First of all these are so delicious it will be hard to believe they are GLUTEN FREE, SUGAR FREE, DAIRY FREE AND EGG FREE. When I tell my sweet mama something like this she usually says, “There’s no way that can be good!” But these really are! And just in time for holiday baking!
The secret is in the dates. I have been making date paste to sweeten my baked goods for some time now. Dates are a wonderful whole food sweetener. The antioxidant capacity of dates is more than ten times that of maple syrup and honey, other commonly used whole food sweeteners. Dates are also much higher in calcium, magnesium and contain B vitamins and 7 amino acids.
It does take a little time and effort to make the date paste. They must be pitted, then heated in water on the stovetop to soften then pureed. I was thrilled to discover The Date Lady at a Slow Food Festival this summer in Denver. She has perfected date syrup and has an entire line of wonderful date products, making my baking a bit less time consuming. The recipe below is my plant based version of her Bonanza Cookie recipe. These are even better when still warm from the oven or heated up. Drop me a line and let me know if you make these and how you liked them!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
2/3 c. coconut oil melted
2 flax eggs (to make one flax egg mix 1 T. ground flaxseed with 2.5 T. water and let sit for 5 min.)
6 dates pitted and chopped
1/2 c. date sugar
3 T. date syrup
1 1/4 t. pure vanilla extract
1 c. oat flour
1 c. quick oats
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. Ceylon cinnamon
1/2 c. walnuts or pecans
1/3 c. Lily’s Stevia sweetened dark chocolate chips
Mix first six ingredients well. Mix the remaining ingredients (except nuts and chocolate chips) in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well. Add in chocolate chips and nuts. Form into balls in your hands and then mash with your palms to make small cookies. Bake at 350 on a Sil-Pat mat for 9-10 minutes.
Dr. Pam VanArsdall 