Healthy Oatmeal Monster Cookies (recipe too)

In the last post I promised you a recipe for the great healthy monster cookies we made last night.  Journey usually gives me some "tips" about what she would like in her cookies ... (it always includes a request for chocolate chips-go figure).  She also admonishes me not to burn them.  Quite funny..  probably due to the fact that my oven is over 10 years old - and apparently broken for many years.  I have  reputation in my family for burning everything and I thought it was because I was a bad cook or had ADD or something.  Come to find out that when I set the dial at 350, the actual oven temp is more like 400 - 425.  I remedied that just a few months ago with an inexpensive oven thermometer and now I make sure my oven is not too hot.  I have quit burning most things but I can't shake the bad rap.

We made this recipe one other time and I wasn't as happy with the results as I was this time.  I learned a little and tweaked it a bit this time and we love the cookies now.  They are moist enough and sweet enough without any sugar!  I will copy the recipe here and then include a few comments below it so keep reading.  Let me know how yours turn out!

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies (with Honey)

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients

·         1 cup whole wheat flour (a pinch more depending on the moisture of the mix)

·         1 1/2 cups of Oatmeal

·         1/2 tsp baking soda

·         1/2 tsp baking powder

·         1/2 tsp salt

·         1 Tbsp Cinnamon (I actually use about 3 Tbsp--got to love cinnamon)

·         1/2 tsp Nutmeg (optional)

Wet ingredients

·         1/2 cup honey

·         1/2 cup oil (corn, grapeseed or olive) * you can also use some applesauce to replace some of the oil if you wish*  I chose coconut oil and also added about ¼ cup appplesauce

·         1 Tablespoon Molasses

·         1 egg (beat with 1 Tbsp Water) I omitted the water

·         1 tsp Vanilla

Yummy ingredients

·         1/2 cup raisins (1 cup for Mike’s batch) 

·         1/2 cup walnuts (more for Mike’s)!!

·         I added a bit of chocolate chips for Journey’s batch

Preparation:

1.      In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.

2.      In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. Hint: when measuring out the honey, spray the measuring cup with oil or baking spray--your honey won't stick).

3.      Mix the wet stuff with the dry stuff. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit of flour. If it isn't binding together very well, you may wish to add an egg white.

4.      COOL the mix for 20 minutes in the fridge.

5.      Preheat the oven to 335 degrees (lower temperature due to the honey in the recipe which will burn more easily).

6.      Drop by teaspoonfuls onto your baking sheet (I recommend lining the baking sheet with parchment paper). Press down with a fork to ensure even cooking.

7.      Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until golden on the bottom of the cookie. The cookies freeze very well and make a great snack! Enjoy.

Some tips for these cookies (or any other recipe where you have to substitute for sugar)

• One thing I have noticed with baked goods that the flour was presoaked or sprouted and milled is that the texture of the baked good is a bit softer than when using plain wheat flour from the shelf.  We sprouted this flour and ground it fresh right before the cookies dough was mixed.
• They are right about the cinnamon..  1 TBSP is not very noticeable.  I used about 2 TBSP in this batch and find it just right.  I also love nutmeg so I included it.
• I chose coconut oil because of the health benefits and I actually used about 1/2 refined and 1/2 of it unrefined, again for the extra nutrition benefit. (Unrefined has no flavor but is healthier, whereas refined has a smooth buttery flavor and texture) - I don't like to skimp on healthy fats.  I prefer eating those to eating refined sugars.
• I melted the coconut oil in the glass measuring cup and added it before measuring the honey so the honey just slides right out of the cup.  Super easier!
• Because I think that these cookies are little dry, I also added the applesauce.  As a result my batter appeared to be wetter than other cookie batter but it made a moister end product!
• After the batter was done I added currents, raisins, cashews and pumpkin seeds to Mike's cookies.
• To Journey's cookies I added a few good quality chocolate chips and 2 tbsp of peanut butter and would have added walnuts but was out of them right now.
• You need to get creative with these!  Add any dried fruits and any combination of nuts!
• When baking them, even though the batter appears moist, they don't flatten into a cookie shape unless you press them a little flat before baking.  Also if baking on top of parchment paper they come off the pan wonderfully.  I have developed a love for parchment paper in the kitchen!
• I baked them about 325 degrees (actual temp), and set the timer for 15 minutes.  That seemed to do the trick.  Remember that if substituting honey for sugar in a recipe you need to turn the oven down by 25 degrees because honey burns faster.

Here are our finished cookies.  I have some issue with the way my food "looks" sometimes.  These appear a bit darker than I am used to but that is probably due to the whole wheat flour.