Date and walnut Oatmeal cookies (vegan)

There is something about rainy weekends and cookies that is just so damn right. Saturdays in particular are the best, where you wake up and savour a little sigh of relief as you remember that today there is no alarms or early mornings, no sports or extra curricular or assignments to be done. Combine that with a moody overcast weather that practically demands you to stay inside drinking tea, eating cookies and watching t.v. in your pyjamas.

I have posted a chocolate chip recipe on here before, but since then I’ve gained a appreciation for slightly healthier alternatives so when I found a recipe on the amazing ‘Oh She Glows’ blog I was desperate to try it. The original recipe, which is fully vegan, is here. Although I made some changes to the amount of sugar/oils written below.

Ingredients:

- 1 + 3/4 cups walnuts/almonds

- 2 cups rolled oats (try using the largest oats possible, as they will be made finer when put in the food processor)

3/4 cup Whole meal flour (I used Pamela’s brand, see note)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (Although today I used honey)

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons almond milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heaping 1/3 cup pitted dates, diced (softened with 1/4 C boiling water)

1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips (use large chocolate ‘drops’ for a chocolatey-chunky cookie)

Directions:

1. Add nuts into food processor along with 1 cup of oats and process until coarsely chopped with some fine powder (see photo above) . Be sure not to over process or it will become too fine.

2. In a large bowl, stir the nut/oat mixture, the remaining 1 cup rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the maple syrup (or honey), melted coconut oil, milk, and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture on the dry ingredients and stir until combined. The coconut oil will begin to harden so the mixture will start to feel quite firm, try to resist the temptation to add more liquids.

4. Want a quick handy tip for cooking with dates? Coat the chopped dates in a teaspoon of flour to prevent them from sticking together. Fold dates and chocolate chips into the dough.

5. Take about 2 tablespoons of dough, roll it into a ball, and then press down on it with your hand to flatten it on the baking sheet. Space cookies a couple inches apart. These cookies will not spread so I was able to fit 16 small cookies on one tray.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 3180F until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom. They may appear very soft but will firm once cool.

*7. Once cooled attempt to photograph warm gooey oaty drops of heaven with a cold glass of almond milk without eating any

*8. Fail miserably and eat ½ the batch without a single regret