Dairy Free Salted Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I get all kinds of recipes in my inbox from all kinds of sources.  Some get tossed immediately, some go into the recipe file to try, and some get shunted over into the convert to allergen free file.  This recipe for salted oatmeal cookies with dark chocolate from Real Simple fell into the latter category.  I wanted to try to make these both dairy free and a little bit healthier.  This was my first experience baking with coconut palm sugar (supposed to have a lower impact on the glycemic index than regular sugar), and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised.  It already has a sort of brown sugary flavor to it in the first place, and I added a tablespoon of molasses to amp that up.   I also swapped out coconut oil for the vegetable shortening, and Earth Balance for the butter.  I wound up omitting the additional sea salt sprinkled on top (a good decision–what’s inside is just enough to balance the sweet).  These salted dark chocolate oatmeal cookies were lovely, filling, and chewy.   Original recipe claims to make 2 dozen.  I got 18 cookies, approximately 2 inches across.  Note: These are NOT gluten free.  I’ve not had a lot of good luck making gluten free cookies (other than straight peanut butter, which just don’t use flour).  Presumably you could swap the flour for an all purpose GF blend, and add perhaps 1 tsp of xanthan gum, but I’ve not yet tried this myself.

Ingredients

1. Heat oven to 375° F with the rack in the upper and lower thirds. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment.
2. Combine the oats, flour, baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Beat the Earth Balance, coconut oil, coconut palm sugar and molasses with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until lightly and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined (do not overmix). Stir in the chocolate.
4. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.
5. Bake, swapping the pans halfway through, until lightly brown around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Be sure to watch these as the bottoms will burn easily.

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This steel magnolia is the poster child for successfully Doing All the Things, smart phone in one hand, sword in the other. Author of action-packed PR/UF for adults and teens. You can catch up with her at Pots and Plots, her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.