Chewy Granola Cookies

I am not the easiest person to live with.

For one, I’m becoming my mother at the wee age of 30.  I realized this when I started to wash out the kitchen trash can last weekend.  Really, who does that?  My mom.  Oh, and me.

Also like my mother, I ask, without fail, the second after Roo takes a bite of food how it is.  (FYI “it’s good,” is not a proper response.)

Second, there were a few times where it was pointed out that I have a hard time throwing things away.

“Babe, we have so many empty glass jars.  I feel like we’re one away from being cast on Hoarders.”

“What are you talking about?  I use them, like all the time.”

“For what?  Besides leaving them in a paper bag on the floor.”

“That’s where they live!  I don’t have any cupboard space.”

“Because there’s no room in the cupboard from all your glass jars.”

Lastly, I may or may not have had two meltdowns so far this week.  But in my defense, the first was from burning my hand….by grabbing a pan that had been in the oven.  The second was after realizing there was shattered glass in every single cup we owned….because I dropped a bowl on top of those cups and it um, shattered.

So when Roo asks if there’s a way he can have cookies at ‘snack,’ (which to me is essentially second breakfast), I try to make it happen.  After all, I need to keep someone around to identify my body when it’s found underneath a mountain of fallen glass jars.

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These cookies are soft, just a little bit sweet and so easy to adapt to what you love seeing in your cereal bowl.  For me, I like my granola chock full of sweet tart dried cranberries, plump black raisins and toothsome, unsweetened shredded coconut.

The addition of ground flax seed gives it a bit of nuttiness while the vanilla makes the cookie taste absolutely buttery.

Don’t like chewy cookies?  Bake them for a bit longer and you’ll get that crunch you’re looking for.  Just be sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.

Adapted from Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes A Dozen Large Cookies

*Please note that this batter has to be chilled for 15 minutes (to prevent spreading of cookies).

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Equipment

A standing mixer (or electric beaters with a large mixing bowl)…you could do this with a fork but your arm will probably get very tired!

A spatula

A medium sized mixing bowl

A whisk

Two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper (optional) or lightly greased (with butter, like Earth Balance) or sprayed with baking spray

A cooling rack (or a plate if you don’t have one)

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Ingredients

Half a cup of brown sugar (this makes a not-too-sweet cookie. If you’d like a sweeter cookie, add 1 – 2 tablespoons more)

One third of a cup of mild tasting olive oil

Quarter cup of unsweetened unflavored soy milk (or your choice of non-dairy milk)

1 tablespoon of corn starch

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

One cup of white whole wheat flour (you can use all purpose if you’re in a pinch)

Quarter cup of unsweetened shredded coconut (I use Let’s Do brand)

One cup of old fashioned oats

Half a tablespoon ground flax seed (probably optional, but I like the nuttiness and think they make the cookie particularly chewy)

Half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of baking soda

Quarter teaspoon of salt

Half a cup of dried cranberries

Half a cup of black raisins

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Place your oven racks to the upper middle and lower middle positions in your oven.  Preheat your oven to 350F.

To your standing mixer, add the sugars, oil, milk and corn starch.  Beat on medium high for about 2 – 5 minutes, until the ingredients resemble a smooth caramel.  Please do not skip this step (your cookies will not come together otherwise).  It is essential for the ingredients to be beat at this high of an intensity and length (a chemical reaction occurs when the sugar and oil collide).

When the ingredients resemble a smooth caramel, add the vanilla and mix till combined.  Using a spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl, down and back up, ensuring that all the ingredients are combined.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the flour, old fashioned oats, ground flax seed (if using), shredded coconut, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  Whisk the ingredients till well combined.

Add the flour mixture to the standing mixer’s ingredients.  Mix everything till just combined.  Add the dried cranberries and black raisins.  Using a spatula, fold in the ingredients.  The batter is going to be thick, but that’s ok!

Scrape the sides of the bowl, down and back up, ensuring that all the ingredients are combined.

Chill the batter for 15 minutes.  If you’re pressed for time, yes, you can bake the cookies straight away but they’ll flatten out.

Scoop a ping pong ball sized amount of cookie dough batter into your hands (I find it easiest to work with the dough with wet hands).   Roll it into a smooth ball then place on the cookie sheet.  Flatten the cookie with your fingers a bit.  Continue scooping up the cookie batter, rolling, placing (each cookie at least a cookie’s width apart) and flattening on the cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies for about 12 – 14 minutes, or until the edges/bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned (for me it takes 12 minutes).  Try not to over bake as you will lose the chewiness.  They’re going to appear soft when their edges are browned.  But trust it. They’ll firm up!

Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for at least five minutes before moving to a cooling rack.  Once on a cooling rack, allow to come to room temperature before eating.

If you try to eat the cookies while still hot, they’ll fall apart, and you’ll curse me for having cookie clumps all over your floor.  But if you wait, they’ll be firm and chewy.