Wednesday, April 6, 2011

I'll Take Chocolate in My Cookies, Please.

My intern's favorite type of cookie is Oatmeal Raisin.

Yes, I said raisin.

I tease him about this mercilessly. He tells me raisins are what all the cool kids are doing these days. I tell him I've always been a nerd.

A nerd who prefers chocolate and peanut butter and pecans in her cookies.

But who am I to question a person's cookie preference? Desserts are such a personal thing. And if everyone in the office loved chocolate, the treat-to-person ratio would be far smaller when someone brings a plate full of cupcakes in for sampling.

So, I'll give my intern a pass on the whole Oatmeal Raisin Cookie thing. I promised I would make him a batch before he graduates next month. In the meantime, I'm taking baby steps by starting with Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate Cookies.

Did I mention they're vegan?

Vegan-licious, that is. They're moist and tasty and full of banana + milk chocolate flavor (Note: for truly vegan cookies, you'll need to use vegan chocolate, as opposed to milk chocolate. I was willing to sacrifice their full vegan nature in the name of milk chocolate). Adam says, "They're great. But they taste too healthy to be a cookie."

That's my guy. Looks like I just found an excuse to make brownies this weekend :)


Chocolate Banana-Oat Cookies

I definitely wouldn't call these a "health" cookie--unless you count adding oats to a dessert as healthy. And definitely go with the pure milk chocolate on this one--Although, that de-veganizes the recipe, I feel like milk choco is getting the shaft in all the trendy chocolate recipes lately...and her good taste and flavor just shouldn't be passed up.

Ingredients:
  • 1 large, super-ripe banana (it's got to be browning!)
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup milk chocolate chunks
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

2) In a large mixing bowl, mash the banana. Stir in the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and stir until well-combined. Fold in chocolate chunks.

3) Drop the dough by rounded tablespoon-fuls on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges (remember--it's always acceptable to under-bake vegan cookies).




15 comments:

  1. Yum! I'll take one (or two!). I'm a much bigger fan of choc chips than raisins in cookies, but I do appreciate a really chewy oatmeal raisin cookie too :)

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  2. Love your vegan-licious cookies. I like both chocolate and raisins but will vote for chocolate if I have to choose.

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  3. These look delicious -- but I also like oatmeal raisin cookies and I'm definitely not cool!

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  4. I love the mason jar (sp)? Or is that a dalton? The choco cookie looks delish too of course.

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  5. Yes, please!

    Although, I like raisins, too!

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  6. I've had a cookie with chocolate and raisins, it was a happy pairing :)

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  7. Those cookies look so soothing. I prefer chocolate, too, though I do enjoy the occasional raisin... especially in scones with warm butter.... mmm...

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  8. Haha, I love raisins in cookies, but nothing beats chocolate! My sister hates chocolate chips in cookies- isn't that insane?!

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  9. Mmmm my kind of cookie right here!! Anything with chocolate for that matter lol I just made a recipe that I think you will like, come check it out girl :)

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  10. These sound fantastic! I've never added bananas to cookies before...with chocolate involved, I can only imagine it would be good!

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  11. you're totally not a nerd -- chocolate is for the cool kids! =)

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  12. Wait I like chocolate and raisins, what does that make me? A raisinet I guess! Great post.

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  13. No raisins for me please! But chocolate? Oh yes! These look delicious. :)

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  14. Oatmeal raisin cookies are actually my favorite too. I bet your intern loves all your goodies though! :-)

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  15. Mmm! I'm totally with you on the chocolate vs. raisin thing: NO contest! :) These sound delicious and I agree that milk chocolate sounds perfect. Maybe you could do a mix of raisins and chocolate chips in your intern's cookies as a compromise? ;)

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