Low Fat Oatmeal Cookies

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Low Fat Oatmeal Cookies and a lovely cuppa

On Friday evening we had our good pals J & S visit for a quick cuppa and catch up.  We have all been so busy lately that it's been a couple of months since we had seen each other which is too long as far as we were all concerned. I've mentioned before that our pal S is a recently diagnosed Diabetic so I am always trying to find him low sugar and low fat treats. He was formerly a great lover of my baked goods and always willing to test them for me. And he really misses a 'sweet' treat. 

So that being the case I wanted to try out a recipe I had found on www.healthyveganrecipes.net for Low Fat Oatmeal Cookies. The recipe had a list of ingredients that I had in my stocks and looked very simple to make. Now that's where the simple...ends! lol. 

I made my first batch and my oats sucked up the water in seconds so I ended up having to push the remaining ingredients into the hard lump batter. My muscles were burning after I had managed to get an even consistency. I then divided the rocks pieces of cookie dough out onto my baking sheet and then tossed the sheet into my hot oven. Done? Well..yes.. until I sat down at my desk with a cuppa and was reading through the recipe again only to suddenly have this creeping suspicion that I had forgotten to put the wholemeal flour in the batter. I ran into my kitchen and looked at the various pots and containers on my kitchen surface and sure enough...no flour pot in site. *insert the many expletives I muttered here* lol So I waited patiently for the timer to ring it's very annoying bell. (Funny I don't usually find it that annoying but I did on Friday..go figure!) By this point My Love has come to 'test' the cookies for me...how helpful! 

I placed them onto the cooling racks and gave My Love one to test and confessed I had forgotten to add the flour. My Love bit into the cookie only to look repulsed and quickly spat out the cookie into a piece of kitchen towel and threw both into the rubbish bin! That good, eh? Yikes. My Love said it was like eating a rubbery porridge clump! My Love has an almost phobic reaction to porridge and anything of that consistency. BIG.Ooops! lol. So I tried a little piece of one and had pretty much the same reaction and told My Love to get the rack and throw them all away. Cooking.Disaster! lol See I can laugh about it now...just! 

I wouldn't give up but was a little reluctant to try them again as the ingredients were a little pricey. And 20 minutes later I was back in the kitchen pre-heating my oven and starting again. Now this time I adapted the recipe my way. Firstly I didn't leave the oats in soak for a few minutes and in a large bowl I put the remaining ingredients and mixed it thoroughly then added the' hardly soaked at all' oats and water. The batter took some stirring but at least it had flour and was mixed well. I divided it out on the cookie sheet and threw them into the hot oven. And 20 minutes later I was placing them on the cooling racks...Sorted..yeah? *sighs* No! 

My Love and I tried one with a cuppa later on in the afternoon. And I still didn't like them. My Love said that they were much better with the flour added..almost cheekily! Grr. But for me they just seemed to be missing something and the texture was still a little on the rubbery side. I guess I was hoping for more of a crispy texture. I usually am a great lover of 'healthier' option baking and cooking but to me these felt like the essence of them was missing. That they were almost proving the healthy haters right...taking out the fat and almost all of the sugar = no flavour and no joy. But My Love didn't have such a harsh reaction to them and just shrugged them off and said "They're ok....." Believe me that is not really good feedback from my cookie loving Love. So I decided to wait and see what J & S thought.....

Sadly for me...my cup and saucer were the star of the show! What a shame..

Hot drinks were made and we all sat down for our quick catch up...it always soothes me to see J & S as they are just such loving and funny people. I explained the cookie situation and S quickly said he would be happy to try them...as it would be a shame not to. So they were brought through and everyone took one. S and My Love bit into theirs and chomped quite happily and carried on catching up whilst J and I looked at the cookies in hand and then looked at each other...and put them down for a second to carry on our conversation! Ahem...lol. But we couldn't put it off any longer as My Love and S were onto their second cookies. So with a deep sigh (so dramatic eh? lol) we bit into them...and I was surprised. They were still on the edge of too rubbery for my tastes but having had 'sitting' time the subtle flavours in them had blended very pleasantly. J had finished hers before I had finished my first mouthful. lol. I had to admit they had improved. So for me it a texture issue in the end. 

But it seems I was on my own as S took a bag full home with him and he stated he loved them. The big test was the next day when my sister and the little ones visited. My niece N didn't like them at all but both my nephews enjoyed...one..so that was a strong indicator that they weren't right..as I usually have to pry the cookie container away from them. lol.  

So I am unsure whether these are a 'cooking disaster' or just not to my personal taste. I'm fairly certain I won't make these again. But I felt they needed posting to see if any of you make them and what your feed back would be. Let me know?  I'd be very interested to hear your opinions...

NB: Please note that these are just my opinions and my  results of this recipe..I have tried many recipes from healthyveganrecipes.com and enjoyed them very much.. ~R~ 

Low Fat Oatmeal Cookies Makes 12 cookies 
(Recipe from www.healthyveganrecipes.net)

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup of hot water
1 tsp cinnamon/nutmeg/all spice mix (I used cinnamon/nutmeg ~R~)
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup of unrefined sugar
pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350'F/180'C/Gas Mark 4. Line a cookie/baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Mix 1 cup of the oats with the water in a bowl. Add the cinnamon, stir to combine and leave this for a few minutes, so that the oats soak up the water. 

Next pour the rest of the ingredients. Stir them in gently, and add more water or oats as needed to get a cookie batter consistency. 

Spoon out onto a baking tray and put in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until they are just starting to brown on the outside. 

Pull them out, let them cool for a minute and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool fully. 

Recipe as per original instructions. ~R~ 

Good luck and I hope you enjoy them...let me know, eh?  
 ~R~