A cookie recipe that I read about the other day on the A Day that is Dessert Blog intrigued me. Lecia had read about the recipe via another blog, 3191 (got to love the internet) and made them successfully, and it struck me right away as a great recipe to try out for my Friday class. It was their last class of the year, and they had been promised a treat.
Of course, I followed the original recipe by Terry Walters to the letter when trying it out at home. This recipe is part of the perfectly lovely Clean Food Cookbook. Now, perhaps I have a dirtier type of palate because my cookies tasted, well, a little too clean. They quickly got fixed up for the mini-chefs by adjusting the flour and substituting a bit of cocoa powder in its stead. Fellow chocolate advocates know that good dark chocolate is a health food, and like any other health food, must be taken medicinally in moderation (wink wink). Later, after class and back in my own kitchen the addition of freshly ground peanut butter and almond butter greatly improved the texture and flavor.
The addition of the cocoa was, naturally, a total success with the Yummies. When I arrived at class, they were asking what we were making. “Broccoli Cookies, ” I said, poker-faced. This was met with stony or incredulous faces. “Ha ha! Just kidding! We’re making chocolate chip cookies.” Relief. Laughter. Glee. Running to the work table to sit down immediately. You see, sometimes a cookie should be just a cookie, spruced up a bit.
Clean Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Clean Food Cookbook, Terry Walters
*2 c. rolled oats (not the quick-cooking kind)
*3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
*1/4-1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
*1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
*2 t. cinnamon
*1/2 t. salt
*1/4 c. peanut or almond butter
*1/2 c. canola oil
*3/4 c. maple syrup
*2 t. vanilla
*1 c. walnuts, toasted***
*1 c. mini chocolate chips or Sun Chips (m & m’s) or both
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
In one bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, cocoa powder, coconut, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the nut butter, canola, maple syrup and vanilla.
Now, have your Yummy pour all of the wet things into the dry things and stir them together with a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or-even better- their hands till everything is completely combined.
Sprinkle in the chips and walnuts. Mix them in to the batter nicely.
Using your hands or a mini ice-cream scoop, form balls or little logs and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
Big Person: Bake your cookies for about 15-20 minutes, according to the size of the cookies you’ve sculpted. Cool on a rack for a few minutes. Devour.
*** Spread the walnuts out on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven for about a half an hour at 300 F or until they smell nice and toasty.
