Our friends Deb and Joey were coming over for dinner. They offered to bring something, but being the over-achieving hostess I said Nah, I got this. They arrived with cookies so good I wanted to throw the dinner I’d made right out the window and just eat them.
Joey, who humbly describes himself as a “wanna-be chef,” didn’t come up with the name; he just calls them chocolate chip oatmeal raisin cookies. But there’s so much other baked-good excitement going on (raisins! Coconut! Cardamom! Almonds! They can be vegan! They can be non-vegan! Etc.!) that I had to give them a snappy title in his honor. I also like Joey’s free-form jazz recipe style–you’ll see many options–as well as his instruction about not worrying. He says these cookies freeze well, but I have yet to see any make it away from the table.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (stir it up before measuring)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup oat bran (optional)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup slivered almonds or crushed walnuts or whatever (optional)
1/3 cup Sucanot (or maple syrup or other sweeteners you like)
1/3 cup coconut oil (or butter)
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla (or more!!!)
Water as needed
Directions:
* Soak shredded coconut in enough water to fully cover for about 10 minutes. Add vanilla and continue to soak for another 5 or 10 minutes.
* In a large bowl, combine flours, rolled oats, oat bran, Sucanot, salt, spices, and baking soda. Stir in chips, nuts, raisins, and whatever else you wanna throw in there.
* Mix oil, soaked coconut, and 2 more tablespoons water in glass measuring cup. (If using liquid sweetener, add it now.)
* Stir the wet into the dry until flour is absorbed. Batter will be thick but if it’s too stiff to work with, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. It’s better to use too little water at first because you can always add more. Mix batter as little as possible (without worrying about it, of course!)
* Make balls of dough and then flatten and shape with your fingers to about 1/4 inch thick and place on greased cookie sheet.
* Bake on center shelf of preheated 375 degree oven until lightly browned on the bottom, about 16-19 minutes.
* Transfer cookies to a rack to cool. Enjoy with gratitude.
January 5, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Thanks. I really enjoyed what you wrote here.
January 7, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Many thanks! Once you get me started on cookies, there’s just no stopping me. Unless the kitchen timer dings and the cookies are done.
January 16, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Thanks very much for putting together this great site.
January 24, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Thank you for writing! It’s all you great visitors that make this site good. 🙂