Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

It is pouring down rain here. Thunder and lightening too. That means it is the perfect day to enjoy a cookie with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk if you are a milk drinker. That is my excuse anyway.

The truth is I have gone to too many graduation parties and indulged in too many desserts lately and now I have a little hankering for sweets going on. I am working on getting that back under control but in the mean time I wanted a dessert I could enjoy without the guilt.

I whipped up this small batch of cookies last night in about 6 minutes and they only took 12 minutes to bake. Sweet tooth satisfied in 19 minutes (I waited about a minute for it to cool before breaking off a little piece.) Plus it only made 12 cookies so I won't have them hanging around here tempting me all week.

Three tablespoons of Earth Balance, 1/4 cup of honey, 1 egg, 1/2 cup Sucanat, and 1 tablespoon water go into the mixer. Using the paddle attachment, blend until thoroughly mixed. I just let it run while I got the dry ingredients together.

In my pyrex measuring cup (dirty only one dish whenever possible) I placed 1 1/2 cups oats, 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus.....

1/2 cup whole wheat flour. I didn't level that if you are wondering. I just shook it down a little until it looked close enough. I know I am lazy and don't follow the baking rules that my Home Ec. teacher taught me in the 8th grade. I still have issues with how she taught us to scramble eggs. Maybe that is why I rebel against measuring.

She ruined me. It is all her fault I guess.

I took a fork and mixed these 4 ingredients around in the cup and then added them to the mixer. Mix wet and dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Decide now if you will add the dark chocolate chips or not!!! I went back and forth and then was sorry I hadn't added them to the batter.

So after I had dropped the spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet I pressed a few chocolate chips into the cookies. I was super glad I did. Raisins would be awesome too and then my kids wouldn't like them as much so Miles and I could have more. So I am a bad "measure-ur" and I am a bad sharing mom!

12 minutes later and look how big and puffy and chewy they came out!

Then I was kind of glad I had just pressed those chips in because see how they just got a little bit soft and melty. Yummo! Plus each cookie only had about 5-6 chips which helps the calorie count. Next time they will just go in the batter however because that is easier. You won't need very many chips for such a small recipe.

One little plate of delicious and healthier cookies to enjoy!

Keep in mind that these are not sugar free because I used sucanat which is a good replacement for brown sugar since it isn't as refined. The whole wheat flour also makes these better for you as does dark chocolate versus milk or semi-sweet chips. You could also use egg beater instead of one whole egg to help the calorie count which is about 125 per cookie. I am not sure how they would taste with just Stevia instead of Sucanat since they need that brown sugar taste but since it is such a small recipe it might be worth a little experimenting.

Now I must go do some form of exercise. I was planning on running this morning outside but my husband came and told me to sleep longer because of the storm. Faith is still asleep or I would take the both of us to the YMCA so maybe a pilates video will have to do for the day. Perhaps later this storm will pass and that run will happen???

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

• 3 tablespoons Earth Balance (or other spread of choice)
• 1/2 cup Sucanat
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• Optional dates, figs, raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips, or chopped nuts.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the Earth Balance, Sucanat, honey, egg and water thoroughly.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients then stir in the oats. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Add any additional ingredients you've chosen.
4. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack

Yields 1 dozen cookies