On my last visit to the nearby natural food store I was on the lookout for a special treat: something indulgent in a yummy and good for you kind of way. I wanted to make an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie variation. Way back when I asked my fiance what his favorite kind of cookie was so I could bake some for our third date (a hike up a Colorado 13er) he admitted his love of oatmeal chocolate chip. I mustered my best cookie skills and impressed him with delicious hiking fuel cookies.
Ever since then I’ve baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as special treats. This time I picked out goji berries and grain sweetened carob chips to throw in. Those fit the bill of yummy, healthy, and expensive indulgence. I adapted a regular oatmeal cookie recipe and baked up 20 nice sized cookies for everyone to enjoy after dinner last night. My future father in law declared that I should open a cookie factory. I’m a bit more modest about the results. One of the cookie sheets was dark colored and it burned the carob chips on the bottoms of the cookies. The cookies on the sheet with the Silpat did not burn. I’ll have to remember that for the next time I try to bake on two very different surfaces. I don’t typically have this problem since my usual oven only has one rack.
Oatmeal Goji Berry Carob Cookies
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour (I used half whole wheat, half white)
1 1/2 cup oats (I used half thick cut and half quick cooking. They balance each other out)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup goji berries
1/2 cup carob chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a large bowl combine sugar, butter, applesauce, vanilla, and egg; beat until thoroughly mixed
In a seperate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, oats, and salt
Add dry mixture to wet mixture; stir till it’s all blended together
Add carob chips and goji berries
Spoon onto cookies sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes
(makes about 20 medium sized cookies)
