Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cranberry Oat Cookies [Vegan!]


I have a bake sale this weekend, I also have a friend I want to cheer up, and it has been far too long since I've gotten my hands dirty making some delicious treats. I vaguely remembered a recipe I saw on Tumblr about cranberry applesauce cookies, and so naturally, I decided to make them when I'm standing in Target's produce section. Thank heaven for GOOGLE.

I found a recipe on Who Are You Calling Crafty?, and to my sheer and utter amazement, this vegan cookie recipe is BLISS.

We forgot to buy nutmeg, so used cinnamon instead, and substituted Stevia for sugar (you use half the amount suggested for sugar).

I was nervous, never having made a vegan recipe without cocoa or coffee, and anything with oats can be a hit or miss. Liz, whose humble abode was where this all went down, was less apprehensive, especially when she smelled the mixed concoction.

The 25 minute wait seemed endless, but it was well worth it. These little cookies are warm and scrumptious, and contain the essence of "comfort" food but are GUILT-FREE. I recommend them to anyone, vegan or not. Next time I make them, I'm using chocolate!

Applesauce-Oatmeal Cookies
 3 c. oatmeal
1 c. whole wheat flour  (or 2 c. oatmeal and 2 c. whole wheat flour, whatever combination you want) 1 t. baking soda 1/4 t. nutmeg 1 c. unsweetened applesauce 1 c. sugar (or less) 1 t. vanilla 2/3 c. raisins or dried apples or dried cranberries (I myself am not a raisin 
fan so I did not use that much.)  Combine the first four ingredients.  Mix up the next 3 ingredients and add 
them to the dry ingredients.  Stir in the dried fruit.  Roll in small balls and smash to 1/4 " thickness on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 275 degrees for 22-25 minutes.    Makes about 50+ cookies (I got 54 cookies with one batch) with only .3 grams of fat each.