Outrageous Oat Bran Cookies Recipe
Prep time: 15 Mins
Cook time: 10 Mins
Yields: 44 Cookies.
Don't let the name scare you away because these super healthy oat bran cookies without eggs will be a hit even with the kids. This cookie recipe is a proof that healthy and tasty doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. Wholesome cookies made with white whole wheat flour, oat bran and flax-seed meal, doesn't get any better.
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F for 15 minutes. Grease the baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
  2. In a big bowl combine together the flours, bran, flax seed, baking powder, baking soda and raisins (if using) and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, blend together butter and sugars until creamy.
  4. Add applesauce and vanilla and mix until well blended. If you use an electric beater to mix the applesauce it may look curdled, but don't worry.
  5. To the wet ingredients add the dry ingredients and mix well.
  6. Drop the dough by tablespoon on prepared baking sheets. Lightly spray the tablespoon with non stick spray, so that the dough will drop easily. Use a butter knife to scoop out the dough from the tablespoon.
  7. The baking time mentioned in the recipe is 8-10 minutes. The cookies look very even after 9 minutes but I removed them out anyway. After it cooled we tasted it and felt that it required further baking. So baked again for another 3 minutes. This time it had a nice golden brown color. Leave it in the baking sheet itself for a minute and then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Taste:
  1. The earthy smell of white whole wheat flour was predominant when the cookies were consumed fresh (on the day of baking). But they tasted very good the second day. The smell was very mild. My son is enjoying the cookies very much, so I guess he doesn't even smell anything different.
My Notes:
  1. I reduced the quantity of both the sugars considerably and even then felt it was quite sweet. So check the original recipe if you like your cookies very sweet. I also used 3/4th cup of raisins, which was optional in the original recipe.
  2. I'm not a cinnamon fan, so I used very little of it. I think the earthy smell of the whole wheat flour can be overcome by using considerable amount of cinnamon (about 1 teaspoon).
  3. If oat bran is not available, you could also use coarsely powdered quick cooking oats.
  4. Using non hydrogenated margarine or any vegan butter will make these cookies even more healthy by cutting back on saturated fat and cholesterol.
  5. Usually I bake the entire batch on the same day and the cookies vanish in no time. So this time I decided to freeze the dough. I baked only 20 cookies. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop tablespoonful of the remaining dough onto the sheet. Cover it loosely with another parchment/wax paper and freeze it for an hour or until it is firm enough. Then transfer the frozen cookie dough to a Ziploc bag and write down the name of the cookie and date when it was prepared and put it back in the freezer. I read that the dough keeps good anywhere between 1 month to 3 months. Thawing of the dough is not necessary while baking it. Just bake for additional 2-3 minutes. In this recipe it would be around 13-15 minutes.
  6. Update: I baked the frozen cookie dough and it was even better than the fresh ones. I baked it for 16 minutes at 350F, switched off the oven but kept the baking sheet in the oven itself for another 10 minutes. The cookies had a very nice golden brown color. They were crisp on the outside and soft in the middle.

Recipe by Madhuram's Eggless Cooking at https://www.egglesscooking.com/oat-bran-cookies/