LOWER SUGAR OATMEAL & RAISON COOKIES/BARS

Old-fashioned cookies up-dated for sugar-conscious times...

Classic Oatmeal & Raisin Cookies, updated:
lower sugar & higher fibre, still great taste 

Most North American women of pensionable age started baking in their teens.  First came chocolate chip cookies (such a revelation, no one wanted to stop baking!), then 'devil's food' chocolate cake, then oatmeal and raisin cookies.

Oatmeal cookies - crisp, thick & chewy with health-giving oats and juicy raisins - were meant to be an antidote to the gorgeous chocolateness of previous efforts.  The best oatmeal cookies, however, have a great deal of sugar: brown, white and in the dried fruit.

In this recipe 67 reduced sugar levels, added fibre and made a few other changes without affecting deliciousness. 67 also followed one of Ina Garten's methods: baking the same dough as cookies and bars.  

Stored in an air-tight container, they're as good on the second day as on the day they're baked.  If the week is shaping up to be a busy one,  the cookies can be made the day before they're needed. 

Some planning is required; the raisins should be soaked in orange juice for 4-5 hours or overnight. 

In How to...Bake with less Guilt (Have Your Cake and Still Stay Healthy) 67goingon50 recommended partially replacing some products with others: wholemeal flour, ground almonds and dried, unsweetened coconut. This recipe - and future ones - includes some of those items.

         See this week's How to...Adapt Baking for a Healthier,  Lower-sugar Lifestyle for tips on what and how to do.

Cost: £2 
Makes: about 45 medium cookies (recipe halves nicely)

Ingred:

   10oz/283gm raisins
   1 juicy orange

    4oz/125gm butter, at room temperature
   6oz/170gm light or dark brown sugar
    
   2 large eggs (or 3 small), at room temperature
   2 tsp vanilla
   
   5oz/142gm plain white flour
   2.5oz/79gm wholemeal flour
   1 tsp baking powder
   1 tbsp powdered cinnamon
   1/4 tsp salt
   2-3oz/56gm ground almonds (less will give softer cookies)
    
   6oz/170gm oatmeal
   
Equipment:  

• 2 cookie trays lined with greaseproof paper (stick corners down to keep paper flat)
• small (20ml) ice-cream scoop or equiv
• cooling racks OR
• small baking tin (opt) for oatmeal bars (67 used a 5x9.5 inch12x25cm dish but one slightly larger will also do)

Method:

1. (Night/few hours before baking) Put raisins in a sieve and blanche with boiling water to remove preservatives; drain. Put in a shallow bowl, add freshly squeezed orange juice (bits are not a problem); cover with cling film; leave 4-5 hours or preferably overnight. 
2. Preheat oven to 180c/160fan/250f/gas4
3. Sift flours (the roughage in the wholemeal will be left in the sieve; tip it in at the end), baking powder & cinnamon into a bowl
4. Using electric beaters or stand-alone mixer, beat butter and sugar on med speed until light, pale & fluffy (a few mins)
5. Add eggs & vanilla; beat on low speed till blended
6. Add flour and ground almonds; mix on low speed till incorporated; add oatmeal & mix; use a spatula to check the batter on the bottom & sides of bowl are mixed in
7. Drain raisins, discarding juice; add to cookie dough; mix on low speed until evenly distributed
8. For cookies: Place slightly rounded scoops of dough onto the cookie sheet 2in/5cm apart; if the dough is very stiff, press the tops down a little with fingers or a wet tablespoon 
9. Place tray in centre of oven one at a time; bake 15-20 mins. (Note: the first tray took 17 mins; the 2nd a scant 15mins)
10. Let cookies cool on the tray (on a cooling rack) 5 mins, then remove with a fish slice & place directly on cooling rack
11. For bars:

    

    Oatmeal & Raisin Bars

    Spoon dough into lined baking dish and level with spatula, pushing dough into corners; bake 30-35 mins.  A toothpick/cocktail stick inserted into the middle may come out a bit sticky but it will be ok.

Comment:
    'Great cookies! I liked these; they were crisp on the outside, lovely and soft in the middle and not too sweet.' 20-something Australian 
    'The  oatmeal bars were 'gorgeous' and unusual but in a good way.' The chaps at a local butchers


Tips:

• For a special occasion, drizzle lightly with a bit of melted chocolate OR or a loose icing made few tablespoons of sifted icing sugar, a generous pinch of cinnamon and a dribble of milk or water.  
• use toppings sparingly; the cookies are quite sweet already

    

 more low/no added sugar Nav Bar/Recipes II                            

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.