Jen's Super Cookies

I like love to bake.  I always have.  However, I don't generally like to eat what I bake.  I'm not a huge sweets person; savory for me please.  Luckily, I have a wonderful husband that is more than willing to take my baked goods to his workplace and "force" them on his co-workers.

Now that I have a 3 year old though, I find she not only wants to help with the baking, she wants to actually eat what we bake.  With her allergy, letting her eat my baked goods meant coming up with new recipes and/or adapting those that I already used.  I've found this endlessly fun, to be honest, and my husbands co-workers don't notice the difference.  Win - win I say.

That said written, I also find myself not wanting my children to consume mass quantities of sweets.  So healthy alternatives are my goal, and my daughter certainly eats her fair share of fruit and vegetables.  But... kids like cookies.  So here is a relative healthy cookie option for your kids.  I've added notes where things can be adapted for different allergy needs (at least when avoiding the top 8 allergies).

Jen's Super Cookies
2 cups oats (You can find certified gluten free ones)
1/2 cup ground nuts or nut butter (I used the leftover ground almond from my fresh almond milk.  Got a nut allergy? try sunflower seed butter)
3 Tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 Tbsp raw Cacao (or if you don't have that 1/4 cup chocolate chips is nice)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup apples sauce
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup if your vegan and don't eat honey)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.  Pour wet into dry bowl and mix together.  Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.  Cookies will look dark and dry, but they are actually very chewy and quite delicious!