of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
Cooking spray

Step 2: Directions

Prep time: About 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 - 18 minutes

How to Make Them:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Cream sugars, applesauce, pumpkin and almond extract together. Set aside. In another bowl, mix flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spice. Once mixed, add to the pumpkin mixture, stirring until it's fully mixed.

Using a tablespoon, spoon dough onto a cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart and bake for 15 – 18 minutes, or until browned.

Step 3: Nutritional Breakdown

As soon as you bite into one of these delicious cookies, you'll note that they don't taste as dense or rich as a traditional cookie, and that's because they don't have butter or oil! Instead, you'll notice a springier, more moist, most chewy cookie because of the applesauce.

As stated in the title, each of these delectable bites only has 42 calories! In addition, each cookie has less than 1 gram of fat, just 9 grams of carbs and less than 1 gram of protein.

Finally, a cookie you can eat without any guilt! (or 2 hours on the treadmill!)