Even teenagers enjoy them. I swear!! I have proof!!!
I teach art in a high school, and I have an all-girl advisory consisting of 11 amazing young women. And while I don’t understand their fascination with K-pop (for those of you who don’t interact much with today’s youth, K-Pop stands for Korean Pop Culture. Yes, it is a thing. Their boy bands are our N’Sync and Backstreet Boys- no joke.), we do have one thing in common: our love for food. This is really great information for me, because if I ever need them to be calm or quiet for an extended period of time, all I have to do is give them snacks! It’s like magic! I keep them updated about my blog, and every time I show them pictures, it’s always the same: “Ms. Vetne! When are you going to bring us healthy food you make from your blog?!” (they can’t stop using my maiden name.) So yesterday, I brought them these cookies. And guess what? Despite them being “healthy” (made with whole wheat flour and coconut oil instead of butter), they loved them! I got to introduce them to new healthy snacks, AND they were quiet and calm! We all won with this. And so, I present to you, a teenager-friendly approach to whole grain cookies. This was my first attempt at baking with coconut oil (after making granola with it over the weekend). I use coconut oil every day as a lotion (have you tried this? If you haven’t, it’s time you did!), and don’t worry, I bought a separate jar to use for baking than the one I keep in my bathroom.
I have to say, I may already be hooked! The cookies came out just as moist as with butter, and tasted a bit lighter. Which was great, because that meant I could have more at a time. …right? When I made these cookies, I forgot to add the baking soda. To my horror, I realized it only when they were halfway done baking. And you know what? They came out JUST fine! I feel like instead of making a mistake, I made an excellent discovery: that cookies are possible without baking soda or powder! Better to put it in though, I think. Unless you are in an emergency baking soda situation or you are forgetful, like me.
While this recipe uses whole grains, it does contain cane sugar. It is partially sweetened by maple syrup, however, which substitutes at least part of the refined sugar with a natural sweetener! When I use refined sugar in recipes, I use natural cane sugar. While it is still more processed than natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup, it at least does not go through bleaching processes like conventional white sugar. I can’t wait to try more recipes with coconut oil! If you have any good ones, please share them in the comments below! :-)
