Feeding the Cookie Monster

Jim calls me the Cookie Monster and tells people that he lives in constant fear that a stranger will say, "Here's a cookie, little girl," because I would follow them anywhere. Well, it's not quite that bad, but what is bad is being a cookie monster and finding out that you can no longer have sugar or chocolate! The migraines said no quite a few years ago, and so I've either been good and done without or been bad and paid for it later. It helps that I've always been a health-nut and know my way around healthy eating; sugar was just the last guilty pleasure to go. But I've been refining a recipe using Agave Nectar, and folks, this is about as good as it gets for a reformed sugar addict. Everything in them is healthy, lots of fiber and super nutrients. I was especially proud of the idea to include ground flax seed because the oil tastes kinda yucky, and I've tried grinding the seeds and putting it on salads, but it's a lot like sprinkling powdered concrete onto your food; in these cookies, though, the powdered seeds serves as a binder to keep them from being so crumbly, and makes them extra healthy with Omega 3 & Omega 6 oils. It's a win/win!

If you're among the happy majority who still eats Chips Ahoy and Nutter Butters, they'll taste pretty much like cardboard, but if you don't currently eat sugar, they taste amazing!

I won't label ingredients in the recipe as organic, but everything is, when I can find it. If you use the recipe, especially if you change ingredients, I would love to hear about your results. It lends itself to using whatever's onhand in the pantry.

Cat's Health-nut Cookies

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup oat flour
1 cup ground almonds (I grind them in the food processor, leaving small pieces for the crunch)
1/4 cup finely ground flax seed (I grind these in a coffee mill, but you can get them already ground)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup carob chips
1/2 cup agave nectar (You could also use honey)
1/2 cup coconut oil (I love the taste of this stuff, but any healthy oil will do.)
1 whole egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Mix wet ingredients in a smaller bowl and stir into the dry ingredients.
Form balls, about 1" in size, and place on a non-stick cookie sheet, pressing the balls down with a fork.
Bake for 12 minutes or until edges begin to brown. This yields about 30 cookies.
Enjoy!