There are lots of ways to get more nutrition into treats. What works best for you will probably depend on the tastes of your family and style of eating. Disguising vegetables in baking, changing up flours and making different sugar choices can all affect the finished product with higher protein levels, more micronutrients and fewer empty calories and most likely a higher food cost. I am not to preach when it comes to food choices. It is a big discussion full of lots of perspectives coming from a myriad of points of view and it is my belief that the “right” answer is not the same for everyone.
As the seasons change to cooler times and our bodies require more calories, there tends to be a shift away from light meals towards things that are more filling, This is one example of making that shift in a cookie. Adding in oats, dried fruits and warmer spices fills a place inside not experienced in summer, while switching up sugars takes a couple of steps back from some of those empty calories.
You will need:
2/3 cup butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
2 cups Einkorn flour
3 cups rolled oats
1 tsp. vanilla paste or extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamon
3/4 tsp. allspice
½ tsp. salt
3/4 cup prunes, chopped or dates, currants, raisins, dried cranberries
1/4 cup shredded coconut
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream room temperature butter with brown, coconut sugar and vanilla paste until well blended.
Add eggs and beat well.
Combine flour, spices, salt and baking soda, putting them through a sifter or mixing to bring lightness to the mix. Add to butter mixture and mix well.
The spices I used are a nice fall mixture but if you prefer pumpkin pie spice or somethng else with more cloves or ginger that has a nice warming strength to it, substitutions are allowed. Think in terms of two teaspoons total spice content.
Once mixed, add in the rolled oats, dried fruit and shredded coconut.
Stir to combine.
I used chopped prunes this time round (now being marketed as dried plums to get away from any connection to bathrooms ) but raisins, dates, currants, cranberries or a mixture are all options. As is substituting chopped nuts for the coconut. You are looking for a hearty fall combination that everyone in your family will like.
Place tablespoons full on a greased cookie sheet, spaced about two inches apart.
Wet your hands and leaving them moist press down on the dough to flatten.
The moisture will ensure the batter does not stick. The dough is soft and molding it into a round shape once pressed will be easy.
You can also choose to place them as balls and not flatten which will produce a softer finished cookie.
Bake about 10 minutes if getting 16 cookies on a tray and three to five minutes more if making them bigger and getting 12 to a tray. Bottoms and edges should be nicely browned with the tops baked but not firm.
Transfer to a cooling rack, allow to cool and repeat until the dough is finished.
Will make about 36 tummy filling cookies depending in the size. Store in an airtight container and don’t serve too close to dinner.
Coconut, prunes and Einkorn flour with oatmeal. Cookies, all treats really, are intended for special occasions and not as an everyday expection but it is still nice to have a more nutritious choice for autumn lunches, a well deserved break or a Mabon gathering.
Einkorn & Oatmeal Cookies from My Kitchen Wand
