If it's not broken, don't fix it...

 

In the spirit of the New Year I decided to make low fat/cholesterol Oatmeal Raisin cookies over the weekend. I recently purchased Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Light cookbook and I was really excited to try a recipe from the baking section. While the book boasts many delicious and healthy recipes, the cookies were SERIOUSLY lacking.  

I'll try baking anything once and I support making baked goods more "healthy" but these were not flavorful at all. The biggest substitute was vegetable oil for butter and way less sugar than cookies normally have. The biggest fail was that they smelled weird. I honestly thought my Silpat was melting because the smell was not that wonderful scent of vanilla, sugar and butter melding together.  Below I've included a recipe for my favorite (full fat/cholestorol) Oatmeal Raisin cookies.

Have you ever tried a recipe that was a "healthy" alternative only to find out that the original tastes better?

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture; mix until just combined. Mix in raisins.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.
3. Bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Source: Martha Stewart