When you're on a budget, or just plain broke, you may not be able to buy spices or food flavorings or the basic vanilla that is used in most recipes for cookies and baked goods.
However, you can nicely flavor a basic healthy cookie by using the zest and juice of an orange or lemon. You can use very little sugar in a recipe and depend on raisins - or other dried fruits to add the sweet. Looking over standard recipes for most cookies, there really is a whole lot of sugar being used - too much.
Maybe you picked up free sugar packets when you had coffee out? *** At the bottom of this recipe there is yet another way to substitute for sugar.
Food Banks give out a lot of oatmeal. Oatmeal as cereal is healthy for you because oats are supposed to lower cholesterol. The oatmeal comes in bags, boxes, and as instant cereals. It's rather bland by itself.
These cookies are closer to a "health bar" than the usual cookie and have a lower guilt factor if you eat a few at a time! They also provide fiber to your diet.
Oven temperature 375 degrees. Time to bake depends on how large you scoop the cookie. A cookie lump using about a fourth cup of batter takes 20 to 30 minutes. Baking sheets do not need to be buttered or oiled but the bottoms of these cookies will be browned so lightly greasing them won't hurt. Since ovens have variations just watch the first batch you make and take notes. These cookies will not spread out, so you can fit a lot of them on one sheet. The baked cookie is not hard, but dry, but for the sweet fruit. The crunch comes from the nuts. You may not notice the oatmeal at all!
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Wet Bowl Ingredients:
One egg.
1/3 cup liquid oil. (soybean or vegetable OK)
1/2 cup water (plus more set aside to be added gradually, as needed.)
1/3 cup sugar - brown best - or less.***
The juice of one lemon. Or the juice of one half orange. Before squeezing make zest from outer skin of the lemon or orange and add to this mixture. I use the whole lemon peel or half orange peel.
Wisk these in a separate bowl gently to blend.
Dry Bowl Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup dry oatmeal (instant is fine)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder (not soda)
Any dry spices you wish to add such as pumpkin, allspice, or cinnamon, instead of the lemon or orange juice and zest. Use one teaspoon or less.
Stir around with a fork to blend these dry ingredients well.
Fruit and Nut Bowl
Half a cup of raisins, small cut figs, cranberries, or as you like.
Three fourths cup of nuts such as peanuts, almonds, walnuts. Coconut flakes can be used.
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NO OIL?
Substitute in 1/4 up peanut butter or 1/4 cup mashed banana (blackened best).
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Turn the oven on to preheat.
Gently pour the wet mixture into the dry and, using a fork. Add extra water bit by bit as needed. You want a thick mixture, not too gooey or runny. Once you are satisfied that there is no dry flour - oatmeal remaining, fold in the nuts and raisins. Scoop out on baking sheets... Do this by hand. It only takes a minute, if that.
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With this basic recipe, whatever you got at the food bank will work, just vary it as you want.
Some suggestions include peanut butter and walnut with raisins, almonds with banana and raisins using lemon zest and juice, orange and raisin or orange and cranberry - whatever combo you come up with.
SUGAR SUBSTITUTES:
Now, if you are low on sugar you can also add one flavored packet of instant oatmeal. For instance the MAPLE flavoring usually also has a lot of sugar in the packet, enough to flavor the whole recipe. The APPLE flavored instant oatmeal may be nice with some cut up apples and you can use apple sauce instead of oil.
You may also use 1/4 cup of jam or jelly instead of sugar. Wisk it in with the Wet ingredients.
Be creative!
I made a batch of these cookies for a picky friend who usually takes one of those store bought healthy bars with him on the road and he loved them. Two or three of these with tea can be breakfast.
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