CRISPY LOWER-FAT OATMEAL COOKIES (WITH CHICKPEAS USED INSTEAD OF MOST OF THE FAT!)

We felt in the mood for oatmeal cookies the other night, so I decided to experiment with some changes to my recipe for Chewy Fat-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, a recipe in which pureed beans substitute for the usual butter or margarine.  I had noted on that recipe that quick oats and a little bit of vegan butter might have improved them, so this time I did use quick oats and only 3/4 cup bean puree (and chickpea instead of white bean puree), along with 1/4 cup of my vegan butter. I also decided to cut out the 3/4 cup granulated sugar in the first recipe.  We loved the results-- they were certainly sweet enough, and nice and crunchy. I love using beans in baking, too!

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S CRISPY LOWER-FAT OATMEAL COOKIES (WITH VARIATIONS)

Yield: 32 three-inch cookies
Note: You can bake only 1/4 of the dough or 1/2 of the dough and freeze the rest for another time, if you like.  If the extra dough is formed into flattened balls and frozen that way (on parchment, with parchment in between the layers, in a large freezer storage container with a tight lid), they will thaw out quickly.

Wet Mix:       

3/4 cup puréed (rinsed and drained) cooked or canned chickpeas (add a bit of water if they are too dry to purée) OR pureed well-cooked split yellow peas   

1/4 cup vegan butter (try my homemade palm oil-free vegan "Buttah")

1 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)     

1/4 cup brown rice syrup       

2 vegan "eggs" (see Note below for suggestions)           

Dry Mix:        

1 1/2 cups whole wheat *pastry* flour 

1/2 tsp salt     

1/2 tsp baking powder           

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg           

3 cups quick oats       

Optional: (choose 1) 

1 1/2 cups vegan (dairy-free) chocolate chips
OR        

1 1/2 cups raisins or other dried fruit (small or cut up)       

Other option:

1 cup chopped nuts   

NOTE: Vegan “Egg” Alternatives (choose one-- each choice below equals 2 vegan "eggs"):
1.) 1/4 cup water whisked with 2 teaspoons powdered egg replacer (Ener-G or Orgran) until frothy, with no lumps;
2.) 1/4 cup water water blended with 1 teaspoon Vegg powder until smooth (use an immersion blender);
3.) If you have the book “The Cornbread Gospels” by Crescent Dragonwagon, you can use her recipe for “Eggscellence” homemade egg replacer, which is really excellent. If you don’t have the book (which is well worth purchasing) you can read the recipe on the amazon.com “Look Inside” function for the book (scroll down to pps. 352-353) . Use 3 tablespoons of the Eggscellence powder whisked with 3 tablespoons water and 2 teaspoons liquid lecithin (soy or sunflower);
4.) 2 tablespoons flax seeds blended in a small blender jar with 6 tablespoons water until frothy and "gloppy" like egg white.
5.) 6 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from cooking chickpeas), beaten a bit until frothy.

Instructions:
Beat together the Wet Mix ingredients until smooth in a medium bowl with an immersion blender or an electric hand-held beater.  In another bowl, whisk together all of the Dry Mix ingredients EXCEPT the oats.  When they are well-mixed, stir in the oats.  Add any Optionals you might be using and stir to distribute.  Pour in the Wet Mix and stir well until thoroughly combined.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Divide the dough into 32 equal-sized balls. (Wet your hands a little if the dough is sticking.)  Place the balls a couple of inches apart on baking parchment-lined baking sheets.

Use a flat-bottomed glass (dampen the bottom a bit to keep it from sticking to the dough) to flatten the balls evenly to about 3 inches across.

Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Place the cookies on cooling racks and cool thoroughly before serving.

 Nutrition Facts (with no optionals)

Nutrition (per cookie): 106.8 calories; 17% calories from fat; 2.1g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 51.7mg sodium; 92.2mg potassium; 20.8g carbohydrates; 1.7g fiber; 10.1g sugar; 19.1g net carbs; 2.5g protein; 2.0 points.

VARIATIONS:

Nutrition (per cookie with raisins only): 129.9 calories; 14% calories from fat; 2.1g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 52.6mg sodium; 150.1mg potassium; 27.0g carbohydrates; 2.0g fiber; 14.6g sugar; 24.9g net carbs; 2.7g protein; 2.4 points.

Nutrition (per serving with raisins &nuts): 153.8 calories; 25% calories from fat; 4.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 52.7mg sodium; 166.3mg potassium; 27.5g carbohydrates; 2.3g fiber; 14.7g sugar; 25.2g net carbs; 3.2g protein; 3.0 points

Nutrition (per serving with chocolate chips only): 144.5 calories; 25% calories from fat; 4.4g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 52.6mg sodium; 92.2mg potassium; 25.8g carbohydrates; 2.2g fiber; 10.1g sugar; 23.6g net carbs; 2.8g protein; 2.8 points.

Nutrition (per serving) with chocolate chips & nuts): 168.4 calories; 34% calories from fat; 6.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 52.7mg sodium; 108.3mg potassium; 26.3g carbohydrates; 2.4g fiber; 10.2g sugar; 23.9g net carbs; 3.3g protein; 3.4 points.

Nutrition (per serving)with nuts only): 130.7 calories; 29% calories from fat; 4.4g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 51.8mg sodium; 108.3mg potassium; 21.3g carbohydrates; 2.0g fiber; 10.2g sugar; 19.4g net carbs; 3.0g protein; 2.6 points.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...

Enjoy!