MAKE IT CUTE

Recipes

GL FOOD: Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

The bad news – you need a food processor for this recipe. The good news – you can put away the Oreos because these cookies are actually good for you. (You won’t miss the sticks of saturated butter, fat or cups of sugar.) I usually make a double batch so I can freeze some leftovers. Use a small ice cream scoop; it makes life easier and your cookies will look professional.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking (thin) oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sifted whole wheat pastry* or unbleached white flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips or barley-malt sweetened chocolate chips* (or 3/4 cup if you’re a big chocolate lover)

1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Spread the oats and nuts out on a baking sheet. When the oven is heated, bake for 10 minutes until they’re lightly browned. (Toasting the oats gives them a nutty flavor.) Remove from the oven and cool. Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper*. (Using scissors cut the paper to fit.)

2. Spoon the oats/nuts into a large mixing bowl, then pour them into a food processor. Pulse the processor until the oats/nuts are ground into a course mixture with pieces of oats and nuts still visible. (Don’t grind into oat flour.) Pour the oats/nuts, salt, baking soda, flour, and chocolate chips into the mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients.

3. Measure the oil and maple syrup into a large, glass measuring cup. Add the vanilla and stir with a whisk until well mixed. Pour the liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until all the liquid is absorbed into the flour mixture.

4. Using a 1 1/2”-2” ice cream scoop, place a level scoop of dough on the parchment paper. (Or using a soup spoon, place a rounded spoonful of dough on the baking sheet.) Continue to scoop dough, placing the cookies on the baking sheets in rows about 1 inch apart. Press the cookies down with the palm of your hand so they’re a half-inch thick.

5.  Bake one sheet for about 12 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned on top. (Check the bottom of a cookie to see if it’s golden brown.) Don’t let the cookies get too brown. Remove the baking sheet and place on top of the stove. After about 5 minutes, remove the cookies with a pancake turner to cool on a wire rack.
 
6. Bake the other sheet of cookies. Cool the cookies on the rack for about an hour before placing them in a covered container. These cookies can be frozen if they’re wrapped well in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer bag or covered container.

TOOLS:


2 baking sheets
measuring cups, spoons
parchment paper
food processor
wooden or mixing spoon
large glass measuring cup
wire whisk
1 1/2-2 inch ice cream scoop or soup spoon
pancake turner
wire rack

By Anne Vassal

4/4/2008 3:23:00 PM