All Natural Oat Cookies

My kids will do anything for a snack! I could pull in some serious favors or chores by just mentioning the word snack. Cookies are one of their all time favorites. They could eat them by the jar full. These are a wonderful, healthy option! I can give them two or three of these and not worry about sugar and fat. My 3 year old literally gets giddy when I make these. He puts his little hands together and says " Can we even have a glass of milk for dunking?!" Oh, life's simple pleasures.


Today, when I mentioned that I was going to make cookies and a smoothie for our afternoon snack the boys started listing all of the ways in which they were going to be good boys. Here are a few of them that made me smile.

1. We will not hit or kick anyone.
2. We will not lell (yell) or scweam.
3. We will not spit.
4. We will not throw rocks in the pool.
5. We will not run around and act crazy.
6. We will not never, ever get on your nerves.
7. We will not never cry.
8. We will mind you most all of the west of the day.
9. We will cough in our arms.
10. We will say (very sweet, high - pitched voice) " mommy, can I please to have another cookie? So that's called minding our manows" (manners)

jeeesh! I guess there are a lot of rules around here. Who knew they actually knew what they were!


So here are the ingredients for these wonderful, amazing cookies that will turn your little children into angels...for about 5 minutes. ;-)

By the way, I got this recipe from Whole Foods Market, altering it slightly. I think they taste like a chewy granola bar instead of a sugary cookie. Mmmmmm.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened

3 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup evaporated cane juice sugar (a.k.a. raw sugar)

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup quick cook or old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup wheat germ, preferably toasted

1/4 cup flax meal

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup seedless raisins or craisins

1/2 cup toasted pecans, or walnuts finely chopped


Putting it all together:

Preheat oven to 375°F.


In a large bowl, whisk together butter and oil until completely blended. Whisk in sugar, egg, vanilla and salt; set aside. In a second large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, flax meal, flour, spices and baking powder, then add to butter mixture and stir well to combine thoroughly. Fold in raisins and pecans.


Drop dough by the spoonful onto lightly greased baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart, and bake until cooked through and golden brown, 10 to 11 minutes. Carefully transfer to wire racks and set aside to let cool completely.


CLICK HERE FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE



Nutrition Info

Per serving (2 cookies/47g-wt.): 210 calories (100 from fat), 11g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 25mg cholesterol, 120mg sodium, 24g total carbohydrate (4g dietary fiber, 7g sugar), 5g protein