I have a dear friend named Roxanne. Those who know her well call her Rocky. Rocky is a giving and loving person, always there to listen to a friend, offer advice, lend her opinion. Rocky also happens to be famous for her cookies, and I mean that. She’s been asked to make them for parties at a salon, for people’s backyard shindigs, she’s made them for co-workers. She willingly shares her recipe and I’ve used it over and over. In fact I have a family member who swears that Rocky cookies helped her survive through a rough patch of menopause. My weight-lifting friend asks me to make them as her cheat after competitions. I’ve made them for constipated children who don’t get enough fiber in their diet, and for adults after surgery. I make them for myself as a snack. Unlike conventional cookies, they’re packed with healthy fats and fruits, nuts, and energy-supplying seeds. No butter, no brown sugar, no white sugar- you get my drift.
This cookie is hearty. It can be made with every ingredient in the list, or only a few of them. You can play with combinations for flavor such as pumpkin and walnut, or chocolate and cherries, or sunflower and raisin. Personally, I love to have a little bit of dark chocolate, lots of different fruits (prune, fig, raisin, cranberry), some wheat berries, a mixture of flours (barley and whole wheat)- a little bit of everything.
The recipe may confuse some as it calls for a handful of this and that ingredient. It means that, literally. The dough should not be terribly stiff when complete, but if it’s too runny just add a bit more flour to the mix.
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or oat or barley flour)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon (can also add a dash of cloves and/or nutmeg)
- Sprinkle of sea salt
- Handful of bittersweet chocolate chunks
- Handful of raisins
- Handful of dried cranberries
- Handful of walnuts
- Handful of wheat germ
- Handful of flax seed meal
- Handful of seeds if you like them (sunflower, pepitas, flax, sesame, etc.)
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup real maple syrup (or any variation of, honey, agave, and/or molasses)
- 3/4 cup plain, unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup coconut or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (or a well-ripened banana)
- 1 large scoop of peanut butter (or almond or cashew butter)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix
- Scoop the batter by the tablespoon onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper (cookies will not spread)
- Bake for 15-25 minutes (depending on your oven). You want a finished cookie that is golden brown around the edges and a bit on top