Many have asked for this recipe over the last 4 years…so I was just making a new board on Pinterest this morning and I started a board on Cookies and Candies From Scratch and also Cakes and Pies from Scratch….and I just decided I’d share this recipe.
So we’re just going to get right to it this morning….here we go!
Secret Recipe Diet Cookies
(estimated amounts and you’ll see why below)
1 to 1 1/2 cups almonds
1 to 1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 to 3/4 cup Smart Balance Margarine
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed…or less
1/2 cup granulated sugar or less
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
(and I use 2 egg whites and 1 yolk)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3-4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 cups raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
I put my almonds and walnuts in a gallon bag and crush them into very small pieces (I just use a very small hammer that I keep in a kitchen drawer for crushing them)…and I crush them enough that about 1/4 or so of the bag of nuts is almost a powder.
In a large mixing bowl…add the dry ingredients….flour, the sugars, baking powder and oatmeal…the crushed almonds and walnuts and raisins.
Mix the melted butter and vanilla with the beaten eggs in a bowl and whip to mix well.
Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry mixture.
Using a teaspoon…I take out just a little of the dough mixture and roll it into a ball in my hands and drop it onto a greased cookie sheet…
after the cookie sheet is full…I wet my hands and using the side palm of my hand…I mash them very flat.
I wet my hands several times during this process…so I don’t get sticky and the cookies mash good and flat.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cool completely before you try to take them off of the cookie sheet. They should be flat…slightly browned and very crispy.
NOW…although I gave you the basic recipe above…I need to tell you that I don’t measure ANYTHING. I’ve been making these for years…SO you may need to adjust the flour and/or sugars…to suit you and your family.
When my mixture is complete…it is so filled with nuts and raisins and dry oatmeal…that you can’t hardly get it to hold together to make the ball.
Your cookie is going to BE…mostly raisins and oats and nuts…with a little batter to hold it all together….and that’s the SECRET 🙂 You’re not GETTING a lot of flour and sugar and butter in any one cookie…you’re getting mainly the healthy ingredients….the nuts and raisins and dry oats…
Notice I did not use an electric mixer or any kind of fancy electric chopper…I just go in the kitchen and set these things on my work block and throw it together.
I can have these mixed up and a pan of cookie dough put in the oven in 10 minutes or less…but that’s because I’ve made them so much.
This is NOT a really stark sweet cookie. The raisins add most of the ‘sweet’. But they are absolutely delicious cookies.
I can eat just one and it is so filling with all the nuts and oats and raisins…it curbs my appetite for 2-3 hours…and I’ve actually lost a few pounds just eating healthy meals and using these cookies for my ‘snacks’
I’ve also alternated other things when I’d have time….honey…molasses and other nuts, dates and this and that. But this is my basic recipe that I use at least weekly.