There’s just one lonely cookie in the photo, because all the rest had been eaten before I had a chance to take a picture (actually, I didn’t take the picture, I made my husband do it before he could eat the last cookie.)
In 5 recipes every vegan should have, I mentioned a “healthy cookie” recipe. I have been tweaking this one for a while, and I think I have finally perfected it! I served these to a group of non-vegans at a playdate last week, and both mamas and toddlers loved them.
These cookies are sugar-free, nut-free, gluten-free, and of course vegan. They also include some great beneficial foods, like dates (iron, potassium), pumpkin seeds (zinc), flax seeds (omega-3s), and oatmeal (fiber).
And with all that, they actually taste good!
Super Cookies
- 12-15 (pitted) medjool dates
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- handful of pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (I like hemp best but others work too)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 flax eggs (Mix 2 tbsp ground flax seeds with 4 tbsp water, stir, and let chill in the fridge for a couple of minutes)
- 3 cups oatmeal
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- raisins or other chopped dried fruit (or nuts) to add in
Preheat the oven to 350.
Prepare the flax eggs and let them sit in the fridge while you put the dates, coconut oil, pumpkin seeds, non-dairy milk, and vanilla into a Vitamix or other high-power blender. Then add the flax eggs, they should be chilled enough by then. Blend.
Pour the mixture into a bowl, and add the oatmeal, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and raisins. Stir.
Use a tablespoon to form into cookies on a baking sheet. This recipe should make about 24-28 cookies.
Bake at 350 for 14 minutes.
Notes:
- You can buy ground flax seeds
, or you can buy them whole
and grind your own. Make sure to keep them in the fridge or freezer. I buy mine in bulk and keep them in the freezer, then I grind about a cup at a time and keep them in the fridge for use in baking or smoothies (the grinder
I use has a detachable cup with lid so I just use that to store the ground seeds).
- If you don’t have a Vitamix
, you can probably use an immersion blender or similar. I would just blend the dates with the hemp milk and then add everything else. Soaking them overnight in the milk might make this easier. (Also you might want to skip the pumpkin seeds unless you want that texture, since they probably wouldn’t blend well.)
- Give these to the little ones! I can’t tell you how beneficial all of these foods are to a growing body and brain. And Z loves them. He asks for “cookie! cookie!” whenever I have them around. I feel slightly like I am putting one over on him. Same as when I give him a Lara bar and call it a candy bar. I suppose someone will shatter his reality someday, but for now I am in charge. Also: these travel really well so they’re great for throwing in your diaper bag to have a super-healthy snack on hand.
Enjoy!!
Related posts:
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
so excited to try these! I was hoping they had something hidden in them like collards, but still, yay! I haven’t added oatmeal back into my diet yet but I’m willing to try for these super looking cookies.
Do it!!! Throw some collards in and let me know how it goes! Depending on how much you put in, the only issue might be the color….
but, how do you get the batter out of the vitamix? has always puzzled me.
This mixture ends up being about the thickness of pancake batter, so I just pour it out and use a silicone spatula to scrape out the sides. There is a little left at the bottom near the blades but that’s okay. (Make a smoothie right after without rinsing it and none of it goes to waste!)
Just so happens I have 17 dates in my kitchen just waiting for an awesome recipe to come along…
Serendipity!
What kind of oatmeal?
I get the “quick-cooking” or “thin cut” rolled oatmeal flakes in bulk. But any kind of rolled oats will do (“thick cut” will give you…thicker oatmeal pieces in your cookie
). Basically anything but steel-cut.
Am thinking of having a go at this recipe. Can I use dairy milk, do you think (it will make the cookies less sexy of course
).
Preheat the oven to 350, is that Fahrenheit or Celcius?
LOL, super *sexy* cookies!!!
I am not positive but I think regular milk could work just fine. It’s really about getting the dates wet so that they blend well.
As for the temp, it’s 350 farenheit. I’ll update that in the post, thanks!
Yes, it works with regular milk! (I haven’t still found non dairy milk that agrees with me
) They taste fabulous. Thanks ever so for this recipe.
Non vegan at said play date and these are fantastic! Can’t wait to make a batch, thanks Eileen!
I miss our play dates— especially those which involve any kind of cookie. Hope to see you soon on the soccer field with the wee ones. The cookies look great! You bring those and I’ll bring the orange slices. xoxoxo
I made these cookies today and learned something I had never known before: when required to do major work, like blending dates and seeds, my food processor prefers to let liquid blow out of its edges 2 feet in all directions!
I also learned that these cookies are very tasty! Both babies loved them. They are pretty soft, though, and crumble in the grip of my 2 year old. Did I screw up the recipe, or is there some way to make them a little more hold-togethery?
oh no!!! Silly food processor
As for the crumbliness–a few ideas: 1) you may not be getting a super-smooth “batter” if you’re using a food processor, try a bit more milk or water, or try skipping the seeds. 2) it’s all about the batter-to-oat ratio which means you could try a finer oat (like thin-cut or quick cooking) and/or add some of the oatmeal (say 1 cup) to be blended with the wet ingredients instead of stirred in, which will make it more “battery”. 3) try cooking a minute longer.
Hope some of that works, mama! *big smooches*
Hmmm… yes… I would not classify my batter as super smooth. I don’t want to skip the seeds, and I used quick cooking oats, so the more milk and longer cooking both make sense to me. Can’t wait to try it again (WITH a towel over the food processor) – tasty little nuggets. Thanks!