Herbs in dessert?! Healthy-ish cookies?! Heck yes! These Rosemary Oatmeal Cookies are my new favorite guilt-low snack. Try them out and let me know what you think! Are you an herb-in-dessert convert??
I’ve been trying to cut back lately on sweet snacks in my life, so these cookies have just a little bit of honey (not the 2 cups of sugar you often see in cookie recipes). When a sugar craving comes along, something as minimally-sweet as these cookies fits the bill just right. If you’re more accustomed to super-sweet cookies and snacks, these may not taste sweet at all to you. But I encourage you to try to cut back on sugar, not only for health reasons, but also so you can taste all the other amazing flavors this world has to offer.
These awesome cookies are sugar- and artificial sweetener-free, whole grain, and amazingly delicious! I dare you to not eat them all in one day!
Here’s how I do it:
Mix all wet ingredients together. If you don’t have applesauce, just bump the butter up to 3/4 cup; arguably less healthy that way, but so delicious. I really prefer fresh lemon juice and zest in these cookies, but when the lemons look as sad as they have lately, substituting with about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar works really well also. You just need some kind of acid to react with the baking soda.
Combine oats with wet ingredients and allow them to soak for a bit. This way they won’t be so dry and undigestible in the final cookie.
Strip the rosemary leaves from their stems, chop, and stir into oat mixture. If you bought your rosemary from me at the farmers’ market, use a minimum of 5 sprigs (there should be at least that many in one bunch).
Although I haven’t tried it, I bet if you let this mixture sit for a while (overnight in the fridge?), the rosemary flavor will infuse throughout the dough really nicely. But if you’re impatient like me, this step is not necessary for awesome rosemary flavor.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then add these to the rest of the dough.
Stir in the walnuts and carob chips. I like the carob chips in this recipe because they’re a little less sweet than chocolate chips, and I like their flavor better with the rosemary. But I’m sure chocolate chips, cocoa nibs, or whatever sweet nuggets your heart desires would be great, as well.
Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. The applesauce causes the cookies to not spread as they bake, so unless you like round ball-shaped cookies, I highly recommend flattening them with your fingers or the back of a wooden spoon just prior to baking. Wetting your fingers or spoon with a small bit of water helps the gooey dough to not stick all over your fingers.
Bake and enjoy!
Ingredients
Fava Beans
- 2 pounds fava beans, in pod
- 1 medium onion
Arugula
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 pound arugula
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Polenta
- 6 cups water, salted
- 1 3/4 cups polenta meal
Instructions
Fava Beans
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Blanch fava beans in boiling water until skins just begin to split, just a few minutes.
- Drain off water.
- When cool enough to handle, pop each bean from its skin.
- When polenta is almost cooked, slice onion thinly and cook over medium heat in olive oil until lightly caramelized.
- Add fava beans to onions and cook to heat through.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Arugula
- Blend walnuts, garlic, arugula, and olive oil in food processor. Salt and pepper to taste.
Polenta
- Bring 6 cups salted water to a boil.
- Add polenta meal. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir arugula mixture into polenta. Cook until desired viscosity.
- Makes 4 - 6 servings.