We like cookies a lot in our little world. My kids tend to like sugar cookies. Sprinkles for the Princess, and plain for Little Man. I seem to veer towards cookies that have that salty/sweet thing going. My favorite chocolate chip cookies are saltier than sweet and always have semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate rather than milk. I also like cookies with “stuff” in them. I made this cookie once and I seriously thought I would die. So good.
I came across my Grandmother’s Oatmeal Cookie recipe and it has just the right amount of “stuff” in it. Her recipe calls for oats, and chopped nuts (there is actually a note on the top of her recipe card that says “good with nuts & raisins”). Where I would normally empty out the pantry/fridge to find things to put in cookies, when it comes to oatmeal cookies, I really only like oats. I know lots of people like raisins as well, but in our family we never really put them in. I really like the flavor of a buttery, sugary oatmeal cookie without the addition of nuts and/or raisins.
I actually found two recipes in her collection for Oatmeal Cookies. One called for butter and shortening and the other just shortening. I decided to use the one without butter as I like to think it is meant for my cousin Jessica who can’t have butter. Plus, I just like to think of Jessica because she is far away and I miss her and she is one of three people that read this. So this is for you. Tee hee.
Here is Grandmother’s recipe card.
Here is what I changed:
I used 3/4 cup of Coconut Oil instead of shortening, I also used 3/4 cup of maple syrup in place of the white sugar. Lastly, I substituted whole wheat flour for all purpose. Her recipe also called for Quick Oats and I used Old Fashioned.
I creamed the coconut oil and eggs then added the syrup as a liquid ingredient before the dry mix.
Then I added the oats and mixed by hand.
I used a parchment-lined baking sheet and my handy ice cream scooper to portion. It yielded just shy of 3 dozen (33 to be exact)
The verdict:
I really like the cookies. I think the substitutions work well for what I was trying to accomplish. A healthier version of the real thing. They aren’t as buttery as I REALLY like, but I am happy with the healthified version and maybe next time I will add something like applesauce for added moisture.
Here is my recipe. Hope you enjoy.
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 11/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 3 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a stand-up mixer with paddle attachment, cream the coconut oil and brown sugar. Once combined, add eggs one at a time. Then add maple syrup and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the wet mixture in batches.
- Stir in oats by hand.
- Using a ice cream scoop, drop dough on parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- I recommend flattening the cookies with a fork just before baking.The recipe makes just shy of 3 dozen cookies.