Guilt free

I've finally found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that tastes as good as it is for you. I made these the other night when I had my brother's family over for dinner and they were quite a hit. As I've done with almost all the cookies I've made recently, I made ice cream sandwiches out of these and they were delicious.

I like this recipe a) because I don't have to haul out my giant stand mixer to make them b) because there's NO butter in them and c) they are incredibly tasty and healthy for you. I doubled the recipe when I made it and accidentally put the whole eggs in instead of just the whites...so I'm interested in trying these the correct way. Also, I substituted regular flour for the pastry flour and peanut butter for the almond butter. One last thing I screwed up was forgetting to press down the cookies before baking which is probably why mine were puffy instead of flatter like pictured in the magazine; despite all my mistakes, these tasted amazing!

guiltless chocolate-spiked oatmeal cookies

Olive oil cooking spray
1 1/4 C quick-cook old fashioned oats
1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
2 t flaxseed meal
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 C agave nectar
1 large egg white
2 tsp unsalted almond butter
1 t pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup dark bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, flaxseed meal, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together agave, egg white, almond butter and vanilla.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients all at once and combine. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared pan. Using the back of a slightly dampened spoon, flatten each mound into 2 1/2-inch circles. Bake 9-10 minutes, until golden. Cool on sheets for an additional 10 minutes before transferring to racks to cool completely. Stored in airtight container, cookies will keep fresh for 2-3 days. I actually keep mine in the fridge as most desserts I've made with agave nectar are quite moist.

recipe from july/august 2009 edition of clean eating magazine