Healthy Cookies?!?!?! Why Yes Please!!

I have never really been a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies...until now.

I bought this "Clean Eating Diet & Cookbook" on Amazon and have been experimenting with recipes out of it.  It's been an adventure, to say the least.  I've now made these cookies twice with much improvement from first try to second try.  I'll post the actual recipe, then I'll post my improvements after!!!

Extra virgin olive oil for the baking sheets
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup almond flour or whole-wheat flour (I used almond flour)
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice
1 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.

2. Lightly coat two baking sheets with olive oil.

3. In a small bowl, combine the oats and almond flour.

4. In a large bowl, combine the almond butter, maple syrup, canola oil, vanilla, and apple juice until very well blended.

5. Add the oat mixture to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.  Stir in the raisins and the coconut.

6. Drop the batter by tablespoons on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart and flatten the cookies with the back of a wet spoon.

7. Bake the cookies until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.  Store in airtight container.


This recipe seems all well and good, except my first attempt yielded dry, nearly inedible cookies!  Much to my dismay (I love cookies!).

After a little internet research and drawing on 20 years of cooking/baking experience, I found a few improvements...

1. Add more apple juice.  The mixture shouldn't feel dry.  At all.  If you suspect it's at all dry, it'll be even more dry after baking.  I ended up adding probably 2-2 1/3 cups of apple juice total.

2. DO NOT let the oats sit in the mixture.  I made this mistake my first time because the oven was in use.  Bake them immediately, or do not add in the oats.  Oats will soak up any moisture in the batter if they're allowed to sit for any period of time.

3.  Add cinnamon.  I added cinnamon until I could slightly taste it in the batter.  It gives them a little extra depth, otherwise they're a little boring.

4. Make sure you flatten them!  I missed this step my first time making these!!  Wet the spoon and flatten them a bit.  If you don't, the middle will not be fully baked and will be dry as a bone.

5. DO NOT bake them for 30 minutes!  If you're cooking anything with oats, it's generally good practice to undercook it by several minutes.  This will help prevent the cookies from drying out.  I cooked this last batch for 20 minutes and they turned out marvelously.  They're not dried out and they're fully cooked.

This is definitely in my favorite recipes box.  I like taking 2-3 for a snack every day.  I will definitely be doctoring the recipe further and trying out different variations on a theme, but for now, I think I've found some pretty yummy and HEALTHY cookies!!!!  I also really like cooking with almond flour.  It's different for me and way more exciting than whole wheat flour.  It has different properties and a slightly nutty taste.  I highly recommend trying it!!!