by Jade Buchanan This month's recipe was actually a bit of an accident. I was over at my parents one night for dinner and I picked up a diabetic cookbook my mom has. Flipping through, I found a great cookie recipe. They sounded so scrumptious I knew I had to make them. And considering they are a definite low fat alternative, I thought it would be a great idea for me to revisit the dreaded dessert recipe this month!

Despite the scepticism my mom and my cousin showed when I announced I was going to go ahead and make them, I managed to pull it off! Yes, my cousin can cook and he just drives me nuts. I'm the only one in my family with the dreaded unable-to-cook gene.

Get ready for Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies! Okay, I confess, they're actually supposed to be Cranberry Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, but my cousin HATES raisins so I just removed that ingredient.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup soft margarine or butter
1/2 cup granular low-calorie sweetener with sucralose
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups large flake rolled oats
1/3 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup raisins (I skipped this step, but feel free to try it out and see what it tastes like!!)

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon in a bowl (I found out while gathering my ingredients that I didn't have nutmeg, so I just doubled up on cinnamon instead. It worked out fine, but I'd sure like to try these again with the nutmeg and see how different that makes them!)
3. Beat the margarine, sweetener, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat again.
5. Add the oats and cranberries (and raisins) to the mixture and stir until all mixed together.
6. Measure out spoonfuls of the dough and drop on a baking sheet. (I've recently discovered the brilliance of parchment paper. What did I ever do before this? Geez, I finally have baking sheets that aren't ruined!)
7. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

The recipe is supposed to yield 4 dozen cookies, but apparently I have a heavy hand and only ended up with 40 cookies in total. About ten minutes after they came out of the oven, I only had about 25 cookies left… darn, these things are tasty!!! My cousin loved them, and kept sneaking cookies when I wasn't looking. My mom is happy she was able to eat them, and I simply loved the combination of the oatmeal, cinnamon and cranberries. It was hard to stop myself once I'd had a few.

So, there you have it. A nice and simple recipe that even I can make. And if a not-so-great chef can perfect a dish like this, you'll have no problems.

Happy reading, and safe cooking!

Jade

P.S. Do you want to get in on the action and test Jade's cooking skills personally? Send her a recipe at jade.buchanan@yahoo.com before March 15th and the winning recipe will be cooked up and featured in the February issue of A Cheeky Changeling. The winner will receive a Changeling ebook of their choice!! Get out your Valentine's specials, everyone!!