2 In a large mixing bowl add peanut butter, margarine and sugars. Beat together well until smooth and creamy.

3 In a blender (I used the small jar of my Magic Bullet), blend together the egg replacer and warm water until it’s frothy.

4 To the creamed sugar mixture add the egg replacer liquid and vanilla. Beat once again until it’s combined well.

5 To this add the barley flour, baking soda and salt and stir well.

6 Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

7 Spoon the batter onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. I took mine out after 11 minutes.

8 Leave the cookies on the sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer it to a cooling rack for the cookies to cool completely. Transfer the cooled cookies to an airtight container.

I’m not a peanut butter fan, but I used it to just finish it off. So I was very happy because the presence of peanut butter was not at all felt from the 2nd day onwards.

I bought very little amount of carob chips and used it in this recipe instead of chocolate chips to make it completely vegan. When tasted it by itself, I found that there was a slight difference in taste when compared to chocolate chips. I didn’t like it that much. But I literally couldn’t feel any difference (maybe a little or it was just psychological) when I tasted the cookies and my son didn’t find it. The original recipe had called for 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, since I was using carob chips I used only 1/4 cup of it and I used 1/4 cup of dried cranberries. However I’m not sure if I would substitute carob chips for chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Maybe it would be too much. I think the better bet is to try other dairy free vegan chocolate chips instead.

2 The original recipe mentions to use cornflakes. I used Rice Krispies because I had only that in hand.

3 Similarly you could use all nuts, or all chocolate chips or any dried fruits etc. Just be sure to keep the measurements same though.

4 At first I thought the quantity of sugar was more in the recipe with 1/3 cup each of brown sugar and granulated sugar, but it was perfect when we tasted the cookies. Maybe it would have been even sweeter, had I used 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and raisins instead of cranberries.

5 The cookies don’t spread like the usual chocolate chip cookies. So I think if you flatten it with a fork you may get crispier cookies but you would have to adjust the baking time. Also I overlooked the 1 teaspoon of water in the recipe. Maybe if I had added that the cookies would have spread a little bit.

6 I have mentioned this a couple of times, but writing it once again. If using a dark coated non stick pan, stay alert and take the sheet out of the oven 2-3 minutes earlier because the bottoms burn quite quickly. The same thing happened in this recipe too. Even after being careful and lining the cookie sheet with parchment paper the bottom of the cookies went black. Maybe double lining the sheet would help. I’m going to try it the next time.

1 Pulse the oats in a food processor until it resembles coarse flour. To this also add the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and process until combined. Transfer this mix to a large mixing bowl.

2 Put the drained and rinsed beans in the food processor and pulse until smoothly pureed. You may add 2-3 tablespoons of water to make it easier. Add the butter/margarine and process until well blended.

3 Now add the brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla and pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

4 Pour the bean mixture into the oat mixture and stir using a spatula. Add the peanut butter chips/chocolate chips, raisins/dried cranberries, nuts and flax seed meal and stir until blended.

5 Drop by large spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each one a little with your hand. Have a bowl of water nearby to dampen your palms, so that flattening the cookies will be easy.

6 Bake for 14-16 minutes, until pale around the edges but still soft in the middle. The cookies baked in a dark coated cookie sheet started browning after 14 minutes itself but the pale coated cookie sheet was done after 16 minutes.

7 Place the the cookie sheets on individual wire racks. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to the cooling rack after that.

2 For chocolate flavored cookies use 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder instead of the flour.

3 Updated: I stored these cookies in a cookie jar over the counter and it became very soft. This is okay if you are going to consume it within 2-3 days. The longer it stays on the counter the softer it gets. Recently I borrowed Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites from the library and found a tip for storing low-fat cookies. It says that the best way to store low-fat cookies is in layers separated by wax paper or plastic wrap in an airtight container in the freezer. Defrost at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving. But I think storing in the refrigerator should be fine because it gives instant gratification

2 In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the coconut and oats.

3 Melt the butter with the sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove it from the stove and let it cool for 2 minutes.

4 Pour the melted butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula.

5 Roll into balls the size of walnuts and place 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and flatten it slightly with a fork.

6 Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. If using 2 cookie sheets, shift racks halfway through the baking to ensure even browning. Mine turned golden brown after 13 minutes itself. I think it’s because of the dark coated cookie sheet.

7 Let the cookies cool on the sheets until they firm slightly. Then using a spatula carefully lift the cookies and transfer it to a cooling rack to cool completely.

2 Light corn syrup was mentioned in the recipe. I had that in hand, but I anticipated that some of you might ask what can be substituted for it. So I used honey. I think either omitting this or reducing the quantity of sugar to 1/2 cup will also work if you want less sweeter cookies.

