Oatmeal Cookies for Everyone

Even though the school year is almost halfway through (I can't believe it, Andrew and Heather will be home in 12 days!) I'm always remembering the things that we had to deal with in my little school. For the 6 years I went to MLCP, I had an array of friends with different allergies (some life threatening), conditions and intolerances that to us were just part of their daily life. Nobody was "weird", but everyone knew who those affected were, just in case.

Today, the conditions and intolerances I deal with daily are usually my own, or those in my immediate family. While 3 out of the five of us (in the Oshawa house at least) don't particularly care about what they eat (or don't eat), my Mom and I have retained what we learned from being on Weight Watchers years ago with regards to nutrition and healthy living: we've kept the weight off while keeping our activity levels up, and always make sure to indulge occasionally (so we don't go crazy!). I'm also working on my aforementioned healthy cooking and baking presentation, so I've been more into the nutritionally tuned section of my brain and knowledge than usual. When it's finished, I'll be sure to post a link to the file for those who care to look.

I always think of myself as the "black sheep" of the baking world... here I am unable to eat any fats (like butter, shortening, margarine, oil), eggs, nuts, dairy, large amounts of sugar or white flour, and I present you with things like Traffick Stopping Chocolate Cake, Mixed Bag Cookies and Shortbread Cookies! While I'm not saying that you should eat a thousand of these chewy bites (and they are intended to be bites... make them tiny!), your waistline, insulin levels or heart won't suffer from 3 or 4. They're great to nibble on while making dinner, and excellent for the kids to get into after school!

If you don't like to use Splenda for whatever reason, substitute it with sugar. It's a simple, 1:1 ratio. Otherwise, these cookies are egg-free, dairy-free, high-fibre, low-sugar, nut-free, fat-free and (most importantly) tasty! Unfortunately these aren't gluten-free, but there are other cookies coming, as well as all these things too!

Oatmeal Cookies for Everyone
Makes 25 Bites
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Splenda Granular
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup quick rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup raisins or currants

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Stir together the sugar, Splenda and applesauce.
3. Separately, mix dry ingredients except oats and raisins.
4. Blend dry ingredients into the sugar mixture.
5. Fold in oats and raisins until combined.
6. Drop balls onto a greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 8 minutes, then cool 3 minutes before removing cookies from tray.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 50.4
Total Fat: 0.3 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 33.8 mg
Total Carbs: 11.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
Protein: 1.2 g