Tuesday, July 10, 2012

apple + oatmeal cookies



I am not afraid of a sugary cookie. No siree bob. I am reticent to give my toddler sugary cookies, however, because I just don't think she needs that much sugar right now. But cookies are fun, and portable and an excellent snack when they're made with good stuff. So while I'm keeping the double-chocolate chip with butterscotch frosting for the later years, we're making somewhat healthier cookies now. And I'm quite partial to a few from time to time, these ones are pretty good!

They only have half a cup of sugar, and you can use a substitute if you like (natvia is good), or you can use honey or maple syrup, or leave it out entirely. They have a lovely, spicy apple flavour so if your kids (or you) aren't into that, then cut back or leave out for plain oaty apple goodness. They're fine either way.

Oh, and they're almost like a little cookie-sized cake - they're not crispy and crunchy, they're soft and very good for little hands and mouths :)

Ingredients:
1 cup plain flour (wholemeal is good too)
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup rapadura sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla 
2 small apples, peeled and diced fine (or grated. I like mine chunky)

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients.

2. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.

3. Spoon onto greased or lined trays. They don't spread much so you can put them reasonably close to gether. I like to flatten them just a little bit.

4. These have a tendency to burn quite quickly so make sure you take them out on the earlier side to save yourself some black-bottomed heartache. I bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes.

13 comments:

  1. I have no idea what rapadura sugar is, so Im going to give these  bash with Agave.  Thanks Stacey

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  2. I didn't have a clue either until I saw somebody use it on their blog when they were trying to eat even more natural products. So I bought it from the bulk bins at my health food shop and googled it haha. It's a natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup - it's just pure cane juice that's been dehydrated (not processed like normal sugar). Good stuff! Let me know how the agave goes xx

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  3.  I didn't realise until recently either, but started seeing Sucanat on blogs from North America, it's a similar unrefined sugar cane juice product.
    Many vegans avoid refined (white) sugar as the purification process traditionally involves use of bone char, so I've been noticing the unrefined products in vegan and "healthy foodie" blogs.

    Look at me, going from lurker to frequent commenter ;)

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  4. ewwww bone char! No wonder I don't use white sugar, blecch. And yay!

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  5. Kelley @ magnetoboldtooJuly 10, 2012 at 2:41 PM

    Cloves make me want to die. So I shall leave them out. And maybe sub the apple for pear... Omg want.

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  6. cloves AND nutmeg make me want to die. And then I tried just a smidgen in apple things and went omfgwhathaveibeendoingalltheseyears and now I'm a bit obsessed.

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  7. Just made these for my small child's lunch box. I made them without the nutmeg and cloves as she is not so much a fan, but they are to die for anyway! It will be a minor miracle if there are any left to pack in said lunch box tomorrow. Warm from the oven they are the perfect wintry evening treat, all appley crumbly yum x

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  8. I love experimenting! I think these are awesome, but I'm terribly biased so I'm pleased you like them too! Hope there was some left for lunch haha x

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  9.  They did and she was most excited about them. I am staring down a plate of them right now. I think these will become a regular at ours, thanks!

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  10. You're very welcome... I think it'll be the same here too!

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  11.  Yep, apparently "activated carbon filter to remove impurities" is code for "filter using ground up burnt animal bones". I don't know why they don't promote it that way on the label...
    The unrefined versions also retain the impurities, including some minerals and vitamins etc that could be seen as a good thing, depending on your point of view. And then for the same volume the unrefined product has lower calories, due to those pesky impurities.

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  12. just made these, double batch, wholemeal flour, no apple sauce (never have any in our house), brown sugar (no rapdura), mixed spice and cinnamon, and large grated apples. Still delicious, slight crunch, thanks for a new recipe.

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