3 These coconut cookies spread a lot, so be sure to leave enough space while placing the dough on the baking sheets.

2 In a large bowl mix together oats, cranberries, seeds, nuts and chocolate chips.

3 Add condensed milk and mix thoroughly. Also stir in the oil and applesauce until blended.

4 Spread evenly in prepared pan. Use a spatula to smoothen it. If you feel that the oats sticks to the spatula, grease it with cooking spray and smooth it out.

5 Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until top is lightly browned. I felt mine was not done after 25 minutes so gave it another 6 minutes. By then it had browned a little.

6 Place the pan on a rack to cool slightly, then carefully lift the foil and place it on the wire rack. When it is cool completely cut it into bars. You can either go for the usual rectangular shaped bars (like the store bought ones) or squares. I cut them into squares to cut the calorie intake. Dipping the knife in hot water will enable easy cutting.

This recipe is a good basic recipe where you can play with the combination of nuts, seeds and dried fruits of your choice.

2 The other change I made was using slivered almonds instead of chopped peanuts. Again here too you can use the nuts of your choice.

3 The recipe had called for 1 can condensed milk (14oz/398ml). Since I live in Canada now, I found that the Eagle Brand condensed milk I get here was only 300 ml. So I used 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce to make good the difference. Also it required 1/2 cup of melted butter/margarine. I decided to use 1/4 cup of canola oil and 1/4 cup of applesauce instead. After measuring 1/4 cup applesauce I found that I had only another 1/4 cup left in the jar, so I stirred in that too. So totally 1 cup unsweetened applesauce.

I think this is the reason the bars took extra time while baking and also for the chewiness. So adjust the baking time according to the ingredients you use.

4 In recipes like these (bars) and few other recipes where chocolate chips is used in large quantity, I replace it with 1/2 the quantity of mini chips. So I used 1/2 cup of mini chips instead of the 1 cup of regular chips mentioned in the original recipe.

2 In a large bowl combine together all the dry ingredients (from whole wheat flour to grated pear).

3 In a measuring mug, measure the buttermilk. Add 1/4 cup water, vinegar, vanilla extract and oil. Whisk together. Dissolve the brown sugar in this liquid mixture and blend it well with a fork.

4 Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Do not over mix.

5 Fill the batter in each muffin cup to the top. Sprinkle a teaspoon of oatmeal on each cup.

6 Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean. Mine was done in 16 minutes.

7 Leave it in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Then transfer it to a cooling rack.

These muffins were very filling too. Unlike the empty calories-sugary muffins, I did not feel like reaching for another one. So these muffins don’t disappear fast and I stored it in the fridge. It becomes little hard if stored in the fridge. So heat it in the microwave oven for 30-35 seconds before eating it and it’s moist again like freshly baked.

2 The original recipe used 1 cup of all purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour. So if you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour go with this blend.

3 If you are a cinnamon fan use 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and omit the vanilla extract (as per the original recipe).

4 The recipe clearly asked to fill the batter to the top of the cup. I was not sure about this because usually muffin recipes mention 2/3rds full. I thought that it would overflow while baking and the muffins will get stuck to each other. Except for 4 muffins I did not fill it to the top. So I got 12 regular size muffins and had some batter left which was enough for 6 mini muffins. The 4 muffins which I had filled to the top rose beautifully and it did not stick to the other muffins. So if you fill the entire cup there should not be any batter left and the given measurement should yield exactly 12 regular size muffins.

If baking as mini muffins 8-10 minutes should be enough. I baked mine for 10 minutes and it was already very dark in the bottom.

2 Take out the butter from the refrigerator, cut up into small pieces and add it to the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender further cut the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If you don’t have a pastry blender you can do this with your fingers or fork too, but it’s more work.

3 Stir in the sugar and add milk little by little to form a soft dough. Knead until smooth.

4 Press the dough into disk, wrap in plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off start preheating the oven at 375F for 15 minutes. So by the time the oven preheats it will be 30 minutes and you can start working on the cookie dough. Also butter 2 cookie sheets.

5 Lightly flour the surface. Roll out the dough into 1/4 inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Gather the dough scraps, re-roll and continue the same procedure until all the dough is used.

6 The cookies tend to stick to the floor, so use a spatula to lift and transfer the cookies to the baking sheets. Place them 1 inch apart. Prick all over with a fork.

7 The baking time depends on the thickness of the cookies and the material of the baking sheet. Note that cookies baked on a dark colored non stick baking sheet tend to bake faster and if not alert the bottom will get burnt. My second batch cookies were thinner than the first batch. So the first batch took 13 minutes, while the second batch was done in 10 minutes. Look for golden color cookies. If baking both the batches at the same time, place each baking sheet in individual racks and shift sheets halfway through baking.

8 Leave the cookies in the baking sheet itself for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

As for the texture, it is crispy but not “melt in your mouth” type of crispness but quite similar to a hard candy. After reading hard candy don’t assume that you cannot bite it. It’s definitely chewable and very tasty.