Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I have a confession to make:  I am not a vegan or even a vegetarian.  I am not gluten-free, nor am I an avid consumer of organic-only products.  But a lot of my yogi (and non-yogi) friends are.  And therefore, when confronted with, "How do I show my love and appreciation to them during this holiday season?"  I decided to bake them cookies; not your average Christmas cookie, but a chewy coconut oatmeal raisin cookie made with only organic ingredients.

As a non-organic, non-gluten-free carnivore, some of the ingredients were completely foreign to me, but I was able to source all of them at either Whole Foods or Walmart.  Yes, Walmart!  They actually have a large selection of organic products in their baking aisle.

MODIFICATIONS:

• The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar.  The person who shared the recipe with me notated that she only used one cup of sugar.  I also only used one cup and then changed the recipe to reflect that.
• The recipe called for 2 cups of Almond Flour.  I used one cup of Almond Flour and one cup of Coconut Flour.
• The original recipe did not call for the addition of water, but my mixture was too dry to roll into balls.  I added about 6 tablespoons of water and all was well.
• To make this recipe fit for a vegan, cornstarch or an egg substitute can be used in place of eggs.
• To make this recipe fit for a person with tree nut allergies, substitute the almond flour with coconut flour and omit the pecan pieces.
• To make this recipe gluten-free, use verified gluten-free rolled oats.
• If you don't like cinnamon or raisins, leave them out.  They are not crucial to the overall taste or texture of the cookie.

Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Servings:  48

Preparation time:  30 minutes

  

• 1 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1 cup organic whole sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 organic soy-free eggs
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups almond flour*
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 scant teaspoons Himalayan pink salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups dried, unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 5-6 tablespoons water, as needed* 

Uncooked, golf-ball shaped cookies, pre-flattened

1.       Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2.       Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.

3.       Cream coconut oil and sugar in a large bowl, add eggs and vanilla.  Set aside.

4.       In a separate bowl, mix the oats, almond flour, baking soda and salt.

5.       Stir the wet and dry together, then add cinnamon, raisins, coconut, and pecans.

6.       Roll into golf ball sized cookies and flatten***   Space approximately 1” apart.

7.       Bake 8-12 minutes until cookies are golden and fragrant.

8.       Let stand to cool.

*You can grind your own almond flour by placing whole almonds into a blender or food processor until a fine meal is produced.

*You can substitute almond flour for coconut flour.  I used 1 cup of almond flour and 1 cup of coconut flour. 

**If mixture is too dry to combine, add water until it sticks together.

Finished and fragrant!

I have another confession to make:  I'm not usually a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, but these were delicious!  I ate way more than I should have, and while they are gluten-free, they are not calorie free!  Enjoy!

Confessions of a Coke head: Week One Update

Despite being headache-y the first few days, I successfully managed to curtail my diet coke intake to 4 cans per day.  Now I'm working on whittling down to three cans per day and it's going well.  By early afternoon, I've usually filled my quota so today I made cucumber infused water.  Refreshing!  And the best part is that all of the cucumbers were harvested from my own backyard!

Cucumber Water

Thank you to everyone for the encouragement and sharing your own experiences with me last week when I announced my desire to end my more than two decade love affair with soda.  I'll keep you posted on my progress and am looking forward to sharing any changes or improvements I observe once my body is no longer dependent on the bubbly, artificially flavored and sweetened, caramel colored syrup.

Confessions of a Coke head

I just finished another weekend  of yoga teacher training (my ninth!) with Holistic Yoga Therapy Institute and it never fails.  Each day when we break for lunch, I am the only person who orders a diet coke as my beverage of choice.  Plenty of people place orders for water with lemon, water without lemon, iced tea, hot tea, and even the occasional glass of wine or Sunday brunch mimosa--but never soda.  I'm the only one.  And I know why--artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners--they're not good for me.  They know it and I know it, but I'm an addict...and not just to the caffeine but to the bubbles.  What is it about the bubbles?  And now, my thirteen year old son seems to be heading down the path of addiction as well...so if not for my own health, definitely for his...

I hereby publicly denounce the further consumption of soft drinks.  I don't plan to quit cold turkey.  That would be asking for failure.  Caffeine deprivation would surely lead to migraines and as someone who suffered from stress-induced migraines for the first quarter-century of life, I cannot knowingly inflict such pain upon myself.  I will, however, incorporate the less painful, less stressful method of weaning myself off the drug.

On any given day, I probably consume the equivalent of six cans of soda.  So, beginning today and for the rest of week one of "Operation Confessions of a Coke Head," I plan to drink no more than four cans of soda per day decreasing by one each week.  Therefore, next week I will drink no more than three, the following week two, and so on.  If my math is correct, I should be coke-free in about 30 days--approximately the same amount of time it takes to form new habits or break old ones.

I recently read an article about chemicals in foods that are banned in other countries but still allowed to be used in the United States.  It proclaimed citrus flavored sodas and sport drinks contain Brominated Vegetable Oil, a flame retardant ingredient used in the manufacture of plastics.  Yikes.  And to think before I was a Coke head, I did the Dew! 



So, let's raise a glass...of water with lemon...to new habits formed and old ones defeated!

Cheers!