Sunday, 9 November 2014

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Last night around 10 pm, my friends and I were busy baking cookies and other treats. We hadn't seen each other in over 2 months due to conflicting and busy school/work schedules, so a date was long overdue!

In addition to baking these delicious oatmeal cookies, we also made white chocolate bark with Golden Grahams Cereal. That was too easy: melt white chocolate wafers and mix in the cereal. Then spread it out on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Break up into delicious bite-sized pieces!

As for the cookies... we found a recipe on the internet and changed it to be a bit healthier and gluten-friendly to accommodate my current diet. You can find the original off of allrecipes.ca here.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies




  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. Cream together 3/4 cup butter and 1 - 1 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar until smooth
  3. Beat in 2 eggs and 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract until fluffy.
  4. Stir in remaining ingredients:
    • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamin
    • a pinch salt if you used unsalted butter
    • 2 3/4 cup large flake oats
    • 1 cup raisins
  5. Drop by tablespoons onto a lined baking sheet.
  6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown but still a tad gooey in the middle. Cool on the baking sheet and enjoy!

Why use coconut palm sugar?
In short, refined white sugar is devoid of any additional nutrients that it used to hold, whereas coconut palm sugar still has many vitamins and minerals. As well, coconut palm sugar has a lower glycemic index of ~35 (vs. ~68 of table sugar), which means that your body won't get as big of a blood sugar spike that would stress the homeostatic response. 
Bonus: Coconut palm sugar has a slight caramel-y taste!

Why eat gluten free?
Gluten is one of the most difficult proteins for the body to digest and absorb, and can cause problems for many people by compromising GIT health and, for some, triggering autoimmune reactions. However, not everyone does better on a gluten free diet... those who can eat gluten should look for whole, sprouted or soaked grains and think of reducing gluten to give their digestive system a well-deserved break.

- Jessica

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