Oatmeal Cookie Makeover

I like to find hiding places.

By this I mean, I enjoy sneaking healthy ingredients into otherwise perfectly mainstream things (although I also like finding places to hide too - the cardboard boxes at work are perfect.)

Here's an unrelated photo of a
spontaneous feather gathering party this summer.

When I first got married I went on a naughty smoothie kick. Every morning Calvin would be delighted to receive his yummy strawberry-banana smoothie. What he didn't know was that it also contained liquid vitamin D, omega 3 fish oils, a live probiotic dose and acacia fibre. Not soon after that, my mother-in-law shared her recipe for naughty pasta sauce which involves blending tomatoes with spinach, green peppers, carrots and broccoli. I have flawlessly devised and executed plans to swap 3/4 of the rice in a recipe for quinoa, serve two boys tempeh instead of chicken moments before an ice hockey game, convince my dad that soy is beef (okay, that was just funny), and make flaxmeal a wanted edition to every single thing I bake.

My latest freaking joy is oatmeal cookies. Oh my goodness, you can put anything in there. A quick peruse through my museum of weird stuff in jars (more commonly known as a baking pantry) will turn up 20 - 30 things that would willingly ride in a 1/2 cup measure directly into a bowl of oatmeal cookie dough only moments before being rolled, baked, digested and lastly, metabolized into the now healthy bloodstream of my latest victim.

Try this:

Preheat oven to 350. You know the drill.

Mix up a bit less than a cup of vegan margarine and a bit more than a cup of sucanat (fine, you can use sugar). Add a handful of ground flax and an equal amount of water. Put in a splash of vanilla.
On top of that pour just over a cup of flour (I used wheat because I know my family isn't coming over, but alternatives would probably work in this case), just less than a spoon of baking soda, some spices and 3 heaping cups of oats.

At this point you have oatmeal cookies. Feel free to roll and bake for 12 minutes, or...

Return to the previously mentioned museum of weird stuff in jars. How about you pour in some:

Shredded, unsweetened coconut
Dates
Carob chips
Puffed millet or amaranth
Chia seed
Sunflower seeds
Hemp
Walnuts
Molasses
Orange zest
Clove oil
Coconut flour

Can you see how this is just bordering on as exciting as discovering that you fit perfectly inside the packaging that your boss's new printer came in? Folks, yoga is always handy.